“The Air Force said in a release that the aircraft will begin ‘commissioning flights’ before entering into active service to transport the president.”

NewsNation: White House officials bid farewell to Air Force One planes used since 1990.

Said Trump: “We didn’t meet out of desperation, Iran did. They are FINISHED! We’ll play out the 60 days. They get no money, not ten cents!”

He added: “The War has diminished Iran! It doesn’t, any longer, have an Air Force, a Navy, Antiaircraft Equipment, Radar, or practically anything else, and yet the Dumocrats say that Iran is better off now than it was four months ago. Can you imagine getting away with that??? How stupid can some people be???”

— Vice President JD Vance, quoted by the Daily Beast.

“That has attracted a parade of onlookers eager to see and, in some cases, diagnose the situation. The pool’s evolving shades of green have caused a stir on social media with many mocking the results of Trump’s pet project.”

“On the surface, it appeared to be an unusual trading spree. In prior months, Mr. Trump typically reported a couple hundred trades or fewer. One disclosure last year showed only 25.”

“In addition to the repainting by Atlantic Industrial Coatings, the National Park Service paid $1.74 million to Green Water Solutions, an Ohio-based company, earlier this year to install a ‘nano bubble’ system to kill algae, using a similar no-bid contract to speed up the work in time for Fourth of July celebrations.”

Mediaite: Owner of company responsible for part of Trump’s Reflecting Pool renovation pleaded guilty to bribery.

“The open tensions are an almost complete reversal from a year ago when Senate Republicans worked closely with Trump on a complicated effort to push through his massive package of spending and tax cuts.”

— James Carville, on NewsNation.

“The U.S., on the other hand, only secured the reopening of a waterway — the Strait of Hormuz — that was operating normally before the war, and got concessions on Iran’s nuclear program that Tehran has made before.”

Los Angeles Times: Long list of U.S. concessions to Iran raises specter of a “lost war.”

“The strikes on Moscow left part of the city’s biggest oil refinery in flames. An immense blast sent the top of a fuel storage vessel soaring into the air — and blew the roof off the idea that Russia could continue to shield Muscovites from the war.”

Bloomberg: Ukraine’s biggest strike on Moscow brings fears of fuel shortage.

Semafor: US warns Israel against disrupting deal with Iran.

Said Obama: “We’ve now fought a war, spent billions and billions of dollars, you know, put enormous strain on our military. A lot of people have died. And it feels like we’re back where we were before we started the war, except maybe a little bit worse off.”

New York Times: The costs of the Iran war: thousands of lives and billions of dollars.

Think you were paying attention this week? Put your political knowledge to the test with our Weekly News Quiz.

From the biggest headlines to the details that slipped past everyone else, it’s a quick way to see how closely you followed the week’s events.

“In essence, Hegseth was telling the Europeans things they already know.”

“The list included their hike in defense spending, investment in industry to boost the production of military equipment, best use of lessons learned from the war in Ukraine, and the need to buy or develop drones, air defense systems and long-range weapons.”

CNBC: Hegseth warns NATO allies that some nations will ‘fail’ U.S. defense review.

“Almost every end of empire has been accompanied by a particular kind of wishful thinking — call it self-deception, call it willful misdirection — to process the new reality.”

The Guardian: A president’s wishful thinking gives way to uncomfortable realities.

“A slew of White House hopefuls are already auditioning to again lead the party out of the wild, with several parallels to the post-Bush era that produced a Democratic breakout star.”

“Just as Obama followed two dry establishment nominees — Al Gore and John Kerry — Democrats are now again looking for something bolder after Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris came across as creatures of the status quo.”

Said Trump: “She’s probably happy I talked to her. I didn’t have to talk to her.”

He added: “She begged me to take a picture with her. She wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for ‌her.”

CNN: Italian foreign minister cancels trip to US over Trump’s comments about Meloni.

“The report, produced by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, concludes that voting ‌machines could be further safeguarded by, for example, updating their software, the sources said. It does not say the vulnerabilities have led to votes flipping, but examines security gaps in how the machines are used during U.S. elections.”