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Trump vows U.S. will ‘finish the job’
President says war with Iran nearing completion INSIDE
BY WILL WEISSERT, JON GAMBRELL and DAVID RISING
ä Trump lashes out at NATO over war. Page 7A WASHINGTON — President Donald ä Kidnapped reporter known for Trump said U.S. forces will “fin- gutsy assignments. Page 7A
Associated Press
ish the job” in Iran soon as “core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” offering a full-throated defense of the war Wednesday night in his first national address since the conflict began more than a month ago. Trump got a wide audience and a chance to articulate clear objectives for the war after weeks of changing goals and often contradictory messages about whether he’s winding down or ready to es-
calate military operations — even as Iran kept up its attacks on Israel and Persian Gulf neighbors and airstrikes pounded Tehran. But he spent much of his time repeating some of the same things he said in recent weeks, while also suggesting that the U.S. was close to meeting its major military objectives in Iran and his estimated timeline for concluding operations
was within two to three weeks. He promised U.S. forces would continue to hit Iran very hard. “For years, everyone has said that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons. But in the end, those are just words if you’re not willing to take action when the time comes,” Trump said. The president said, “In these past four weeks our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield” and slammed previous decades of U.S. policy, saying previous presidents “made mistakes, and I am correcting them.”
LIFTOFF
Artemis II, NASA’s first lunar voyage in decades, rockets toward the moon BY MARCIA DUNN AP aerospace writer
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Four astronauts embarked on a highstakes flight around the moon Wednesday, humanity’s first lunar voyage in more than half a century and the thrilling leadoff in NASA’s push toward a landing in two years. Carrying three Americans and one Canadian, the 32-story rocket rose from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where tens of thousands gathered to witness the dawn of this new era. Crowds also jammed the surrounding roads and beaches, reminiscent of the Apollo moonshots in the ä Launch 1960s and ’70s. It is NASA’s bigholds gest step yet tospecial ward establishmeaning ing a permanent for N.O. lunar presence. students. “On this historic mission, you PAGE 4A take with you the heart of this Artemis team, the daring spirit of the American people and our partners across the globe, and the hopes and dreams of a new generation,” said Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, the launch director. “Good luck, Godspeed Artemis II. Let’s go.” Artemis II set sail from the same Florida launch site that sent Apollo’s explorers to the moon so long ago. The handful still alive cheered this next generation’s grand adventure as the Space Launch System rocket thundered into the early evening sky, a nearly full moon beckoning some 248,000 miles away. Five minutes into the flight, Commander Reid Wiseman saw the team’s target: “We have a beautiful moonrise, we’re headed right at it,” he said from the capsule. On board with him are pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen. It was the most diverse lunar crew ever with the first woman, person of color and
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BR children to get $1.1M to attend day care
Philanthropic, state money will fund about 100 spots BY CHARLES LUSSIER Staff writer
An estimated 100 more children in Baton Rouge will be able to go to local day cares this upcoming school year thanks to a combination of private philanthropic money and matching state funding. The Baton Rouge Area Foundation and the Huey and Angelina Wilson Foundation on Tuesday announced $1.1 million in new early education money. The two Baton Rougebased nonprofits raised $550,000. That money is to be matched by money from a special state-run Early Childhood Education Fund. “The tuition match was a great opportunity to partner with other foundations and ensure our community’s earliest learners and their families have the chance to access high quality education,” said Sarah Gardner, BRAF’s vice president for communications. The state fund, created in 2017, finances one-for-one matches for private donations that help teach economically disadvantaged children, from infants up to 3 years of age. Gov. Jeff Landry’s proposed budget for next year calls for increasing spending from that
ä See DAY CARE, page 5A
2026 LEGISLATURE
Bill exempts athlete pay from public records law BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By CHRIS O’MEARA
NASA’s Artemis II moon rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad ä See LIFTOFF, page 4A 39-B on Wednesday in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
WEATHER HIGH 81 LOW 69
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALEX BRANDON
President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of ä See TRUMP, page 5A the White House on Wednesday.
Weeks after journalists filed a lawsuit against LSU seeking records on how much it was paying athletes through revenue sharing, Louisiana lawmakers advanced a bill Wednesday that would carve out an exemption to public records law and make those payments — as well as amounts allocated to individual sports — confidential. “These are safety protections when it comes to the student athlete,” Rep. Tehmi
Business ......................6A Commentary ................5B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................6D Deaths .........................3B Opinion ........................4B Comics-Puzzles .....3D-5D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
ä See PAY, page 4A
101ST yEAR, NO. 276