Michigan
Tlaib denounces, Michigan Republicans back U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites
President Donald Trump’s decision Saturday to have U.S. forces join Israel’s military campaign against Iran by conducting bombing strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites drew conflicting responses from Michigan’s congressional delegation.
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, denounced the attack on Iran, while four Republican lawmakers voiced their support for the strategy.
U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, a Bruce Township Republican who is part of the House Republican leadership, said Trump was delivering “peace through strength,” one of the slogans the Republican president used on the campaign trail in 2024.
“Today’s successful mission destroyed Iran’s nuclear capabilities, protected American lives, and will make the world safer,” McClain said in a post on social media. “Now, it’s time for peace. God bless America and our warfighters.”
But Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, denounced the Republican president’s decision to intervene in the Israel-Iran conflict.
“The American people do not want another forever war,” Tlaib said in a statement. “We have seen where decades of endless war in the Middle East gets us — all based on the lie of ‘weapons of mass destruction.’
“We are not falling for it again.”
The congresswoman was referring to President George W. Bush’s stated reason for the 2003 U.S.-Iraq war — eliminating Iraq’s nuclear weapons. Despite intelligence reports saying the weapons existed, the U.S. military failed to find any weapons and the war dragged on for nine years before U.S. forces withdrew in 2011.
During the 2024 campaign in Michigan, Trump repeatedly criticized Democratic then-President Joe Biden’s handling of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza following the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. At an event in Detroit in October, Trump vowed that he would “stop the chaos” in the Middle East.
On Saturday night, Trump announced in a post on Truth Social that U.S. forces had completed what he described as a “very successful attack” on nuclear sites in Iran, joining Israel’s ongoing fight against Iran.
“All planes are safely on their way home,” Trump wrote. “Congratulations to our great American warriors. There is not another military in the world that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!”
Trump also addressed the country in a Saturday 10 p.m. televised speech. He warned Iran that “there are many targets left” if the country decides to retaliate against U.S. targets.
Michigan’s senior delegation member, U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, backed Trump’s action.
“Tonight, President @realDonaldTrump displayed decisive action to eliminate the nuclear program of the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism,” Walberg said. “President Trump pursued and exhausted diplomatic options, and to protect the security of our nation, this moment called for strong leadership.”
Likewise, U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Caledonia, said a nuclear Iran posed a threat to the U.S.
“His decision to strike Iran is necessary to keep our nation and our allies safe and ensure the number one sponsor of terrorism does not develop nuclear weapons,” Moolenaar said.
But U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, called Trump’s decision to use military force without congressional authorization unconstitutional and said it escalates the risk of war.
“It’s critical we keep American troops and civilians safe and prevent the U.S. from becoming entangled in another endless war in the Middle East,” Dingell said in a statement.
U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Holland, praised Trump for taking decisive action.
“We must ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon and usher in a new age of nuclear terrorism,” Huizenga wrote in a post on X. “I commend the men and women of our Armed Forces for their performance in this operation to make the world a safer place. It is now time for Iran to come to the table and abandon its nuclear ambitions.”
But state Rep. Josh Schriver, R-Oxford, denounced the move by Trump:
“America is (officially) at war (again) on the other side of the world,” Schriver wrote on X. “This is not in the best interest of my constituents, our youth, nor the people of Michigan as a whole. WWJD #NoWar #Peace #BringOurTroopsHome”
U.S Rep. Tom Barrett, a Republican from Charlotte and an Iraq war veteran, struck a more neutral tone. Barrett ran two campaigns for Congress, blasting the United States involvement in “endless wars” in the Middle East.
“I anticipate a full briefing of our military strike in Iran immediately upon my return to Washington,” Barrett wrote on X. “Tonight, I am praying for wisdom in our decisions, President Trump and his team, and the safety of our troops. God bless the United States of America.”
GOP Rep. Jack Bergman, a Vietnam War veteran and retired Marine Corps aviator, said Saturday’s bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities showcased “truly impressive precision.” The Republican congressman from the Upper Peninsula dismissed the idea of Trump starting another “endless war.””President Trump has long made it clear: Iran must never possess a nuclear weapon — and the American people overwhelmingly agree. The President gave Iran’s leader an opportunity to make a deal, but Iran refused to commit to a nuclear disarmament agreement,” Bergman said in a statement.”By leveraging the unmatched precision of the U.S. military, the President has sent a clear message to the world about what peace through strength truly means. This was not a knee-jerk response, and knowing President Trump, he has no interest in dragging America into another endless war.”
U.S. Rep. John James, a Republican from Shelby Township who also served in Iraq, said in a post on X that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons. James, who is running for governor, applauded Trump’s move.
“President Trump is the first president in my lifetime who’s actually willing to use peace through strength, who’s actually willing to put his money where his mouth is to actually support nuclear non-proliferation and making sure that a nuclear Iran is never a thing,” James said in a video late Saturday.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of Ann Arbor, an Egyptian-American, said Trump was disregarding the Constitution by not seeking the approval of Congress to get involved in the fight.
“I’m praying that this does not escalate,” El-Sayed said in a social media post. “And I’m calling on all Americans of good conscience, especially those in Congress, to condemn this and stand up to the warmongering we’re bound to hear over the next few days.”
Former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, a Republican from Cascade Township, warned that Trump’s actions have put all Americans at risk, especially U.S. troops. He stressed that only Congress has the authority under the Constitution to take the country to war.
“We don’t know if or how this war will escalate, but we do know that we have arrogant, reckless, and shameful leaders in the White House and Congress,” Amash wrote on social media. “They — like many of the officials who came before them — have worked to subvert the system that built the freest, most prosperous country the world has ever known.”
Former U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer, a Republican from Grand Rapids Township who served in the Army Reserves in Iraq, contended in posts on social media that Trump “likely” had authority for the strikes on Iran without signoff from Congress.
“I’m a strong believer that Congress must reclaim war powers (see: most of my legislative initiatives in 117th Congress) but under current statute/interpretation President Trump likely has the authority to conduct tonight’s strikes,” Meijer wrote on X.
The president’s “hard ball” strike on the Iranian sites comes after several days of Israeli attacks on Iran that put the country in a precarious position from a weapons and human capital standpoint, said Javed Ali, associate professor of practice at Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. Ali has worked in a variety of national security and counterterrorism roles over the past 20 years, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where he spent time on the National Security Council during Trump’s first term.
“It looks like they landed on what I’ve been calling either the narrow option or something between narrow and medium,” Ali said of Trump’s actions Saturday. “It’s not a broad campaign. It seems, at least right now, limited to the three facilities.”
The U.S.’s continued involvement or the escalation of events in Iran is dependent on how the country responds going forward, Ali said. But he emphasized that Israel’s attacks over the past several days and the U.S. strikes Saturday are bound to have taken their toll on Iran’s ability to retaliate.
“Perhaps the last thing you want to do is retaliate in a way that draws the U.S. further into this conflict,” Ali said. “Because whatever happened in the last few hours is just scratching the surface of what it can do.
“Iran will retaliate, I think,” Ali added. “But I don’t think they’re going to do something so bold and audacious. There’s no way for them to do something proportional.”
cmauger@detroitnews.com
mburke@detroitnews.com
eleblanc@detroitnews.com
East Lansing — It’s 6:30 a.m. but the energy is high inside Michigan State football’s practice facility as Max Bullough barks out orders to his group of linebackers who watch him with rapt attention. At 34 years old, the Traverse City native looks as though he could go through these drills himself. He probably wants to.
Now, the former two-time MSU captain Bullough returns to East Lansing. To the same stomping grounds where his grandfather Hank once plodded the sidelines for Duffy Daugherty. Where his father Shane once captained a team for George Perles. Where he and his brothers Riley and Byron each played for Mark Dantonio, including Max’s captaincy of the 2013 team that won a Big Ten championship and earned a ticket to the Rose Bowl.
A Rose Bowl he never got to play in.
With Bullough, it felt like a matter of when, and not if, a homecoming would occur on the sidelines. And with that reunion would come the inevitable question: Why did his career end a game early, suspended from the Rose Bowl his senior season?
“Yeah, you’ve been dying to ask that one,” Bullough said. “Here’s my answer to that one:
“That was 13 years ago, right. So my focus and my energy and my attention is on the 2026 Spartans, and my beautiful wife, Bailey, and my four boys Rocky, Teddy, Banks and Murphy. We’ll leave the past where the past is. It has nothing to do with what we’re doing moving forward, and so let’s talk about the 2026 Spartans.”
Now that that’s out of the way.
As much as Bullough doesn’t want to talk about the past, it’s what his very hire harkens back to. He’s here to help revive a storied program that means so much to him that he has “Spartans” tattooed across both arms. He gets to raise a family where his family has played and coached, and where his grandmother, Lou Ann Bullough, still gets to every Michigan State basketball game she can. What would it mean for his grandfather to know he came back to join the coaching ranks?
“I don’t know how much he would tell me or not. You never got that much out of him that way,” Bullough said. “But I think at the end of the day, I think it would mean a lot.”
The first thing you notice about Bullough is his intensity, especially for Michigan State football. At least that was the case for new head coach Pat Fitzgerald, who had Bullough wrap up the first team meeting of the year for a new group trying to rise above 4-8 mediocrity a year ago.
“I gave him 90 seconds, I think he went 15 minutes,” Fitzgerald said Feb. 4. “Getting to know Max through the evaluation process when I was putting the staff together, you could sense very quickly his pride — beyond the double bicep — for the Spartan football program, the state of Michigan, his time here, and what he wanted to bring back, and that was toughness.”
Bullough’s part in an illustrious past for this program — in four years he went 40-12 and captained the Spartans his junior and senior years, an honor that means a great deal to him — is a major cultural building block for a staff trying to reestablish principles of the era of Dantonio, who is around more often since Fitzgerald got the job. Thankfully it all worked out, Fitzgerald says.
“He’s got a bright future ahead of himself in his career, and we wanted to make sure,” Fitzgerald said, “coming here is obviously easy to say of course, he’d want to come home. But it also had to fit looking at his three-, five-, 10-year plan for his career.”
Bullough was brought in for the next two seasons on a contract paying him $750,000 per year. When he stepped on campus as an assistant coach was only the second time he’d stepped food on campus since he graduated. The other time was when he was an honorary captain in 2015.
“There’s a lot of new buildings, this whole place,” Bullough said. “That’s the question y’all should ask. This place looks completely different.”
In Bullough, though, there’s a connection to history that feels further and further following four straight losing seasons.
“He’s brought energy, brought enthusiasm. He brings a lineage,” defensive coordinator Joe Rossi said April 7. “He understands what it means to be a Spartan, not only him but his family. So it’s been awesome.”
As an understudy to Rossi, Bullough is listed as a co-defensive coordinator in addition to his role as linebackers coach. Not only does that free up Rossi to “roam” around practices and observe his entire defense (last season, Rossi filled that linebackers coach role), Bullough also gains experience for later in his coaching career that has been impressive through stops at Notre Dame and Alabama. He’s a riser, of whom coaches and players speak highly.
Playing for Mike Vrabel while with the Houston Texans watered the genetic coaching seed in Bullough. It was at Notre Dame that Bullough really fell in love with being a college coach.
“Once I was able to get to Notre Dame and have my own room,” Bullough said, “which is where the magic comes for me, like when you’re able to coach your own room and have your own guys. Like the connection that you’re able to build with guys that are this 18 to 22 years old, especially when we’re able to bring (our) own guys in. Watch them come in, watch them develop, and see what they turn into in terms of football players and in terms of men.”’
Men who make mistakes, like he did with whatever incident caused him to be suspended for the biggest game of his career, as perhaps the most important player to that team. That’s not an incident he uses as an example for his players who face trying times, he says, but he does use his life experience as a model for the young men following him, including linebacker Jordan Hall, who likely will be a two-year captain just like his coach this upcoming fall.
“The message to Jordan is, people are drawn to you, brother, what energy are you giving back?” Bullough said. “Because you gotta be on it all the time. There isn’t any time where you can where it’s like you can be down. You have to be on it all the time.”
Bullough said there was one incident early in spring ball that Hall was frustrated he got pulled for a teammate to play. He got frustrated, didn’t handle it well. The next time it happened, Bullough says Hall became an asset on the sidelines.
“I think that’s a testament to the kind of guy he is and the teammate he’s striving to be,” Bullough said. “… He made a mistake the one day, and he got better from it. He’s helped me a lot. And, I mean, I can admit that. I know he and Coach Rossi are very close and that he knows Coach Rossi’s defense like the back of his hand. I have no problem asking ‘Jordan, how do y’all see this? How did we do this last year?’”
“If you guys notice, any of the drills he’s like right behind us, almost mirroring everything that we do,” Hall said March 17. “Very passionate. I mean, just a great ball-knower.”
cearegood@detroitnews.com
@ConnorEaregood
Michigan
Former Eastern Michigan football player stands outside Lions facility, asks for chance on the field
Former Eastern Michigan football player Freddie McGee III went viral on Monday, doing anything he possibly could to get the Lions’ attention for a tryout to make the team.
“I felt I just needed to take matters into my own hands,” said McGee.
The Canton, Michigan, native, and reigning Defensive Player of the Year in the Arena Football League, says he arrived at the Lions practice facility in Allen Park at 8:45 a.m. Monday to beg for a chance to walk onto the Lions, just like how he walked onto Eastern Michigan’s football team a few years ago.
“This morning was a little nerve-racking, you know, this is definitely stepping outside of my comfort zone,” said McGee. “Just wanted to come out here, maybe catch the right scout, the right personnel person pulling in here, maybe take a look at the sign I have and get to know my story a little bit, maybe give me a shot today.”
McGee’s brave pitch to the Lions is that he’s not just a dreamer; he dominated the AFL last year with 14 interceptions and 25 pass breakups. And his story is one that he says exemplifies everything Dan Campbell and the Lions should be looking for: grit.
“Other than just being a local kid and growing up loving the Lions, I feel like I’m the epitome of grit, like my career hasn’t been easy, I’ve overcome a lot of adversity,” said McGee.
CBS News Detroit reached out to the Lions organization for comment and is awaiting a response.
Michigan
Michigan Matters: Embracing Canada and Michigan Central Station children’s endowment update
It’s a look at the critical relationship between Canada and Michigan/the U.S. as former Michigan Governor and U.S. Ambassador to Canada James Blanchard and Colin Bird, Canadian Consul General, appear on Michigan Matters to talk about the state of things.
Blanchard, who has been promoting bilateral trade between the U.S. and Canada for decades, talks about how important Detroit and Michigan are to all with their focus on manufacturing, autos and agriculture.
Bird, who oversees Michigan and three other states on behalf of the Canadian government, talked about how businesses in Canada have been impacted by tariffs for the past 18 months.
The two also discussed the importance of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which is done and awaiting the all-clear sign from Washington before it can open.
Then Andrew Stein, of the Children’s Foundation of Michigan, talked about the Michigan Central Station Children’s Endowment initiative launched by Bill Ford and his wife, Lisa, almost two years ago.
The effort raised over $20 million as Stein discussed how 11 nonprofits were chosen to be part of the program from the 100-plus that applied.
Desiree Jennings of The Children’s Center, one of the 11 organizations, explained how the nonprofit — over 90 years old — will benefit as it helps more young people.
Pam Bailey, of Birth Detroit, a six-year-old organization, another selected for the endowment, explained what the non-profit does and how it will benefit.
Stein talked about endowments and how they help support the community.
(Watch Michigan Matters at its new time: 5:30 a.m. Sundays on CBS Detroit and 9:30 a.m. Sundays on CW Detroit 50 WKBD).
(Carol Cain is the 13-time Emmy-winning senior producer and host of Michigan Matters).
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