Trump Just Surrendered to Iran

PDS Published 06/18/2026

• Trump Just "Surrendered" to Iran

  The Donald Trump surrender to Iran is worse than what's being reported. We break down the unexpected UFO problem that's been bubbling under the surface. Enjoy.

  The builder just got some bad, bad news. We're talking about all of that and even more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco Show — your daily dive into the news. So buckle up, hit that like button, and let's just jump into it, starting with this.

  Trump surrendered to Iran. You even have a meaningful chunk of MAGA saying this. And so Donald Trump, he's either lying to himself or lying to you when he says that the U.S. won this war against Iran, especially because we now know the details of that 14-point plan that were supposed to end the fighting and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. And so you have the U.S. getting even less than expected. Iran looking like they're going to get way more than expected, and in many of the most important issues, they're getting kicked down the road.

  With this MOU — the Memorandum of Understanding — which has been signed electronically by both sides, opening a 60-day negotiating window that can be extended if both sides agree. Also, in the meantime, efforts to reopen the strait are meant to begin immediately, the MOU saying that the U.S. will fully end the naval blockade within 30 days. As far as Iran, they will, quote, make arrangements using its best efforts with the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days, only. On top of that, it will conduct dialog with Oman to define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz. And then finally with this part, there's language about whatever is decided being in line with applicable international law, but also with the sovereign rights of coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz.

  So ultimately it just looks like Trump and co. abandoned the demand that anything but a return to the pre-war status quo in the strait being acceptable. That is definitely how Iran's interpreting the text. You've got Iran's top negotiator saying in an interview the Strait of Hormuz will not return to pre-war conditions, and then adding Iran has the right to sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. And of course, we will receive a fee for services. And that same guy even argued that the agreement is a record of U.S. failure, saying people will see it and judge. And yeah, he appears to have a point.

  With, among other things, people pointing to, for example, Trump repeatedly saying that the U.S. will not give any money to Iran. Trump has even frequently slammed Barack Obama for the fact that his administration paid around $1.7 billion in 2016 — though that also is technically Iran's own money, paid back with interest in order to settle a decades-old dispute over military equipment that had never been delivered due to the 1979 revolution. But in any case, Trump is now making that $1.7 billion look like nothing. It's looking like some pocket change that you found in a couch cushion.

  Because this MOU that Donald Trump Jr. signed says that Iran will be provided with at least $300 billion to repair the damage that's been done to the country over the course of this war — just a mind-melting number. But you had the administration trying to kind of soften the blow, because you had at least one senior administration official telling the BBC that the MOU doesn't actually commit the U.S. to paying Iran a single cent, arguing that it only specifically says that the U.S., quote, undertakes with regional partners to develop a definitive, mutually agreed plan with at least $300 billion for Iran's reconstruction and economic development.

  Then as far as Trump, besides angrily rejecting the idea that the U.S. would be contributing, he suggested that the payouts would come from the Gulf states. Now it is not clear that these countries — who have taken really the brunt of Iran's retaliatory strikes and seemingly haven't had any say in the negotiations — are going to be lining up to help Iran rebuild, especially with a price tag of at least $300 billion. And the MOU ultimately doesn't address any of these concerns. Just mark that the question of this $300 billion is a matter to be resolved over the course of the 60-day negotiating period.

  But then also a huge thing is that even if that never happens, this agreement is still setting Iran up to bring in a lot of money very quickly. And it's partly because it includes an extraordinary commitment from Donald Trump to terminate all types of sanctions against Iran. And while it says that this will only be done according to an agreed-upon schedule as part of the final deal, it also says that the U.S. Treasury Department will immediately issue sanctions waivers for, quote, export of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products and derivatives, and all associated services including banking, transactions, insurance, transportation, etc. Since those products account for the vast majority of the country's export revenues, this is a huge win for Iran.

  It doesn't end there. The deal also says that the U.S. undertakes to make fully available for use the frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran. And again, the number is massive — the estimated total value of frozen Iranian assets might exceed $100 billion. So getting access to that would be just a huge boon for Iran's economy.

  Of course, again, you had Trump trying to push back, saying, hey, this hasn't technically counted as the U.S. paying Iran, saying we have taken a lot of their money, arguing it's not our money, it's their money. And we froze it at a certain point in time, I guess we're going to have to give it back. Two sentences, mind you, that would be playing on a loop for 24 hours a day for several months in a row on Fox News if Obama or Biden said them. But also, don't worry — you know, Donald Trump insisted that the funds are only going to be released in return for good behavior.

  If you're wondering, yes, Donald Trump is still trying to play this off as a win, despite it being essentially the same sort of concession that Obama made 11 years ago — again, he called that Obama deal one of the worst deals in the country's history. But also we can't fully make a comparison yet, because Donald Trump still doesn't have a nuclear deal. He just has now two months to get one. And also, if you're wondering, that "worst deal ever" — even though it was way better — it took the Obama administration 20 months to negotiate.

  As far as what is in the MOU to start, you have Iran reaffirming that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons — though honestly, that's barely notable, right? Iran actually ratified the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, unlike Israel. And they similarly reaffirmed that commitment under the Obama deal. Even U.S. intelligence before the war said they weren't doing this. The walls are now like — whatever they're saying in public — you have a lot of experts saying, hey, Iran may actually be more incentivized than ever to get nuclear weapons. Famously, it seems like the only way you can get America, or really any other country, not to mess with you.

  Really, the only substantive issue even remotely addressed in this MOU is Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, now believed to be buried under bombed nuclear sites. But all the country has actually committed to is downblending the material on site under the supervision of the IAEA. It's an open question as far as exactly how and when that'll be done and whether the stuff will stay in the country — they're still working on that. You had that senior U.S. official trying to play this off as a win, calling it a significant concession by Iran.

  But again, if we're going to be making comparisons — because Donald Trump just loves bringing up Obama — under that Obama deal, Iran roughly shipped 25,000 pounds of enriched uranium, or 97% of its stockpile, completely out of the country. The current roughly 1,000-pound stockpile, which is enriched to a much higher level, nearly weapons grade, only accumulated after Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal. And also, when it comes to uranium, what is downblended can also be upblended, so to speak. And so if they still have that material, they can still get it back to near weapons grade.

  So then the other big question is whether Iran will agree to limits on future enrichment. Earlier reporting suggested that Iran agreed in principle to a suspension, with the only question kind of left unanswered being the length of time. And while Trump initially wanted a permanent ban, he then went down to 20 years and he recently even suggested he'd be open to 15. Again, this deal that's just been signed only says that the two parties have agreed to discuss the issue of enrichment and other mutually agreed matters related to the Islamic Republic of Iran's nuclear needs, based on a satisfactory framework being agreed upon in the final deal.

  You actually had Trump yesterday doing a complete 180, seemingly acknowledging what Iran has described as the right to enrichment: "It's a little hard when other people have it — other adjoining states have it — and you're not letting them have it for purposes of electricity and things like that. You have to use a little common sense."

  The MOU also hands Iran other wins, including a commitment from both sides to try to, quote, refrain from interfering in each other's internal affairs — which could be seen, and is being seen by many, as Trump agreeing not to push for regime change, which is something that he said was an aim of the war early on. You then also have the U.S. saying that it undertakes to remove its forces from the proximity of Iran within 30 days after the final deal — which is yet another thing that seemed like an impossible task just a few months ago, though again, there are no details about what this would actually look like.

  But then also what's not in the MOU stands out greatly, including any mention of Iran's ballistic missile program — even though a key objective of the war had at one point been the total destruction of that program. And in fact, the idea that Iran's ballistic missile program served as a conventional shield that would one day enable the regime to develop a nuclear weapon — that served as Trump and co.'s justification for why Iran posed an imminent threat that required them to attack. But then yesterday, similar to his comments on enrichment, you had Trump suggesting, guys, it's not that big of a deal: "Well, what am I going to do? I'm going to let Saudi Arabia have missiles, but they can't have them? Doesn't work that way. You know it doesn't work that way. And missiles are the problem? Missiles? They hurt a little location, but they don't blow up the planet."

  The MOU also makes no specific mention of Hezbollah or Iran's other proxy groups in the region, which again stands out, because another early aim of the war had been stopping Iran from funding those groups. That said, it does say that the U.S. and Iran and their allies in the current war declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts — including language about ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon. And that does notably come as Trump has been increasingly critical of Israel's attacks on its northern neighbors: "I'm not saying they shouldn't protect themselves. I'm saying when two drones were shot into the desert and dropped harmlessly, you don't have to knock down buildings in Beirut."

  You actually had the leader of Hezbollah hailing the agreement and Trump's remarks as a great win. And at least one administration official reportedly not confirming whether that meant Israel would be forced to withdraw from the portion of the country that it's occupied as a buffer zone against Hezbollah. And you're also seeing a lot of Israelis absolutely pissed about this, with Netanyahu looking like he's under a lot of pressure to reject it and deliver on his promise to deliver a, quote, total victory.

  You're seeing conservative voices in the U.S., like Ben Shapiro, sort of echoing the same kind of "finish the job" perspective, telling Fox News that Trump's decision to attack Iran was one of the greatest acts of political bravery of his lifetime, but then this MOU appears to be, just from the text, a disaster that does not achieve any of the actual stated goals that were set by the administration at the beginning. The huge thing here is that Shapiro shifted some of, if not all of, the blame off of Trump and onto JD Vance: "In my opinion, the Vice President of the United States, the chief negotiator on this particular project, has not well served the president." Which, if I can for just a second — this part, guys, this is just Ben Shapiro, you're a coward.

  I didn't know if I should include this in the video, because you kind of just don't — look, sometimes you can look at your numbers and think they matter, but then people that actually do this job know that your numbers oftentimes do not add up. You'll have an episode come out, it has 150,000 views, and magically pops up to 400,000, 500,000. But for some reason, the number of comments and likes doesn't seem to be shifting at that same rate. You put out a full show that has over 400,000 views and it has 3,500 likes. Hey, I don't have all the answers. Maybe there's a genuine reason for this, but it really does look like you're trying to hide the fall-off. And, I mean, some could see this as you trying to defraud your audience. But anyway.

  We've also seen criticism coming from right-wing voices that have been against this war, with Megyn Kelly, for example: "Iran is about to be richer than it's ever been. I mean, we're about to release a lot of money to Iran, and they will emerge from this whole thing in some ways much better off than they were before. They'll possibly be in control of the Strait of Hormuz. They'll definitely have hundreds of billions of dollars that they didn't have before."

  You then also had Tucker Carlson piling on, saying that he thinks Iran is now going to pursue a nuclear weapon: "And it is absolutely impossible to say this is in any sense a win for the United States, because it's not. This is a pretty humiliating loss for the United States. The United States has shown that it does not have — despite possessing the world's best, or biggest, or certainly most generously funded military — does not have the military power to impose its will on the 34th biggest economy in the world."

  And then aside from commentators and influencers, you had people like Republican Senator Bill Cassidy slamming the MOU, writing: "Reagan is rolling over in his grave. This is the worst foreign policy blunder in decades." With Ted Cruz and others also calling it disastrous. But then also on the flip side, there were Republicans like Rand Paul, who's been a critic of the war, supporting the deal. And you're also seeing some people on the left who welcome measures like the lifting of sanctions.

  But really, wherever you land or wherever you're coming from, it is clear that Trump has failed to achieve his own objectives, completely crossed his own red lines, and likely achieved nothing that could have been won by just negotiating from the start. And it is just really hard to see this — unless your head is so far up Donald Trump's ass that you even pass Benny Johnson on your way — not seeing this as a huge loss for Trump. He created a problem. Tons of people died, including a bunch of school kids, 13-plus U.S. military members. In the meantime, you and everybody's been paying more for gas and pretty much everything else. Iran proved that it can wait out the United States. Also, it's like they discovered they have a superpower in this choke point and just how much pain they can inflict. And I'm just left wondering if Sleepy Don realizes he took just such a massive L, or maybe he is really that far gone. But then also on the complete opposite end of the spectrum

• Mamdani's Knicks Speech Speaks to All of America

  We then have to look to New York. You've got pretty much everyone feeling like a winner right now — the Knicks having their championship parade, people out early and in numbers. It is a bit of news, but also maybe a little bit as a palate cleanser, I want to include two minutes of Mamdani's speech where he's praising the Knicks, but he's really talking about a lot more. He's talking about the Knicks and New York and, to a greater extent, America — people staring down adversity and doing something about it.

  "Over these past weeks, as the Knicks kept winning, our city has come together as one. Neighbors invited neighbors over. Strangers high-fived one another in the street. Subway conductors sang their announcements, and bus drivers danced behind the wheel. So often when the city comes together, it is because we are forced to by a moment of tragedy or adversity. What a gift it is to be brought together by pure, unfiltered joy. For as long as we live, we will remember this feeling of a city together, a city alive, a city overcome by happiness.

  But let's not pretend that this was inevitable. If you will allow me, I want to travel back in time. Eight days ago. Nine minutes and 33 seconds left in the fourth quarter. The Knicks are down 20. The analytics guys, the sports betting companies, the pundits who watch from far away — they do what they do. They run the numbers. They calculate the odds. They write the Knicks off. They give the Spurs a 99.6% chance of winning the game. A 99.6% chance of tying up the series two-two, of reclaiming the momentum with the next game in San Antonio. A 99.6% chance of silencing the Garden for another year of watching and waiting.

  But there is one thing that the pundits just don't get about this team. They just don't get about this city. It is in that 0.4% that we go to work. It is in that 0.4% that Jalen Brunson — the same guy that so many said was too small — proves that not only is he good enough, he is the new standard for greatness. It's in that 0.4% that the Knicks do what New Yorkers have always done: when we are told something is impossible, we find a way."

  He gives a lot of people a lot of flowers, but I wanted to just get his message because it really did feel like one that just transcends sports. I think it's an important mindset in the face of constant horror and corruption and just losing left and right. You, me — we're allowed to feel what we feel, but then we have to do something about it, starting with whatever we can do ourselves, what's around us, and then build from there.

  And funny enough, I actually hit on this on the Secret channel — that's not a secret channel, I might even link to it at the end of the video today. Man, I think the more people see of Mamdani, the more Republicans are lucky that he cannot run for president. Though right now they're probably definitely not loving the fact they're having to deal with just fallout after fallout from the Trump administration. Then there's more that we've got to dive into in just a minute.

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• UFO Enthusiasts Upset With Lack of Transparency from Trump Administration

  Then diving right back into the news, we've got to talk about how there is a group that Donald Trump may have to worry about come Election Day, and it's not young men or minority voters or really any familiar demographic. Instead, I'm talking to you about UFO enthusiasts — or, actually, as they often call themselves, ufologists, or as I guess skeptics prefer to call them, UFO believers. That's because they actually put a lot of their hopes in Donald Trump, because of course he said he would be — and he claims to be — the most transparent president in American history. And people thought that he would finally disclose whatever secrets about aliens the U.S. government has been hiding since the 1940s.

  In February, it actually looked like he was really going to. Trump ordered the release of all the UFO files in the government's possession. Which, for me, I'll say — this is my opinion — at the time I was like, well, obviously he's going to do this. He wants a distraction. The economy sucks. We're at war. He's stonewalling people on the Epstein files. Give people some red meat, maybe they'll chew on that rather than all the stuff I don't want them talking about.

  And while all of that came to a climax last month when the White House unveiled aliens.gov — a website that revealed what it called, in huge text at the top, the words "They Walk Among Us" — with the X-Files music playing as soon as you enter the site. Within the smaller text reading: "For 60 years, the U.S. government has kept a closely guarded secret: aliens have been walking among us, living in our neighborhoods and interacting with us in our daily lives. They've shopped in the same stores, attended the same classes as our children, and lived seemingly normal human existences. With one exception — they do not belong here."

  And if you haven't guessed who they are, because you forgot that this administration is one of the most cringe-inducing and dehumanizing administrations in history, they're referring to undocumented immigrants. Or, as they put it, millions of aliens whom the White House says came under cover of darkness and embedded themselves in our society while the government covered up and accelerated the invasion. What followed was a database of immigration arrests — or, as the site calls them, alien abductions — as well as an invitation to report your undocumented neighbors.

  While you had a ton of people who went to this page being disgusted by the craven dehumanization of millions of ordinary people, as far as the UFO community, they were offended for a different reason — with, for example, one member telling the Washington Post they think it's gross on so many levels. The administration is choosing to make a mockery out of whistleblowers and victims of government corruption and harassment. Because from their perspective, Trump teased them this huge disclosure and then kind of made them the butt of a joke about deporting immigrants.

  But also, many were willing to let that disappointment fly if the actual UFO files ended up giving them what they wanted. And so with that, the Pentagon released its first batch in May and the second shortly afterward, with the third last week. And it's pretty much more of what we've already seen — videos of round objects or lights moving around in the sky, though they're presented with little or no context. Then where videos aren't available, we get artistic interpretations of reported sightings instead, as well as reports detailing eyewitness accounts. And then also, for some reason, you had people really fixating on this one report that describes a potato-shaped object over Colorado Springs that looks somewhat translucent with a slight glow — even with an intelligence assessment guessing that it could just be sunlight reflecting off of the snow on a mountain and illuminating the underside of low-altitude clouds.

  And then there are also more document dumps coming, with the DoD promising one every few weeks in the foreseeable future, since there are tens of millions of records going back decades. And with that, you had Pete Hegseth proclaiming these files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation, and it's time the American people see it for themselves. But so far we really haven't gotten anything new or groundbreaking from these files.

  So you have enthusiasts getting restless — which also, to a certain degree, may or may not be connected to Steven Spielberg's new film, Disclosure. It just came out and it's kind of thrown a bright spotlight on the whole UFO question. Without giving things away, it's about characters rushing to expose the truth about aliens while a joint corporate-government conspiracy tries to stop them. To many, it's kind of seen as throwing really a lot of bones at the UFO community. There's lore galore in there, from the Roswell incident to Project Blue Book to real congressional testimony. Which also makes sense, because Spielberg has had an interest in this space for a long time — like ever since he was a kid. Even if you never saw an interview from him, I mean, you can tell from his other films like E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

  And so actually, during the marketing campaign for this film, he was also kind of like, this isn't just a movie, it's about some real stuff: "Do you think that there are aliens here, and do you think they might still be here? Based on the circumstantial evidence of everything that I've gathered throughout my whole life, and all the testimonies in Congress that I've heard — I absolutely think that they have been here and they are here. And who knows, maybe they've always been here."

  You've seen this film so far kind of eliciting a bunch of different reactions from the UFO community. Some just kind of appreciate that it's boosting their cause, saying that the core message — that people deserve transparency from their government — is crucial. You also had others saying they resonated with Spielberg's portrayal of experiencers, which is their term for people who have encountered the paranormal, including UFOs and aliens. Then also, I'll say, on the further fringes, you've got some people thinking the U.S. government and Steven Spielberg actually collaborated on the film, or at the very least, thinking that this is not merely a work of fiction: "Some people still think it's a coincidence — I don't. Because no Hollywood film discloses reality in such an overt way. They always layer it. They always put it in. They mix it with truth and with fiction. So they're giving you the truth, but they're mixing it with fiction so that you don't know which is which."

  Also, if there is one person in mainstream pop culture who rivals Spielberg in terms of the impact they've had on popularizing UFO and alien conspiracy theories, it's got to be Joe Rogan. He's had virtually every big name in the UFO community on his podcast over the years, from Lou Elizondo to Bob Lazar. And he's hosted many of them in just the past several months: "Whatever these beings are, if they are real — are they us? Are they us from the future that is coming back to make sure that we don't mess it up, and to sort of hold our hand through this experiment? I'm a fan of the ultraterrestrial idea that these are not from the future — they're from the past. They just happen to be way more advanced than we thought. First of all, we're dealing with alien or another civilization's technology, whether it's from another dimension, another time, another planet. I mean, who really knows?"

  Actually, now to the point where a handful of Congress members are on board with the disclosure effort. In fact, there's even a UAP caucus — with UAP being short for Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, though you can also just call them UFOs. And it includes lawmakers from both parties like Jared Moskowitz and Paulina Luna, Nancy Mace, and most notably, Republican Tim Burchett, who just last month went on Joe Rogan: "President Trump's always been great to me. He's never lied to me, but I don't know that he knows the right questions to ask and the right people to talk to, because this thing's been covered up at least since 1947, and I just don't think they're going to — they don't give up that easy. The war machine at the Pentagon and everybody else, they just don't give up that easy."

  Now, in response to the criticism from disclosure advocates disappointed by the recent UFO file dumps, you have the White House sending the same statement to reporters, calling Trump the most transparent president in American history and saying that he is focused on providing maximum disclosure to the public, who can ultimately make up their own minds about the information contained in these files.

• Chud the Builder Crowdfunds Over $300K as Judge Revokes Bond

  Next, let's talk about a much different kind of fallout around a much different kind of situation. And that is Chud the Builder. You really do get everything on this show. Chud the Builder, he's back in the news because his bond was revoked. And that's also coming as reports note that he's been able to turn out a massive profit off his wildly offensive content.

  We talked about this guy last month. He seems to just be a racist influencer and live streamer — though they love to call themselves freedom of speech advocates. That's the only reason he goes around harassing people, calling them the N-word. He's fighting for freedom of speech. He's a hero. And his name is Dalton Ertzberger.

  You may have seen him because he's gone viral for walking around on the streets yelling the N-word and other racial slurs and just horrifically offensive things to Black people: "Look at that monkey. Go climb a tree. Somebody get him a banana!"

  And he's been dealing with a lot of legal trouble. Earlier this year, before everything got really crazy, he racked up a nearly $400 bill at a restaurant in Nashville, with him live streaming while eating dinner. And when the staff asked him to stop recording, he refused and had a tantrum and left without paying. With Chud the Builder ending up in jail for that — though he posted bond and got out relatively quickly.

  But alas, it wasn't meant to be. Because just a week after that, he ended up facing attempted murder charges, because he got into this altercation with a Black man that ended up with him opening fire. And it actually went down outside of a courthouse in Montgomery County, Tennessee — he was there for a whole other case. He claimed that a man outside started pointing and laughing at him, saying that he tried to walk away, but then the man followed him and attacked him. And so he drew his weapon, claiming: "He said, 'You start saying all that chimp stuff to me, I'm gonna hit you.' He hit me, started wailing on me, even after I had to defend myself by shooting him. He's still wailing on me."

  Chud the Builder apparently also got injured in this, as well. And the latest news is stemming from a hearing about the Nashville dine-and-dash, but it still deals heavily with the attempted murder charge — because you've got authorities focusing on social media posts that he made before the shooting, calling them racist and violent and even saying they sound premeditated, like he was going to kill somebody. And according to The Tennessean, the district attorney also played a video where Chud said: "Only proper escalation. It's inevitable. Just imagine the headline: Chud the Builder kills a Black man. It's almost like it's going to happen."

  And so not only did posts like that result in the judge revoking his bond — you then also had News Channel 5 in Nashville doing a piece about how inflammatory rhetoric like that has been so profitable for him. Noting things like, before his arrest, he was making money from a meme coin that he held 3% in and would promote while posting clips of his content. The idea being the more attention he gets, the more eyeballs are on him, and the more likely people are to invest in that coin. With that, it peaked in May and it's also dropped massively.

  Then we also appear to see him making money from his arrest through crowdfunding donations on GiveSendGo — that's the platform that's similar to GoFundMe, but it's Christian-based and has less moderation rules, so it really often caters to the far right. And a fundraiser called "Help the Chud and His Family" has raised over $300,000 — even though the description says that it's meant to cover legal fees as well as expenses for his family. For people charged with crimes as serious as attempted murder, GiveSendGo only allows funds to cover a person's legal defense. So they issued an update on his page clarifying what money received there could be used for.

  But then also on top of that, courts have said that Chud will not be allowed to use crowdsourced money to post bond. That is then very notable, because even though his bond in the restaurant case was revoked, he's facing a $1 million bond in the attempted murder case. And so for now, this is largely where we are. He has a lot of court appearances ahead of him. In this most recent hearing, as lawyers try to defend him by noting that he's been facing serious threats — he's made several complaints, including people threatening to chop his infant son's head off. His attorneys also filed a motion to dismiss the charges from the Nashville incident. So we're going to have to see what comes from that.

• Families of Gilgo Beach Victims Lay Into Killer at His Sentencing

  And then actually from that, for our final block today, we've got some more news you need to know. Quickly, starting with the fact that the Gilgo Beach serial killer was just sentenced to three life sentences and then some, after pleading guilty to seven murders and admitting to one more that was left out of his plea deal.

  In the sentencing hearing, it was explosive: "You're disgusting and despicable. Small man. If you're a man at all, and you're a coward."

  And if you're unfamiliar with just this whole terrible story — Rex Heuermann was arrested back in 2023 in connection with the heinous murders that went unsolved for decades. You had the remains of two victims being found in 1993 and 1996, but most of the victims were actually killed between 2000 and 2010. With the case also blowing up in 2010 when investigators started to find human remains while looking into the disappearance of Shannon Gilbert. The case eventually went cold until 2022, when detectives linked Heuermann to a truck that a witness reported seeing when one of the victims disappeared. With detectives from there able to get his DNA from some pizza crust that he threw out, which matched the DNA they found with one of the victims. And then after also tracking his cell phone data and realizing it arranged to meet with some of the victims shortly before they disappeared, they got him. And actually, after his arrest, they even found a sort of blueprint for his killings on his computer, where he had planned out some of his murders. He's been rotting away in jail ever since.

  Yesterday, he had to hear from the victims' loved ones: "Twisted. Heartless. There aren't enough words for these murders. Beneath the truth of it is who you are — a man without empathy, without a soul. Someone who hunted, tortured, and murdered women because that's truly what you are. A large man with repugnant traits, a violent man — a pulsing monster. A demon inside. And I don't even want to speak on heaven, but do me a favor — save a spot, because I'll see you there."

  Emotion running so high that even the judge was brought to tears hearing the victims' loved ones speak. People telling Heuermann: "What you have done to our family is beyond what words can express." The sister of one of the victims saying that her loved one was a victim of a predator and a serial killer, so evil it's been unbearable. And after all that, Heuermann really didn't have much to say: "There are no words I can say. I am responsible for everyone in this room today. The words I would say have no meaning."

  And I'm going to leave it there. And you even had the judge blowing up on him after that: "Are you at least a little bit sorry for what you did to these poor, innocent women? Eight women that you strangled to death. At least eight that we know of. Are you at least a little bit sorry?"

• Pentagon Official Says Grok Was Used to Fire Over 2,000 Missiles at Iran

  You then also have news we have to talk about with the Pentagon's Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer, Cameron Stanley. That's because Stanley just said in a sworn statement that the U.S. used Grok to help launch 2,000 missiles at Iran.

  This actually came out in a lawsuit against Elon Musk, where you have the NAACP claiming that Musk's xAI violated the Clean Air Act by polluting the air in Black neighborhoods, running gas-burning turbines without the proper permits. You've got the Trump administration asking a federal judge in Mississippi to toss that lawsuit out, with Stanley saying in a statement that it is a matter of paramount national security — saying the Pentagon relies on xAI's Grok model and would be severely impacted by a court ruling to block them from using it. Stanley indicated that Grok is one of four AI models currently capable of supporting national security applications, and one of only three products able to support top-secret operations. And then with all this, you had Stanley claiming that data centers used by the federal government are long-term strategic tools vital to maintaining our technological advantage against adversaries.

  But also, the timing here is notable because it comes after the use of AI in warfare has definitely been under scrutiny, as U.S. attacks have killed hundreds of civilians — most notably, or maybe the most in the public eye, that strike on an Iranian girls' school that killed at least 175 people. And there are some analysts speculating that the Pentagon's use of AI targeting could have played a role. However, the Defense Department still hasn't agreed to investigate that bombing or any other school or hospital bombings that could have potentially been avoided with stricter AI rules.

  So with that, you've had some Congress members putting forth legislation themselves to limit the use of AI in the military. You had one bill from Senator Kirsten Gillibrand that would make sure humans control, quote, life and death decisions, and ban the use of AI altogether when it comes to nuclear weapons, domestic surveillance, and autonomous weapons systems — adding: "We must act now, not to stifle technological progress, but to establish clear rules of the road that keep humans in charge and keep AI's use in warfare smart and safe."

  But that, my friend — you beautiful bastard — is the end of your Thursday Philip DeFranco Show. Dive into the news!

  I also got two quick things for you. A friendly reminder — I guess, really an announcement — that tomorrow I'm going to be doing a special episode. A lot of people wanted me to do a watch party, breakdown, talk about stuff that's been cut out, even more about the big win. That's of course going to allow me to give away $1 million to 40 of you beautiful bastards. We're going to split it up into $25K chunks. The details are getting figured out. It's not happening that live episode — that's going to be a great time.

  And then also today, if you want something that's kind of — let's think of it as a palate cleanser — I put out what I think is about a four-minute video on the not-so-secret channel that I sometimes mention every nine months. And this time I'll link to it on screen in the video.

  Hey, no matter what you do, let me just say thank you for watching. I love yo faces. And I'll see you right back here tomorrow.