White House defends Trump’s threat to kill Iran’s civilization

The White House is defending President Trump’s threat to wipe out Iran’s civilization. Asked about the unusually harsh language from an American president, press secretary Karoline Leavitt stood by the president’s remarks. Some conservatives, including Tucker Carlson, influential podcasters, and Republican members of Congress, took issue with the president’s chilling rhetoric, denouncing it as evil and disgusting.

VP Vance to lead U.S. delegation to Islamabad for talks with Iran

The U-S and Iran will hold peace talks this weekend aimed at finding a permanent end to the war. With a two-week ceasefire underway, the United States will participate in peace negotiations in Pakistan. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says Vance will lead the delegation, which includes special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner.

White House claims victory in Iran war, calls truce “fragile”

The White House is claiming victory in the war against Iran, but says the two-week ceasefire is “fragile.”
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claims the United States achieved its core military goals in Iran. But the White House is also being cautious, noting that the ceasefire is a “fragile truce.” Leavitt says Vice President Vance will lead the U-S negotiating team this weekend in Pakistan talks aimed at finding a permanent end to the war.

Trump says U.S. will “dig up” enriched uranium buried in Iran

President Trump says the U-S will work with Iran to “dig up and remove” its enriched uranium. On the heels of the ceasefire agreement, the president said “there will be no enrichment of uranium” by Iran. He wrote online that the U-S would remove any “nuclear dust” from the bomb sites of last summer’s military strikes. Retrieving the material could be very difficult and it remains to be seen what the United States would do with any enriched uranium that is removed. The president also said his administration will be discussing “tariff and sanctions relief with Iran.”

U.S. and Iran agree to 2-week ceasefire amid fiery rhetoric

The United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire ahead of a Tuesday night deadline imposed by President Trump. In stark and violent language, the president had warned that Iran’s “whole civilization [would] die…and never to be brought back again” unless his demands were met. Shortly before the deadline, Donald Trump announced a suspension in military attacks subject to Iran’s agreement. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council accepted the ceasefire, but said it doesn’t mean an end to the war. The Iranian foreign minister said passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be allowed for the next two weeks under Iranian military management.

Trump pulls back from Iran threat, announces 2-week ceasefire

President Trump is pulling back on his threat to destroy Iran’s civilization with a massive bombing campaign. Ahead of a Tuesday night deadline, the president announced he was suspending military strikes on Iran for two weeks if Iran agreed to a ceasefire and the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said it has accepted the two-week ceasefire. The president also said Iran has proposed a “workable” 10-point peace plan that could help end the war. Earlier in the day, Donald Trump threatened to kill Iran’s “whole civilization” in a chilling statement by an American president.

House Democrats call for vote to end Trump’s war against Iran

Reaction to President Trump’s threat to destroy Iran civilization stretches from Capitol Hill to the Vatican, where concern and outrage is being expressed after Donald Trump vowed to utterly destroy Iran unless it opened the Strait of Hormuz. House Democratic leaders issued a joint statement calling the president “completely unhinged” and asked the House to be brought back immediately into legislative session and vote to, quote, “end this reckless war of choice.” Meanwhile, Pope Leo the 14th said the president’s threat “against all the people of Iran…is truly unacceptable.”

Trump threatens to end Iran’s “civilization” if no deal by tonight

President Trump is threatening to wipe out Iran’s “civilization” if Tehran doesn’t agree to the terms of his latest demand. In his darkest and most violent comments since the start of the Iran war, President Trump warned that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” He wrote online that he doesn’t “want that to happen, but it probably will.” The president has demanded that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping traffic or else the U-S will strike Iranian power plants and bridges. He said Iran still has time to capitulate ahead of tonight’s deadline.

U.S. forces strike Kharg Island, Iran’s key oil export hub

The U-S military has struck targets on Kharg Island, Iran’s key oil export facility. The strikes against the important oil hub came hours ahead of President Trump’s deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. In a morning social media post, he said that a “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if Iran did not make a deal by 8pm Washington time this evening.

Trump gives Iran Tuesday PM ultimatum to reopen Strait of Hormuz

President Trump has given Iran a Tuesday night ultimatum to open the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping traffic. The president warns Iranian leaders that the U-S military can unleash extensive damage in just a few hours, saying the “entire country can be taken out in one night.” He’s giving Iran a Tuesday deadline of 8pm Eastern. The president said he was “not at all” concerned about accusations of war crimes as he targets power plants and bridges.

Top Fed official says interest rates could go higher if inflation persists

A top Federal Reserve official says interest rates could soon be heading higher. Beth Hammack is president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and prefers to keep the benchmark rate unchanged “for quite some time.” But she says an interest rate increase could be appropriate if inflation remains persistently above the central bank’s 2% target. Other Fed officials have recently opened the door to possible rate hikes. President Trump has spent his entire second term harshly criticizing the Fed for not not cutting rates further.

President Trump says the direction of the war will depend on how Iran responds to his threat of wiping out their power plants and bridges. White House correspondent Greg Clugston reports.
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VERBATIM:
Over the course of the war against Iran, the president has said it’s winding down even as the threatens to expand it. At a White House press conference, he was asked which is it.

He also claimed that Iranians are “willing to suffer” for freedom and they welcome the U-S attacks.

The president boasted that the entire country of Iran could”be taken out in one night.” GC, Wash.

Trump administration provides details of risky mission to rescue U.S. airmen in Iran

The Trump administration says dozens of aircraft and deception were used to rescue two U-S military pilots in Iran. U-S forces rescued the pilot within hours of the F-15 fighter jet going down. But it took nearly two days to rescue the second aviator in a daring operation. CIA Director John Ratcliffe top-secret technology led to the rescue. He said the search and rescue operation was “comparable to hunting for a single grain of sand in the middle of the desert.” And President Trump was impressed, saying the mission was “pretty amazing.”

Trump issues new Iran threat in profanity-laced message

President Trump is threatening to bomb Iran’s power plants if a key waterway is not reopened by Tuesday.
The president posted an Easter Sunday social media message filled with profanity, promising to hit Iranian power plants and bridges unless Iran reopens the Strait of Hormuz. His threat came just days after he said in a primetime speech that the U-S doesn’t rely on or need that waterway, and that European nations should step up and control it. The president ended his social media post by saying “Praise be to Allah.”

Supreme Court Justice Alito recently fell ill

We’re learning of a health episode involving one of the Supreme Court’s conservative justices. The high court’s spokeswoman says Justice Samuel Alito fell ill at an event in Philadelphia last month and was treated for dehydration before returning home to suburban Washington. The Supreme Court statement says Alito’s illness did not require an overnight hospital stay and he was back on the bench the following Monday. Alito, who turned 76 this past week, is the second-oldest member of the court, after 77-year-old Justice Clarence Thomas.

Trump scales back plans to dismantle federal consumer agency

The Trump administration has scaled back its plans to dismantle a federal consumer agency. When President Trump returned to the White House last year, he wanted to reduce the size of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to almost nothing. But under a new plan, the agency will still staff around 550 employees. That’s down from the 17-hundred workers during the Biden administration, but still bigger than the one Donald Trump envisioned. The plan is opposed by the bureau’s employee union and would likely require the approval of a federal judge.

Agency OK’s Trump’s White House ballroom project

A key agency has approved President Trump’s White House ballroom project. The National Capital Planning Commission approved the project despite a federal judge’s order halting construction unless Congress gave its approval. The Trump-appointed chair of the commission said the agency went ahead with the vote because the judge’s ruling affects construction activities but not the planning process. During a public comment period, comments were overwhelmingly opposed to the ballroom which is estimated to cost 400 million dollars and will rival the size of the executive mansion.

Trump fires Attorney General Bondi, taps deputy as interim AG

President Trump has fired Attorney General Pam Bondi. Word of Bondi being ousted as the nation’s top law enforcement officer comes amid multiple media reports that the president has become increasingly frustrated with her job performance. People familiar with the matter say he was unhappy with Bondi’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and hurdles the Justice Department has encountered in investigations into Donald Trump’s perceived enemies. The New York Times reports that deputy attorney general Todd Blanche, a Trump loyalist, will be the acting AG.

Trump to sign order to pay DHS employees hit by shutdown

President Trump intends to sign an order to pay all Department of Homeland Security employees who have gone without paychecks. After nearly 7 weeks of a partial government shutdown, the president said DHS workers and their families “have suffered far too long” and he’s going to bypass Congress, even as GOP leaders are working on a plan to fund the department. The president made a similar move last week to resume pay for TSA employees. His latest intervention is expected to apply to other non-law enforcement employees within Homeland Security, including FEMA and the U.S. Coast Guard and support staff.

Trump says U.S. objectives in Iran war are “nearing completion”

President Trump is insisting that U-S forces will “finish the job” in Iran soon. In a nationwide address, the president defended the war against Iran and proclaimed great progress. But he said the U-S military still has work to do and will hit Iran “extremely hard” over the next two to three weeks. The president also acknowledged rising oil prices and volatile financial markets, but predicted prices will drop and stock prices will go back up.

Senate and House GOP leaders agree on plan to try and end DHS shutdown

Republican leaders in Congress are moving ahead with a plan to try and end the 7-week partial government shutdown. According to the plan, the Department of Homeland Security would be fully funded except for ICE and U-S Customs and Border Patrol. It’s an approach House Speaker Mike Johnson called a “joke” just a few days ago. But now he and Senate Majority Leader John Thune will try and get it passed. It represents a do-over of what the Senate passed last week, but was rejected by House Republicans. GOP leaders hope to fund immigration operations at a later date.

Trump threatens to pull U.S. out of NATO, calls alliance a “paper tiger”

President Trump is again threatening to pull the U-S out of NATO. The president has not been shy about his disgust with European allies, who have been reluctant to get involved in the U-S war against Iran. He told Reuters that he was “absolutely” considering withdrawing the U.S. from the 77-year-old NATO alliance. In an interview with Britain’s Daily Telegraph, the president called NATO a “paper tiger” and said that Russian President Putin knows that, too.

President Trump to address nation on Iran war

President Trump will address the nation on the Iran war. The White House describes the president’s prime time speech as “an important update on Iran.” On Tuesday, Donald Trump said U-S forces could leave Iran in “two or three weeks” and be done with the conflict. The president also lashed out at American allies for not doing more to support the U-S military’s war campaign. He said it’s up to other countries, not the United States, to keep the Strait of Hormuz open for oil tankers and other shipping.

China pushes back against President Trump’s tariffs

China is pushing back against President Trump’s tariffs. Beijing has launched two investigations into U-S trade practices, just a few weeks before the president’s scheduled visit to China. The Commerce Ministry said the new probes are a response to two investigations announced by the Trump administration against multiple countries, including China. Donald Trump will travel to China for a summit with President Xi Jinping in mid-May.