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Vice President JD Vance speaks at White House press briefing
• Source: CNN
Vice President JD Vance speaks at White House press briefing
• NOW: Vice President JD Vance is holding a press briefing from the White House.
• Iran war: President Donald Trump told reporters that he was “an hour away” from making the decision to launch new strikes on Iran before he postponed an attack yesterday at the request of three Arab states in the Persian Gulf. Meanwhile, the head of US Central Command was pressed on Capitol Hill about plans to end the United States’ conflict with Iran..
• Justice Department fund: In testimony before a Senate appropriations panel, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche denied that the creation of a $1.776 billion fund to compensate Trump allies who claim they were targeted by the previous administration is unprecedented or unwarranted.
Vice President JD Vance said that Russia taking possession of Iran’s enriched uranium as part of negotiations to end the war is “not currently” the US plan.
“That is not currently our plan. That has never been our plan. I’ve seen some reporting on that. I don’t know where it comes from,” Vance told reporters at a White House briefing on Tuesday.
Vance suggested such an arrangement would likely face resistance from both Washington and Tehran.
“So, that is not currently the plan of the United States government. The Iranians have not raised it. My sense is that it’s not something the Iranians would be particularly excited about, and I know the president isn’t particularly excited about it either,” he added.
But the vice president said he would not make pre-commitments in a negotiation “on any particular topic.”
Vice President JD Vance said he continues to see fractures within Iran’s leadership and that Tehran’s negotiating position is unclear as the Trump administration works toward a deal to end the war.
“The Iranians aren’t themselves quite clear in what direction they want to go to, they also are just a fractured country,” Vance told reporters at the White House.
Vance said it wasn’t clear whether the divisions were the product of bad communication or bad faith, but that the result was a muddled process.
“I will say with confidence it’s sometimes hard to figure out exactly what it is that the Iranians want to accomplish out of the negotiation,” he said.
Vice President JD Vance is holding a briefing at the White House.
We’ll bring you updates as we get them.
A senior Pentagon official declined to say whether the Trump administration would rule out putting US boots on the ground in Iran and did not say whether it would seek congressional authorization to restart operations against Tehran.
“Are we reinitiating offensive combat operations?” Rep. Patrick Ryan asked during a House Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday.
“Of course, that decision is the president’s to make,” responded Daniel Zimmerman, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs.
“Is that an option that’s been briefed to him?” Ryan asked.
“Well, Mr. Congressman, it’s his decision to make,” Zimmerman said.
“Are you planning to ask Congress this time for a declaration or an authorization now that we’re almost three months in?” Ryan pressed.
“As you know, right now there are negotiations going on at the highest order to try to achieve a long-term solution,” Zimmerman said. He also declined to say whether one of the options going forward would put US military forces on the ground in Iran, saying President Donald Trump “retains the options at his disposal.”
Trump told reporters earlier that the restarting of military operations against Iran was “an hour away” before he called it off after speaking with Gulf nation leaders.
The US military’s commander of forces in the Middle East got into a heated exchange with Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton, in which Moulton pressed him repeatedly on the success of the United States’ war with Iran thus far.
Moulton pressed Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, about the change of leadership in Iran, oil sanctions, and the Strait of Hormuz — which Cooper repeatedly said were policy decisions that he was not involved in as a military commander.
“What’s the plan now? What’s the plan now to actually win this war? Because it feels like we’re losing. We don’t have a nuclear deal, we don’t have the strait open, the president has called for unconditional surrender, is that part of the plan?” Moulton said.
“Congressman, we achieved all our military objectives, we are presently in a ceasefire, we’re executing a blockade, and we’re prepared for a broad range of contingencies,” Cooper said.
“I think it’s an entirely inappropriate statement from you sir, with all due respect,” Cooper responded.
“It’s not a statement; it’s a question,” Moulton said.
Several GOP senators expressed uneasiness with the possibility that January 6 rioters could get money from the nearly $1.8 billion fund the Justice Department announced to compensate those who felt they had been targeted by previous administrations.
“I was here on January 6th. This was not a peaceful protest, it was a riot. It was a bad, bad day for our country,” Sen. Mike Rounds told CNN Tuesday. “Look, if you’re going to put together a fund, then let’s make sure that there’s a judicial oversight to it.”
Rounds said he had “no sympathy” for those who stormed the Capitol, and noted while the Trump administration can do what they want, “in Congress, we still control the purse strings.”
Top GOP appropriator Sen. Susan Collins said she has more questions about the fund after acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told her Tuesday that there were “no limitations” on claims made to DOJ.
“I don’t know what the criteria are going to be at this point, but certainly it raises a lot of important questions that need to be answered. It is highly irregular, and this is not something that should be put in place without a lot more scrutiny,” she told CNN.
Asked if she personally thought January 6 rioters should be eligible, Collins responded, “I do not, if they have been convicted. I do not. If they engaged in violence against police officers, I do not.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Blanche’s testimony “has actually raised more questions for me than answered them,” in terms of “where this 1.8 billion comes from, the commission, how it’s determined, the eligibility, so a lot that we need to know.”
Asked by CNN if she’s comfortable with January 6 rioters receiving money, she firmly said, “no.”
President Donald Trump said he thinks the US war with Iran is popular and that even if it’s not, stopping Tehran from having a nuclear weapon is a worthwhile mission.
“Look, everyone tells me it’s unpopular, but I think it’s very popular when you, when they hear that it’s having to do with nuclear weapons, weapons that could take out Los Angeles, could take out major cities very quick,” he told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.
“Whether it’s popular or not popular, I have to do it, because I’m not going to let the world be blown up on my watch,” Trump said. “It’s not going to happen.”
Trump also called higher oil prices, which have led to some GOP concerns heading into the midterms, “peanuts.”
“And this is peanuts, and I appreciate everybody putting up with it for a little while. It won’t be much longer, but you could have, frankly, there is so much oil out there,” he said.
A recent CNN poll showed 77% – including a majority of Republicans – say that Trump’s policies have increased the cost of living in their own community
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said this morning that he’s “not a big fan” of the $1.776 billion fund for allies of the president that was announced this week.
The Department of Justice on Monday announced the creation of the fund to compensate President Donald Trump’s allies who claim they were unfairly targeted by the previous administration.
Thune was asked whether there should be guardrails to ensure January 6, 2021, rioters aren’t compensated from the proposed fund.
“My assumption is that, based on some of the blowback that’s come since this was announced, that there would be a significant amount of attention paid to it,” he said, noting he expects that scrutiny to happen during the annual appropriations process that is just getting started.
Lawmakers have so far been hesitant to publicly back the fund.
This post has been updated with additional reporting.
President Donald Trump expressed frustration with the parliamentarian and her decision on the White House ballroom funding in a call to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, according to a source familiar with the matter.
It comes after Senate Democrats said Saturday the provision that funds Trump’s ballroom in the GOP’s latest budget bill was deemed out of order by the Senate parliamentarian – the chamber’s rules referee – marking a major blow to the president’s priority.
The White House has said the money would be put toward security for the East Wing project. The ballroom funding totals about $220 million, according to a memo sent from the White House to members of Congress, but comes as part of a $1 billion security funding request.
Thune refused to comment to reporters on the content of any discussion with Trump over possibly firing the parliamentarian.
But when asked by CNN if he might fire her or move to override her decision, the Republican leader said, “I haven’t had any discussions or conversations about that.”
This post has been updated with additional reporting.
CNN’s Ted Barrett contributed to this post.
In his first appearance before Congress since taking the reins of the Justice Department, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was big on civility, but short on details as he faced tough questions from members of both parties about the nearly $1.8 billion he announced will be available to people who believe they have been wrongly targeted by the Justice Department.
Blanche is still effectively auditioning to be Trump’s permanent Attorney General and while the president likes his officials to adopt a combative posture when challenged, Blanche maintained a mostly congenial tone throughout the hearing.
At the outset, Blanche conceded that the fund is “unusual,” but dodged questions about specifics and whether even those who assaulted law enforcement officers on January 6, 2021 would be eligible for a payout.
His largely civil appearance was a contrast to his predecessor former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s last appearance before Congress, which garnered attention because of her over-the-top exchanges with lawmakers.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the administration is seeking $10.3 billion for the Bureau of Prisons, making the case that the agency “remains under-resourced.”
The current $8.1 billion budget is insufficient, Blanche told congressional lawmakers, adding that the bureau “risks insolvency without additional support.”
When asked by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, to explain how he plans to use the additional funds, Blanche said it would go toward staff retention by paying employees more to “make it worthwhile for them to stay.”
Sen. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican, also pressed Blanche on the Bureau of Prisons, asking him to describe the issues at the agency.
Blanche went on to again emphasize the need to invest in staff retention, stating that there is a 20% vacancy rate for corrections officers. He told lawmakers that $450 million from the requested funding will be used “to attack the vacancy rate.”
“A lot of money” will also be used for safety and structural repairs, Blanche added.
President Donald Trump teased an endorsement in the race for US Senate in Texas, saying it will come later Tuesday after remaining neutral in the race.
Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are embroiled in a competitive Republican primary runoff set for May 26. Trump said two months he would “soon” endorse one of the candidates.
“I’m going to be making an endorsement at about 12:30, 1 o’clock today for the big race, the Senate race in Texas, and I hope you find it good,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.
He added: “There are those that say whoever I endorse is going to win. I don’t know if that’s true, but historically, that’s absolutely true.”
Trump said he has had his “mind made up for a long time” on his candidate, but declined to say who he would endorse.
He later added that he “pretty much always” had known who he would choose.
“I just thought this was a good time, you know, the voting starting,” he told CNN’s Alayna Treene.
Some context: While Democrats haven’t won statewide in Texas since 1994, they have a Senate nominee in state Rep. James Talarico who is energizing liberals ahead of the November midterms and raising massive sums. Republicans long wanted to avoid a damaging runoff that could make things easier for Talarico, in part by having Trump boost one candidate and pressure the other to back down.
President Donald Trump praised a daylong prayer event in Washington that had been attended by administration officials, tying his priorities directly to efforts to revitalize enthusiasm for Christianity.
“Christianity, it’s a great thing for our country,” he told reporters at the White House on Tuesday. “The successes that we’ve had have been based on Christianity and religion, so I’m very proud of that.”
Trump’s remarks followed a prayer event over the weekend held as part of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations, which featured appearances from Trump officials and Republican lawmakers. The event prompted some criticism over the appearance of blurring lines between religion and politics.
But Trump hailed it as a “beautiful day,” while taking credit for making religion more popular.
“You look at churches today, they’re full,” he said. “You go back two, three years, nobody was going. So we’re very happy.”
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he was on the verge of launching new strikes on Iran before he postponed the attack yesterday at the request of three Arab states in the Persian Gulf.
“I was an hour away; we were all set to go,” he told CNN’s Alayna Treene at the White House. “It would’ve been happening right now.”
Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social that he postponed the attack after the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar urged him to hold off in hopes of advancing negotiations toward a diplomatic solution.
The president said he spoke with the Arab states over two days while contemplating renewed strikes, saying, “We’re all working together.” He said the nations called him to say that “they made a lot of progress” toward negotiations with Iran.
Pressed on leaders’ concerns that renewed US strikes could prompt Iran to retaliate against their nations, Trump acknowledged that it remained a risk.
“They still have a little capacity,” he said of Iran’s ability to attack others in the Middle East. “Not much, but they have a little.”
Trump added that he was willing to wait until later this week to see whether talks progressed, but continued to warn that he could resume combat operations.
“We may have to give them another big hit,” he said of Iran.
This post has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Aileen Graef contributed to this post.
President Donald Trump put a limited timeline on his decision to temporarily pause planned attacks on Iran as negotiators in the region work toward a potential peace deal.
Trump, who has grown increasingly frustrated with the state of negotiations, said in a social media post Monday that he will “hold off” on a Tuesday plan to attack Iran, citing a request from the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. On Tuesday, he said that would last for “a limited period of time.”
He continued, “I’m saying two or three days, maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday, something, maybe early next week — a limited period of time. Because we can’t let them have a new nuclear weapon.”
President Donald Trump unexpectedly corralled reporters to view construction of his sprawling East Wing ballroom Tuesday, pitching the security necessity as congressional funding is in jeopardy.
The provision in the GOP’s latest budget bill that that would fund security for the ballroom was recently deemed out of order by the Senate parliamentarian, marking a major blow to the president’s priority. Trump expressed frustration with the parliamentarian in a call with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, CNN reported earlier Tuesday.
The president attempted to explain the distinction between different funding mechanisms for the ballroom, which the White House has said would be funded by private donors, including Apple, Amazon, Lockheed Martin, and Meta.
“This is a gift. This is not going to be paid for by the taxpayer,” Trump said over the loud noise of the construction site.
But the White House is also seeking $220 million to put toward security for the project, according to a memo it sent to members of Congress.
Congress, Trump said, “is approving money for security.” He added: “It may go, some of it may go here for additional security. I don’t know, but Congress is approving money.”
Trump pointed to security features including “very powerful concrete” and “drone capacity,” describing the ballroom on top as a “shield.”
There have been few details released about what officials have previously described as a “top-secret” underground project to rebuild the White House bunker, but CNN has reported that the space is likely being reimagined and replaced with new technology to counter evolving threats.
Trump said Tuesday the new complex would also include a military hospital, research facilities and meeting rooms, noting that the size of the new space was doubled “at the request of the military.”
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, when asked about whether the Justice Department had an open investigations related Jeffrey Epstein, said sharply: “He’s dead.”
“Any investigation into potential other bad guys will always be open if we have evidence that supports in any way, shape, or form that we can make a case,” Blanche added when asked about the case tied to his predecessor Pam Bondi’s firing.
When pressed, Blanche said he wouldn’t base investigations off political affiliation, something Democratic lawmakers remain unconvinced about.
“This president has repeatedly spoken of an enemies list that he wants to go after, and I must say it’s one of the symbols of the breakdown of a democratic republic,” Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley said following Blanche’s commitment to nonpartisanship.
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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said that anyone who feels they were unfairly prosecuted can submit a claim to the newly establish anti-weaponization fund, including those who accuse the President Donald Trump and Republican-led Justice Department of wrongdoing.
When the Justice Department announced the nearly $1.8 billion fund Monday, it was quickly criticized as a way to enrich the president’s allies and supporters who were prosecuted by the Biden administration, US Capitol rioters and others.
Under questioning from Republican Sen. Susan Collins, Blanche said that the fund is “not limited to Republicans, it’s not limited to the Biden weaponization, it’s not limited in any way, scope or form to January 6 or to Jack Smith” Blanche said. “There’s no limitation on the on the claims.”
Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen pushed Blanche on his answer, asking whether those who assaulted law enforcement at the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot could apply.
“As was made plain yesterday, anybody in this country is eligible to apply if they believe they were victim weaponization,” Blanche said.
Blanche also said that it would be up to the commissioners of the fund to decide whether those convicted assaulted law enforcement at the Capitol riot could receive a payment.
“I will definitely encourage the commissioners to take everything into account when determining who should get compensation,” Blanche said.
“But why not this specific issue of [being] convicted of violent acts against police officers,” Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley asked. “You feel they should get compensation after being convicted of violent acts”
“My feelings don’t, don’t matter, Senator,” Blanche said.
The fund will be run by a commission whose members are chosen by Blanche and who can be fired by the president at any time.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said that members of President Donald Trump’s family will not be able to receive money from the massive new settlement fund that was born out of a lawsuit Trump brought against the federal government.
The assurance to Democratic Sen. Chris Coons comes a day after the Justice Department said Trump, one of his sons, and the Trump Organization — all of whom were plaintiffs in the case — “will receive a formal apology but no monetary payment or damages of any kind” as part of the settlement, which established a nearly $1.8 billion fund of taxpayer money for people who say they were wrongly targeted by previous administration to tap into.
Blanche went on to say that “anybody can apply” to receive money from the fund, but that it would be up to a five-member commission to determine who will actually benefit from it.
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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche equated the anti-weaponization fund announced by Justice Department, styled as an agreement to resolve President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against IRS, to an Obama-era fund set up in a case brought by Native American farmers alleging discrimination by the Department of Agriculture that offered funding to organizations supporting those tribal communities.
But there are key differents between the two programs:
- For one, the tribal fund arose from a longrunning lawsuit and court-supervised settlement. Trump dropped his case against the IRS abruptly, while the judge was raising doubts that it was a legitimate legal dispute that belonged in the court.
- Secondly, the court in the tribal case played a role in monitoring the initial settlement and approving the fund that was later set up in it. The new fund from Trump allies contemplates no such judicial oversight.
- Finally, the tribal program was aimed at funding organizations that served the farmers and ranchers that brought the original lawsuit against the USDA.
The new fund will not be limited to people who claim they were weaponized in Trump-related probes, as Blanche himself emphasized Tuesday,
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