(BBC News) Donald Trump’s week began with an on-air expletive as he lost his cool over his mounting frustrations with Iran and Israel’s shaky ceasefire.
It ended with a beaming US president holding court at the White House – not once, but twice – as he celebrated a series of significant political victories at home and abroad.
Trump was in a triumphant mood, answering questions for more than an hour at a news conference that turned into a checklist of his accomplishments.
Here’s a look at four big wins from this week, as well as a reminder of some things that didn’t go entirely the president’s way.
- An ‘unbelievable’ strike and a ceasefire
The successful US strike on Iranian nuclear facilities on June 21 was followed three days later by Trump’s announcement of a “complete and total” ceasefire in what he termed the “12-day war” between Israel and Iran.
It had a rocky start. Not long before the announcement, Iran fired off ballistic missiles at a US airbase in Qatar, sparking fears of a wider war across the Persian Gulf.
Even after the ceasefire, things seemed tenuous. Both sides were quickly accused of breaking it, prompting an expletive-laden tirade to reporters on the White House lawn.
By his own admission, Trump only narrowly managed to convince Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call off further attacks on Iran.
But ultimately the ceasefire held, allowing the president to proudly claim that his military gamble of an “unbelievable” strike on Iran worked, and point to evidence that he is a “peacemaker” – a sorely needed win as peace continues to elude him in both Gaza and Ukraine.
- NATO’s commitment to ‘Daddy’
Trump was on his way to the Netherlands for the NATO summit when he got a text from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, lavishing praise on him for the strikes on Iran – texts the president was more than happy to make public.
During his whirlwind visit to the summit, US allies committed to 5% defence spending, something the president had repeatedly and vocally called for.
Then during a joint press conference, Rutte jokingly referred to Trump as “Daddy”, a reference to the president being able to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
Trump has seemed to embrace the moniker.
“I think he likes me. If he doesn’t… I’ll come back and hit him hard,” Trump said at a news conference, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio laughing beside him. “He did it very affectionately.”
Soon afterwards, the White House posted various videos of a victorious-looking Trump with the caption “daddy’s home”.
- A ‘giant win’ at the Supreme Court
Trump’s week ended on a high note with news that the Supreme Court issued a ruling that will curb judges’ power to block his orders nationwide.
While the ruling stems from a case regarding Trump’s ability to end birthright citizenship for children of some immigrants, it has sweeping implications. It will be harder for lower courts to challenge Trump’s domestic agenda through what Attorney General Pam Bondi described as an “endless barrage” of injunctions.
At an impromptu news conference, the president hailed the ruling as a “monumental victory for the constitution, the separation of powers, and the rule of law.”
The decision allows him to pursue a number of other policy items that had been thwarted by injunctions, including freezing funds to so-called “sanctuary cities” that stand in the way of his mass deportation drive, suspending refugee resettlement, and preventing tax money being used to fund gender surgeries.
The president smiled and cracked jokes, inviting reporters to ask more and more questions, as his aides – including Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt – sat smiling beside him.
“This was a tremendous win, and we’ve had tremendous wins,” he said at the end. “But this was a tremendous win today.”
- Peace deal in Africa
On Friday afternoon, Trump met with the foreign ministers of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, who earlier in the day signed a peace deal aimed at ending decades of fighting between the two neighbours.
Further details are scant and previous peace deals in the region have failed – yet that has not deterred the US and Congolese presidents from framing this as a generational victory.
“Today, the violence and destruction comes to an end, and the entire region begins a new chapter of hope and opportunity,” Trump said.
The deal also helps the US government and American companies gain access to critical minerals in the region.
“I was able to get them together and sell it,” Trump said. “And not only that, we’re getting for the United States a lot of the mineral rights from the Congo.”
At his earlier news conference Trump had admitted he knew few details about the conflict, which is far from the minds of most Americans.
“I’m a little bit out of my league… because I don’t know too much about it,” he said. “I know one thing. They were going at it for many years, and with machetes.”
Potential worries for the White House
The week hasn’t been all victories and roses for Trump.
The president’s biggest legislative priority – a massive tax bill he’s dubbed the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” – has hit some roadblocks.
Trump has repeatedly urged lawmakers to get it on to his desk to sign into law by July 4, Independence Day in the US.
But earlier this week, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough said that certain provisions violated Senate rules, throwing billions of dollars of cuts into doubt.
“This is part of the process. This part is part of the workings of the United States Senate,” Karoline Leavitt said earlier this week. “But the president is adamant about seeing this bill on his desk here at the White House by Independence Day.”
And while Trump has hailed the ceasefires in Iran – as well as those in central Africa and last month between Pakistan and India – as victories, he has so far faltered on two of his biggest promises for peace: in Gaza and Ukraine.
“We’re working on that one,” Trump said of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine at Friday’s news conference, where he did not mention Gaza.
Even the end of US military involvement in Iran is not guaranteed.
During the news conference, Trump was asked by the BBC if he would consider bombing Iran again if he believed they were re-starting their nuclear program.
“Sure, without question, absolutely,” he responded.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c994p7vd8l5o