By MATTHEW BROWN

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — One of Layton Tallwhiteman’s earliest memories was watching the news at his uncle’s house in Montana in 2003 and seeing the U.S. bomb Baghdad to launch the war in Iraq.

Recollections of that war — waged in part to find weapons of mass destruction that did not exist – flooded back for Tallwhiteman after President Donald Trump ordered weekend bombing strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities amid its escalating conflict with Israel.

The administration has indicated it wants to avoid getting pulled into all-out war. Tallwhiteman, who grew up on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation southeast of Billings, is skeptical.

“Their idea is to eliminate the threat. Like Bush said in Iraq, ‘We’re going to eliminate the threat. We’re going to find weapons of mass destruction and eliminate them.’ Did that work the way he planned? No, obviously it didn’t,” said Tallwhiteman. The 30-year-old driver for a food distribution company said he usually votes Libertarian, but backed Democrat Kamala Harris over Trump last year.

Across the U.S. on Sunday, Americans expressed a mixture of support, apprehension and confoundment at the bombings, which officials said caused severe damage to Iran’s nuclear sites. Administration officials said the strikes left room for Iran to return to negotiations over its nuclear program. Yet if the conflict spirals, it could test Trump’s foreign diplomacy skills and also his support at home.

‘It had to be done’

B-2 bombers that participated in the weekend strikes returned home to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri on Sunday. Nearby, retired Air Force veteran Ken Slabaugh said he was “100% supportive” of Trump’s decision and the military personnel who carried it out.

Slabaugh said Iran has showed resistance to negotiations over its nuclear program for decades, a problem that he said Trump inherited. Iran can’t be trusted, Slabaugh said, nor allowed to acquire nuclear weapons.

“It simply had to be done,” he said of the strikes, adding that he’s now concerned for members of the military around the world.

“I’m proud of the guys and the gals that are doing the work out there. Nobody in the world does this like we do, and we have the freedom and liberty we enjoy because of that,” Slabaugh said.

In Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Andrew Williams, 18, said he was surprised by the timing of the attack given that many Republicans had expressed opposition to U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran war. Still, he thought it was necessary if Iran was building nuclear weapons.

“If we are able to get rid of that, that is something we should do,” Williams said.

Robert Wallette of Billings said Trump had “good reason” to conduct the bombing as a demonstration of American support for Israel.

“Iran’s evil, evil people. They hate Americans,” he said.

Concern about conflict spinning out of control

Wallette, 69, a retired contract specialist at the federal Indian Health Service, said he hated Trump when the Republican was first elected because of his arrogant style.

His perspective started to shift after Trump moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In 2024, Wallette voted for Trump based on his promises to curb illegal immigration, putting him among the 60% of voters backing Trump last year in Yellowstone County, which includes Billings.

Notwithstanding his support, Wallette was unsure if Trump can avoid the U.S. getting drawn into a deeper conflict with Iran.

“Other countries are getting involved and this may be out of his control,” he said.

Kent Berame, 32, of Davie, Florida, said it was a little outrageous for Trump to go rogue and approve the attack without explicit support from Congress. He said he doesn’t agree with the United States supporting Israel’s recent attacks on Iran.

“There’s concern that we’re putting troops in danger,” said Berame, a Democrat who owns his own marketing company. “And obviously there’s a retaliatory response toward all of our bases over there.”

Berame said it’s frustrating that the U.S. might be increasing hostilities with Iran just a few years after finally ending the war in Afghanistan.

“I don’t want to see any U.S. soldiers in harm’s way or in danger,” he said.

Back in Billings, Trump voter Patty Ellman said she worries about the U.S. getting sucked into another extended conflict.

“We have enough going on in America to get into other countries’ wars. Let’s just take care of us right now,” she said.

Ellman, a 61-year-old who stepped in as caregiver for her ex-husband after he suffered a stroke, said the U.S. should retaliate if attacked, but otherwise stay out of Iran’s conflict with other countries.

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“That’s their business,” she said. “We need to worry about Americans and how we’re going to survive and are we going to have Social Security.”

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With contributions from David Fischer in Davie, Florida; Nicholas Ingram in Knob Noster, Missouri; and Mingson Lau in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Almost four years ago to the date, Danny Coulombe took the mound for his first major league career start, throwing nearly two innings before making way for Griffin Jax, then a starter. It was his first and only career start until Sunday when Coulombe was tapped to start again, this time as an opener for David Festa, who had lasted less than four innings in two of his three previous starts.

It’s something that manager Rocco Baldelli said he had been thinking about for a while and discussing internally — and he said it was “probably something that we’re going to see more of” — but it wasn’t until Saturday afternoon that the Twins informed both Coulombe and Festa of the decision.

“We’re reacting a little bit because we have to,” Baldelli said before the game. “I think there are certain times of the year where you’ve got to make a call, one way or the other. And it’s been a little while now we’ve been struggling to stop the other teams from scoring and we’re going to introduce something new and try to switch things up. Not just for the sake of switching things up, because I think there are actual benefits, too.”

With two lefties among the Milwaukee Brewers’ first three hitters on Sunday, Baldelli got his best southpaw out to face him. It didn’t go quite to plan as Coulombe got the first two outs of the inning but then gave up a double to left-hander Christian Yelich before William Contreras hit an RBI knock give the Brewers an early lead.

Festa then entered in the second inning with the Twins up 2-1 and immediately surrendered a home run to Rhys Hoskins, tying the game. He would get knocked around in the Twins’ 9-8 loss to the Brewers, giving up eight runs on 12 hits in 4 2/3 innings pitched.

“It’s a little different, for sure. It’s hard to say it’s not,” Festa said. “We have a good inning offensively. I tried to treat that long half inning as if (we) were the away team and it’s the top of the first. I mean, it’s a little different, but it had no impact on any of the results.”

Willi Castro scratched

Willi Castro’s right wrist has been bothering him since Thursday, when the Twins played their last game in Cincinnati, but he had been feeling it more and more frequently and on Sunday morning, it forced him out of the lineup.

The Twins scratched the utilityman from the lineup, giving him the day off. Castro said he had an X-ray taken and was told that it was nothing serious. It’s something he said he feels on certain “funky swings.”

“I’ve had that pain before, but (Sunday) it was the day it got worse,” Castro said. “I’ve played with that pain before, last year, this year. … Probably two to three days I’ll be fine to go back and play.”

Briefly

Bailey Ober will take the mound on Monday when the Twins play host to the Seattle Mariners. Ober faced the Mariners in late May, giving up two earned runs in four innings pitched. He will be opposed by right-hander Bryan Woo, who has a 3.12 earned-run average this season and held the Twins to three runs in 6 2/3 innings when he pitched against them last month.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee judge on Sunday ordered the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose mistaken deportation has become a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, while he awaits a federal trial on human smuggling charges. But he is not expected to be allowed to go free.

At his June 13 detention hearing, prosecutors said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would take Abrego Garcia into custody if he were released on the criminal charges, and he could be deported before he has a chance to stand trial.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday to discuss the conditions of Abrego Garcia’s release. The U.S. government has already filed a motion to appeal the judge’s release order.

Holmes acknowledged in her ruling Sunday that determining whether Abrego Garcia should be released is “little more than an academic exercise” because ICE will likely detain him. But the judge wrote that everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence and “a full and fair determination of whether he must remain in federal custody pending trial.”

Holmes wrote that the government failed to prove that Abrego was a flight risk, that he posed a danger to the community or that he would interfere with proceedings if released.

“Overall, the Court cannot find from the evidence presented that Abrego’s release clearly and convincingly poses an irremediable danger to other persons or to the community,” the judge wrote.

Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty to the smuggling charges that his attorneys have characterized as an attempt to justify the deportation mistake after the fact.

The acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, Rob McGuire, argued on June 13 that the likely attempt by ICE to try to deport him was one reason to keep him in jail.

But Holmes said then that she had no intention of “getting in the middle of any ICE hold.”

“If I elect to release Mr. Abrego, I will impose conditions of release, and the U.S. Marshal will release him.” If he is released into ICE custody, that is “above my pay grade,” she said.

The judge suggested that the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security could work out between themselves whether the government’s priority is to try him on the criminal charges or deport him. No date has been set for the trial.

Will Allensworth, an assistant federal public defender representing Abrego Garcia at the detention hearing, told Holmes that “it’s not necessarily accurate that he would be immediately deported.”

A 2019 immigration judge’s order prevents Abrego Garcia, who had been living in Maryland, from being deported to his home country of El Salvador, Allensworth said in court. That’s because he faces a credible threat from gangs there, according to court papers.

The government could deport him to a third country, but immigration officials would first be required to show that third country was willing to keep him and not simply deport him back to El Salvador, Allensworth said.

The smuggling charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding in Tennessee during which Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers. Although officers suspected possible smuggling, he was allowed to go on his way with only a warning. He has pleaded not guilty.

At the detention hearing, McGuire said cooperating witnesses have accused Abrego Garcia of trafficking drugs and firearms and of abusing the women he transported, among other claims. Although he is not charged with such crimes, McGuire said they showed Abrego Garcia to be a dangerous person who should remain in jail pretrial.

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have characterized the smuggling case as a desperate attempt to justify the mistaken deportation. The investigation was launched weeks after the U.S. government deported Abrego Garcia and the Supreme Court ordered the administration to facilitate his return amid mounting public pressure.

The U.S. is now expected to try to deport him again with much of the world watching and the outcome hard to predict.

Most people in ICE custody who are facing criminal charges are not kept in the U.S. for trial but deported, Ohio State University law professor César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández said.

The U.S. will likely try to deport Abrego Garcia quickly without going before an immigration judge, the professor said. The government would not need a conviction to deport him because Abrego Garcia came to the U.S. illegally.

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“The legal standard is laxer,” García Hernández said. “The government’s argument is on stronger legal footing.”

However an immigration judge rules, the decision can be appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals, García Hernández said. And the board’s ruling can then be contested in a federal appeals court.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s decision to launch a military strike on Iran’s nuclear sites without fully consulting the U.S. Congress layered a partisan approach onto a risky action, particularly because the White House briefed top Republican leaders beforehand while leaving Democrats with little information.

While House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Republican leader John Thune and the GOP chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee all were briefed before the action, their counterparts were not. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer was given a perfunctory heads-up by the White House shortly before the strikes were made public. And House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries’ office received a “courtesy call” before Trump announced it. The so-called Gang of Eight congressional and intelligence leaders were not notified before the mission, according to two people familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss it.

One, Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he learned of the strikes on social media, which he said “is an uncomfortable thing for the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee.”

“Bad enough that we weren’t informed,” Himes, of Connecticut, said Sunday on CNN, “but unconstitutional that we didn’t have the opportunity to debate and speak, as the representatives of the people, on what is one of the more consequential foreign policy things that this country has done in a long time.”

It’s a highly unusual situation that is complicating the difficult politics ahead for the president and his party as the U.S. enters an uncertain national security era with the surprise military attack on the nuclear facilities, an unprecedented incursion in Iran.

Trump faces a vote in Congress as soon as this week on a war powers resolution from Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., that would “direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran that have not been authorized by Congress.” Another resolution has been introduced by lawmakers from both parties in the U.S. House. And at least one Democrat, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, said Trump’s actions are “clearly grounds for impeachment.”

At the same time, the Trump administration is expecting Congress to send an additional $350 billion in national security funds as part of the president’s big tax breaks bill also heading soon for a vote. Senators are set to be briefed Tuesday behind closed doors on the situation in Iran.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Sunday that the White House made “bipartisan courtesy calls” to congressional leadership. She said in a social media post that the White House spoke to Schumer “before the strike” but that House leader Jeffries “could not be reached until after, but he was briefed.”

While the president has authority as the commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces to order specific military actions, any prolonged war-time footing would traditionally need authorization from Congress. The House and Senate authorized actions in Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack.

“Congress should be consulted,” Kaine said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “We were not.”

As soon as Trump announced the actions late Saturday, he won swift support from the GOP leadership in Congress. Johnson, Thune and the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, were all briefed ahead of time and sent almost simultaneous statements backing the military campaign, as did the House Intelligence Committee chairman, Rep. Rick Crawford, also of Arkansas.

But by apparently engaging with only one side of the political aisle, Trump risks saddling his Republican Party with political ownership of the military action against Iran, which may or may not prove popular with Americans. Rather than rally the country to his side, Trump risks cleaving its already deep divisions over his second term agenda.

Johnson, who praised Trump’s action against Iran as “the right call,” said the president’s targeted strike was within his authority and in line with past presidential actions.

“Leaders in Congress were aware of the urgency of this situation and the Commander-in-Chief evaluated that the imminent danger outweighed the time it would take for Congress to act,” Johnson, R-La., said on social media.

Trump himself has shown little patience for political dissent from within his party, even as criticism rolls in from among his most trusted backers.

The Iran military campaign threatens to splinter Trump’s Make America Great Again movement, which powered his return to the White House. Many Trump supporters aligned with his campaign promises not to involve the United States in overseas actions and instead to be a peace-making president.

“I think I represent part of the coalition that elected Trump,” said Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., on CBS. “We were tired of endless wars in the Middle East.”

Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California have introduced their own war powers resolution in the House, a sign of how close the far left and far right have bonded over their opposition to U.S. campaigns abroad, particularly in the Middle East.

The Trump administration insisted Sunday the U.S. is not seeking a war with Iran. “We’re not at war with Iran. We’re at war with Iran’s nuclear program,” said Vice President JD Vance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

And Trump swiftly attacked Massie, who is one of the most steadfast non-interventionist GOP lawmakers in Congress — along with Sen. Rand Paul, also of Kentucky — and the president suggested he would turn his Republican Party against the congressman.

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“MAGA should drop this pathetic LOSER, Tom Massie, like the plague!” the president said on social media. “The good news is that we will have a wonderful American Patriot running against him in the Republican Primary, and I’ll be out in Kentucky campaigning really hard.”

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Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.