President Trump insists negotiations with Iran are going well and could lead to a deal this weekend. The president said today in the Oval Office the Strait of Hormuz will open immediately once a memorandum of understanding is signed. The remarks come after new US strikes on Iran overnight. American forces launching what officials called defensive attacks after Iran fired drones and missiles at Kuwait in a rebuke to the president.
The House passed a Democratic-led war powers resolution in the last hour to end the conflict. President Trump is expressing frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over incursions into Lebanon that threatened a fragile US-backed ceasefire. Correspondent Griff Jenkins is following it all for us tonight.
He is live on the north lawn of the White House.
“Hi, Griff.”
“Good evening, John. Four House Republicans joined Democrats to rebuke the president’s war, passing the Iran War powers resolution. It now heads to the Senate this after President Trump gave some updates on the talks with Iran this afternoon from the Oval Office, saying that negotiations are going ‘very well’ and suggesting that Iran agreed to allow the US to go in and get the enriched uranium if a deal is signed.”
“If it happens, it could happen like over the weekend.”
“Despite Iranian reports that peace talks have ceased, President Trump says Tehran has not left the negotiating table and a deal could soon come. The president also says Iran has agreed to one of his red lines.”
“If they sign the agreement, they will have agreed to we will not have a nuclear weapon.”
“Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only. A claim heavily disputed by Iran’s enriching uranium to 60% with questions remaining over what will happen to the so-called nuclear dust.”
“As of this moment, it’s agreed that we will go in with them. We will get it and we will destroy it. It will be destroyed.”
“Today, the world’s leading nuclear watchdog issued a warning over the dangers posed by Iran’s inventory of near bomb-grade uranium. Talks have also been challenged by Israel’s increased fighting in Lebanon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking out after a contentious call with President Trump on Monday.”
“Sometimes we have, as in the best of families, you have these tactical disagreements. We always find a way to work them out.”
“President Trump also downplayed the tensions this afternoon.”
“They’ve been a great partner. BB Netanyahu, who’s been for me a great partner. For other people, not so good. For me, he’s been very good.”
“Overnight, US forces launched new self-defense strikes after Iran fired missiles and drones at Kuwait, hitting the country’s airport, testing a fragile ceasefire. And the Strait of Hormuz remains closed as Secretary of State Marco Rubio tells lawmakers keeping it shut isn’t benefiting Iran.”
“The blockade is keeping them from hundreds of millions of dollars a day in revenue.”
“Rubio faced heated pressure from House Democrats in a hearing that at times veered off topic.”
“You couldn’t admit that the shoes the president bought you were too big.”
“We’re talking about shoes. Are you guys kidding me? I mean, is this the Foreign Affairs Committee or is this like a circus? What is this?”
“And tonight, John, we’re waiting to see if President Trump will have a reaction to those four House Republicans crossing the aisle to join Democrats and passing the Iran War powers resolution. It now heads to the Senate. But make no mistake, even if it passes the Senate and lands here on the president’s desk, he will most likely veto it or any other effort to curtail his war powers authority. John.”
“Indeed, and we were reminded again today, don’t mess with Marco.”
“The negotiation itself has gone very well actually, very well. I’d say in that part of the world, ceasefires when you’re shooting in a more moderate manner.”
“Ultimately, any deal we do will be a good deal or won’t be a deal.”
“The best possible outcome is to stop it now and cut our losses and try to get some sort of deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz without paying a whole bunch of blood money to the Iranians.”
“And I commend the president for trying to bring this to a close, but pressure is the only language these people understand.”
“All right, so how do you bring Iran to the table in a way that finally ends up with some sort of a deal? Let’s bring in our panel. Fox News contributor Jason Riley is here, Fox News radio political analyst Josh Cross and Democratic strategist Adrien Lrod. So Iran back up to its old tricks again, firing munitions at Kuwait, hitting Kuwait’s international airport. Here’s a statement from Centcom. Iran claimed today that it did not attack the passenger terminal at Kuwait International Airport and damage was instead caused by a US missile interceptor. Totally false. Truth. Iran struck the civilian airport with drones in a deliberate, calculated, and unjustified attack. Adrienne, it’s pretty clear that Iran’s not negotiating in good faith. Is it time to return to kinetic action to bring them to the table in any kind of meaningful way?”
“Well, look, I mean, I think this is why so many Americans are perplexed and have concerns about why we’re in the situation to begin with because we’re negotiating with bad actors. The Iranians have long been known to not be truthful or coming to the table in good faith for negotiations. Um, it’s also very clear that President Trump wants to get out of this. So, it seems like it’s a back and forth. He said, she said, you know, one day we think we have a ceasefire, one day we think we have a deal and then the Iranians back out or they lie and they are not truthful with what they said. So, I think the big challenge here is how does Donald Trump do move forward? Does he do what Congressman Molton said, which is cut your losses and just call it say that it’s done, or do you actually try to continue to negotiate with bad actors? Of course, the hard red line for President Trump is that Iran’s going to give up its nuclear program and give over the nuclear dust.”
“The president told Miranda Divine on Pod Force One that that deal is pretty much done. Listen to what he said.”
“You said, ‘Are you effing crazy? What are you effing doing?’ Um, I helped you stay out of jail. Is that true? Did you speak to him in those terms?”
“I did. I don’t say angry. I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon. You know, at some point they said, ‘BB we’re going to stop this. We got to stop it.’ But I have a very good relationship. We’re going to have to stop them from having a nuclear weapon. That’s what we’ve done. And they’ve agreed to that. By the way, if they signed the agreement, they will have agreed to we will not have a nuclear weapon. If they sign the paper, in theory, they’re pretty close to signing a paper.”
“All right. We took a little diversion through Netanyahu to get to the point there, but the president says that there could be a deal by Saturday. Are you optimistic, Jason?”
“Well, I think we’ve heard this before that we’re on the cusp of a deal. You know, I do think the president has the markets in mind. He has the political calendar in mind. He has oil prices in mind and that’s understandable. But I think it’s important that we finish what we started here, and just any deal to end the war doesn’t mean that we’ve won the war and we must win because I think if we don’t win, Iran comes out of this stronger if they can close the Strait up and just wait out the West and count on us not having the patience to see things through. They’ll come out of here in a stronger place. And we can’t let that happen. And my concern is that we strike a deal that reopens the Strait but doesn’t have details about ending this nuclear program, details about not using Hezbollah as a proxy any longer to attack Israel. You know, for BB Netanyahu, Iran is an existential threat. This isn’t about oil prices or a political calendar for him. This is about fighting a country that wants to wipe Israel off the map. And I think we need to take this as seriously as BB Netanyahu is taking this.”
“And Netanyahu of course has got the Hezbollah problem as well with the rockets coming in from Lebanon, which is what that soundbite was about that we played a second ago with Miranda Divine and President Trump where he says that he had a phone conversation with BB Netanyahu said, ‘Are you effing crazy? What the f are you doing?’ He didn’t want Israel attacking Hezbollah and getting Iran all in a tizzy. Netanyahu Josh says, ‘Oh, our relationship’s great. We disagree from time to time, but for the most part, we get along. We agree.'”
“Yeah. It sometimes seems that President Trump wants to create his own reality and not confront the reality of what’s happening in the region. The reason, as you know, John, that Israel is fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon is because they’re firing rockets into the northern part of the country and killing and wounding civilians. So, that’s a war that Israel needs to fight in its self-defense to save its own citizens lives. Um, we also hear a lot about the ceasefire. It doesn’t seem like there’s a ceasefire when Iran attacked Kuwait’s airport and caused a lot of damage overnight. So, there is this sort of groundhog day feel. I feel like we talk about we’re very close to a deal. We’re on the verge of some really groundbreaking diplomacy. That’s not what we’re seeing on the ground. And I think Trump is focusing on the domestic politics as much as the military realities.”
“I want to pivot to Secretary of State Marco Rubio being on the Hill today. He talked to the Senate yesterday, talked to the House today that the House got a little ridiculous at times. Watch this.”
“The onus is on you to prove that there is no corruption happening.”
“Responsibility as the Secretary of State. And you know what? Normally, we would have access to that data. That’s the transparency, but you’re not showing us any receipt. Well, then show us. Show us have the documentation. You don’t have this time yet.”
“What kind of thing is this? What is this? You don’t. You get asked questions for 5 minutes and you don’t get time to answer. This is not a hearing.”
“I think you said clown dunk tank. What is this?”
“I don’t have Marco Rubio. He’s been in this Senate long enough that he knows how to handle these hearings. But I mean the Democrats today, Adrian, we’re asking about everything from that to his shoes.”
“Well, look, obviously accountability is very important. That is the job of oversight from the minority party, in this case, the Democrats. Um, but look, we have seen a number of Trump officials, and I’m not going to put Marco Rubio in this category because he I think he’s one of the more serious astute cabinet members. Um, but we’ve seen a number of Trump cabinet members come in front of committees and completely wear down some of the some of the Democrats on the committees, criticize them. Pam Bondi, of course, notoriously had an oppo research book in front of her, where she was throwing out oppo on various members. So, I think I look, I served 10 years on the Hill, five in House of as a chief of staff. I would like to see both sides get back to a point where we’re actually having constructive dialogue in some of these committee hearings as opposed to a bunch of, you know, he said, she said, 30-second sound bites that we’ll make shows like this.”
“But Patrice, we all know that these hearings, particularly in the House, when you’re the opposition, it’s all about you making a speech, not letting the witness answer any questions, unless you’ve got a real gotcha question, and then just moving on.”
“Yeah. These theatrics are typical. You know, it’s an election year. The Democrats see an opening. They’ve seen the polling on the war. They know that. They think they have the upper hand in pressing administration officials on this. But I do think that Marco Rubio is one of the better spokesmen in this administration. I think he does understand what’s at stake here. And I think he was trying to convey that.”
“Yeah. I mean, I think he’s kind of like Obi-Wan Kenobi. You know, strike me down and I’ll become more powerful than you could ever imagine.”
“Well, he has almost every job apparently in the White House as well. But look, the contrast between Rubio and House Democrats couldn’t have been more stark and Rubio came out on top.”
“Yeah. All right. Stand by, folks. Lots more to talk about. Up next, more with the panel on winners and losers from a big primary night and then traveling back in time to a historic American first.”
“President Trump telling ABC that a deal with Iran could happen over the next week. The president writing on Truth Social, quote, ‘Talks are continuing at a rapid pace with the Islamic Republic of Iran.’ And President Trump speaking to ABC about getting Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a ceasefire saying quote, ‘There was a little glitch today but I turned that one around very quickly. I spoke with Hezbollah and I said no shooting and I talked to BB and said no shooting and they both stopped shooting each other.’ US ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker joins me now. We’re going to get to the glitch as President Trump characterizes it in a second, but I’m trying to view this back and forth, delay, no delay, ceasefire through the lens of the American person watching right now drinking their coffee and it seems like we have a start, we have a stop, we have a start, we have a stop. What do you want the American public to think when it comes to the constant promise that we’re going to have a ceasefire, we’re going to end this war, and then just a delay, delay, delay, mostly on the part of Iran?”
“Well, Todd, it’s good to be with you. And what I would say on the Iran US conflict is, you know, we will defend our interests. Obviously, the president is the negotiator chief. He has negotiated agreement that is, you know, that he wants and he’s focused on the final details to make sure that among the most important things that Iran doesn’t ever have a nuclear weapon. But you know we time and leverage are on the United States side and I don’t think that there should be any hurry right now to get the best deal in the interests of the United States and therefore the American people and President Trump knows exactly what he wants and he knows that he has everything on his side to make sure that he gets it. I mean, we have, you know, a blockade right now in the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran is on their back foot. They have their military’s been decimated. Their navy’s at the bottom of the Gulf. And so there is just so much right now that the United States is holding all the cards and President Trump is going to make sure that if a deal is done that it is a sustainable deal in the interest of America.”
“Sustainable is the key phrase there. You also mentioned the word leverage and I want to highlight some reporting from Axios about a potentially tense conversation between Trump and Netanyahu. Quote, summarizing Trump’s remarks to Netanyahu, the US official said, ‘You’re bleeping crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your bleeping. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.’ A second source briefed on the call said Trump was I’m going to say this pissed and at one point yelled at Netanyahu, ‘What the bleep are you doing?’ Less on the back and forth between Netanyahu and Trump because let’s face it, they’re one of our greatest allies. That relationship is strong. But how can the Trump administration prevent Iran from using the issue of Lebanon and Israel’s involvement with Lebanon as leverage against us? How does the Trump administration do that?”
“Well, obviously, we want the entire region of the Middle East, whether it’s Lebanon, whether it is Iran, whether it is, you know, the government in Iraq or Syria or anywhere in that region. We want peace to break out across the region. And all of it’s related because these Hezbollah is a proxy group for Iran, Hamas is a proxy group for Iran, the Houthis are a proxy group for Iran. And so, you know, Iran’s hand and is in all of these conflicts and they are related. But again, President Trump is unafraid to talk to anybody at any time and tell him how it should be and how it must be. And that’s the thing that the United States because of his leadership and because of the awesome power of our military, we can stand behind those requests and we aren’t afraid and we’re coming from a position of power and that’s where we will always be and that’s where the American people want us. But you know the situation between Hezbollah and Israel is again it’s existential for Israel ultimately. They have received rockets. You know this Todd, they have received rockets for years from territory in Lebanon and you know they are I think once and for all trying to root that out. Now could they go too far? Is that a concern? Maybe certainly if they get all the way to Beirut and start attacking the capital city of Lebanon. But you know, President Trump understands how it all fits together and is negotiating a comprehensive deal. You know, if the Iranians want to include the Hezbollah issue in that and it can be negotiated, then I’m sure President Trump will find a way to include that. But again, he holds all the cards and he’s going to decide the deal that is going to be on the table and accepted.”
“As the US ambassador to NATO, we would be remiss if we did not ask you about this quickly. President Trump reportedly telling Turkey and its president Erdogan that he plans to visit their country for a NATO summit in July. This is a big NATO summit. What would President Trump’s presence in Turkey at this summit, Mr. Ambassador, mean for the future of the alliance?”
“Well, I mean, obviously, President Trump is the key to the alliance in the summit. Last year in the HEG, he was there. We got the 5% commitment which is historic and wouldn’t have happened without President Trump’s leadership. Now we have the report card. Now we find out what have our allies been doing over the last year and what are their plans in the future. And that includes things not only ramping up spending but most importantly acquiring capabilities, tanks, airplanes, air defense systems, counter UAS, all of the armaments and weapons that we need to deter and defend every inch of the alliance. And we also need to continue this project that we have started which is handing over the conventional defense of the European continent to the Europeans. We’re making progress. Is it fast enough? Probably not. But we’re going to keep pushing as hard as we can. And President Trump being there in Ankara is very important.”
“US Ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker. As always a pleasure, sir. Great to see you.”
“President Trump telling ABC that a deal with Iran could happen over the next week. The president writing on Truth Social, quote, ‘Talks are continuing at a rapid pace with the Islamic Republic of Iran.’ And President Trump speaking to ABC about getting Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a ceasefire, saying, quote, ‘There was a little glitch today, but I turned that one around very quickly. I spoke with Hezbollah and I said, ‘No shooting.’ And I talked to BB and said, ‘No shooting.’ And they both stopped shooting each other.’ US Ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker joins me now. We’re going to get to the glitch as President Trump characterizes it in a second, but but I’m trying to view this back and forth, delay, no delay, ceasefire through the lens of the American person watching right now drinking their coffee, and it seems like we have a start, we have a stop, we have a start, we have a stop. What do you want the American public to think when it comes to the constant promise that we’re going to have a ceasefire, we’re going to end this war, and then just the delay, delay, delay, mostly on the part of Iran?”
“Well, Todd, it’s good to be with you. And what I would say on the Iran US conflict is, you know, we will defend our interests. Obviously, the president is the negotiator chief. He has negotiated agreement that is, you know, that he wants and he’s focused on the final details to make sure that among the most important things that Iran doesn’t ever have a nuclear weapon. But, you know, we time and leverage are on the United States side. And I don’t think that there should be any hurry right now to get the best deal in the interest of the United States and therefore the American people. And President Trump knows exactly what he wants and he knows that he has everything on his side to make sure that he gets it. I mean we have you know a blockade right now in the Strait of Hormuz and Iran is on their back foot. They have their military’s been decimated, their navy’s at the bottom of the Gulf. And so there is just so much right now that the United States is holding all the cards and President Trump is going to make sure that if a deal is done that it is a sustainable deal in the interest of America.”
“Sustainable is the key phrase there. You also mentioned the word leverage and I want to highlight some reporting from Axios about a potentially tense conversation between Trump and Netanyahu. quote, summarizing Trump’s remarks to Netanyahu, the US official said, ‘You’re bleeping crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your bleeping. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.’ A second source briefed on the call said, ‘Trump was, I’m going to say this, pissed.’ And at one point yelled at Netanyahu, ‘What the bleep are you doing?’ Less on the back and forth between Netanyahu and Trump because, let’s face it, they’re one of our greatest allies. That relationship is strong. But how can the Trump administration prevent Iran from using the issue of Lebanon and Israel’s involvement with Lebanon as leverage against us? How does the Trump administration do that?”
“Well, obviously we want the entire region of the Middle East, whether it’s Lebanon, whether it is Iran, whether it is, you know, the government in Iraq or Syria or anywhere in that region. We want peace to break out across the region. And all of it’s related because these Hezbollah is a proxy group for Iran. Hamas is a proxy group for Iran. The Houthis are a proxy group for Iran. And so, you know, Iran’s hand and is in all of these conflicts and and they are related. But again, President Trump is unafraid to talk to anybody at any time and tell him how it should be and how it must be. And that’s the thing that the United States because of his leadership and because of the awesome power of our military, we can stand behind those requests and we aren’t afraid and we’re coming from a position of power and that’s where we will always be and that’s where the American people want us. But you know the situation between Hezbollah and Israel is again it’s existential for Israel ultimately. They have received rockets. You know this Todd, they have received rockets for years from territory in Lebanon and you know they are I think once and for all trying to root that out. Now could they go too far? Is that a concern? Maybe certainly if they get all the way to Beirut and start attacking the capital city of Lebanon. But you know, President Trump understands how it all fits together and is negotiating a comprehensive deal. You know, if the Iranians want to include the Hezbollah issue in that and it can be negotiated, then I’m sure President Trump will find a way to include that. But again, he holds all the cards and he’s going to decide the deal that is going to be on the table and accepted.”
“As the US ambassador to NATO, we would be remiss if we did not ask you about this quickly. President Trump reportedly telling Turkey and its president Erdogan that he plans to visit their country for a NATO summit in July. This is a big NATO summit. What would President Trump’s presence in Turkey at this summit, Mr. Ambassador, mean for the future of the alliance?”
“Well, I mean, obviously, President Trump is the key to the alliance in the summit. Last year in the HEG, he was there. We got the 5% commitment which is historic and wouldn’t have happened without President Trump’s leadership. Now we have the report card. Now we find out what have our allies been doing over the last year and what are their plans in the future. And that includes things not only ramping up spending but most importantly acquiring capabilities, tanks, airplanes, air defense systems, counter UAS, all of the armaments and weapons that we need to deter and defend every inch of the alliance. And we also need to continue this project that we have started which is handing over the conventional defense of the European continent to the Europeans. We’re making progress. Is it fast enough? Probably not. But we’re going to keep pushing as hard as we can and President Trump being there in Ankara is very important.”
“US Ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker. As always a pleasure, sir. Great to see you.”
“President Trump sees a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to peace to peace talks with Iran. So, this coming after the president reportedly had a heated conversation with Israel Prime Minister BB Netanyahu.”
“Trey Yinx is live in Tel Aviv with the details for us. Trey.”
“Yeah. Hey guys, good morning. President Trump indicated that a broader deal with Iran could be closed as early as this week, telling a reporter yesterday, quote, ‘I think you’re talking about over the next week. I still have to get a few more points.’ As the president works towards a deal with Iran, he was able to deescalate the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, getting on the phone with both sides. The president said on True Social, ‘I had a conversation with BB Netanyahu today asking him not to go into a major raid of Beirut, Lebanon. He turned his troops around. Thank you, BB. I also had a conversation with representatives of the leaders of Hezbollah, and they agreed to stop shooting at Israel and its soldiers. Likewise, Israel agreed to stop shooting at them. Let’s see how long that lasts. Hopefully, it will be for eternity.’ Axios reports the call between Trump and Netanyahu was tense, saying in a piece posted yesterday, quote, ‘summarizing Trump’s remarks to Netanyahu, the US officials said, ‘You’re bleeping crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your A. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.” A second source briefed on the call said Trump was pissed and at one point yelled at Netanyahu, ‘What the f are you doing?’ At this moment, Israeli troops remain in southern Lebanon. And overnight, there were a few sirens in northern Israel from Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks, as well as a small number of Israeli strikes in Lebanon. The Iranians are watching closely the unfolding exchange of fire and words with Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson saying this. ‘An obvious reason for the escalation, the atrocities by the Zionist regime over recent days in Lebanon is to destroy even the slightest possibility for the ongoing diplomatic process to lead to improvements in the situation. And again, in the US is responsible for this. We can’t consider the US and the Zionist regime as two separate agents.’ The Iranians have a lot to say. The reality is their economy is suffering due to the ongoing US naval blockade of Iranian ports.”
“It’s kind of ironic. How do you view it, Trey? It looks like Hezbollah when their war started, they’re the ones who started launching rockets in Israel. And the only reason Israel is in Lebanon is to so they could get into the northern part of their country because that’s where Hezbollah was lobbing rockets into their country. If there were no rockets coming from Lebanon, Israel would be perfectly happy to let Lebanon live in peace. Don’t you agree?”
“Yeah, absolutely. And look, Hezbollah has been launching rockets and drones into Israel since October 8th of 2023 when they followed Hamas’s attack into this country. The reality is that both Israel and Lebanon want to get rid of Hezbollah, but there is a pathway to do so. And the Trump administration has been working on a diplomatic solution. Secretary of State Marco Rubio behind the scenes has been trying to get both Israel and Lebanon at the table in Washington multiple times to come up with a framework of a normalization between the two countries that has the same goal to disarm this Iranian proxy that exists in southern Lebanon and in the southern part of the Lebanese capital of Beirut. President Trump wants a broader framework agreed to across the region that would deescalate the rising tension that continues to take place. And the reality is the Israelis and the Americans have a common goal, but the way to get there is a bit different. And so the days ahead will be quite tense to see what happens in Lebanon. We understand that Hezbollah wants to continue to deescalate because they understand they’re getting boxed out of these possible peace talks and the possibility of a broader deal. But President Trump has been very clear. He’d like to see Lebanon join the Abraham Accords. He sees the region as having an opportunity for peace and prosperity ahead. And given the fact that he hit the Iranian regime so hard during Operation Epic Fury, there’s an understanding that the groundwork may have been laid to do just that.”
“Trey, do you think, And look, I the fight happened between Benjamin Netanyahu and the president, but they’ve had these back and forths for a while, but it doesn’t mean that their relationship is broken. This happened one time during the negotiations when it came to getting the hostages back. It happened right before the operation of Midnight Hammer. So, they have these back and forth, but that doesn’t mean that their relationship is broken by any stretch of the…”
“Yeah. And look, President Trump is a dealmaker here. And when you’re making a deal, sometimes you have to give concessions and make tough decisions. And ultimately what the president is trying to do primarily is reach a deal with the Iranian regime to ensure that those in Tehran never obtain a nuclear weapon that could threaten US allies like Israel or US forces across the region. What’s interesting as it relates to Lebanon and the back and forth that we’ve heard here two years ago had you had a situation where people were reporting that the Lebanese leadership wanted to create normalized ties with Israel and ultimately disarm Hezbollah, people in the region would have laughed. What President Trump has been able to do here is put pressure on the Lebanese government to tell them no more. You can no longer support this Shia militia group in the southern part of Beirut.”
