Good Tuesday evening. In this edition: Trump agrees to two-week ceasefire after threatening to erase Iranian civilization.
Plus, Artemis II, Vance and Gates.
Iran War
President Trump announced that the U.S. had reached a two-week ceasefire agreement with Iran, a little more than an hour before his 8pm ET deadline for Tehran to strike a deal or see its "whole civilization" wiped out.
"The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East," he wrote on Truth Social.
"We received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate. Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated."
The announcement averts a dramatic escalation in the conflict that President Trump had threatened if Iran did not agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway through which about a fifth of the world's oil normally transits.
"However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World."
President Trump said the two-week ceasefire would be subject to a "COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING" of the strait, which Tehran had effectively closed after U.S. strikes began in late February, sending global energy prices soaring.
"On behalf of the United States of America, as President, and also representing the Countries of the Middle East, it is an Honor to have this Longterm problem close to resolution," he wrote.
The state of negotiations had been murky throughout the day, with conflicting signals from the U.S., Iran, Israel and Pakistan, which has been acting as an intermediary.
Iranian officials said talks had been called off following the president's "civilization" threat, but hours later Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharifsaid negotiations had been "progressing steadily" and proposed a two-week ceasefire that was ultimately accepted.
Iran's Supreme National Security Council said it had agreed to the ceasefire and would negotiate with the U.S. in Islamabad beginning Friday.
"It is emphasized that this does not signify the termination of the war," the council said in a statement. "Our hands remain upon the trigger, and should the slightest error be committed by the enemy, it shall be met with full force."
The president's threat to erase Iranian civilization had drawn significant backlash, including concerns that the president was on the verge of committing war crimes.
Republican leaders in Congress largely remained silent, though a handful of GOP lawmakers raised concerns.
"The President's threat that 'a whole civilization will die tonight' cannot be excused away as an attempt to gain leverage in negotiations with Iran," Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said in a statement. "This type of rhetoric is an affront to the ideals our nation has sought to uphold and promote around the world for nearly 250 years."
Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff, called the president's threat "truly unacceptable" and urged leaders to "come back to the table."
"Let's remember especially the innocent children, the elderly, the sick, so many people who have already become or will become victims of this continued warfare," he said.
NASA's Artemis II missioncompleted its lunar flyby Monday night, coming within 4,067 miles of the moon as the Orion spacecraft arced around the lunar "dark side." During the seven-hour flyby, astronauts aboard the Orion capsule captured more than 10,000 images of the lunar surface and a stunning "Earthset." President Trump called in to congratulate the crew after they emerged from the moon's far side and reestablished communications with Earth. The mission is expected to conclude Friday, when the spacecraft is scheduled to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.
Vice President JD Vancetraveled to Budapest to campaign alongside Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the final days before the country's legislative election on Sunday. Prime Minister Orbán, who has led Hungary with his Fidesz party since 2010, is a sharp critic of liberal European Union policies and a key European ally of the Trump administration. He faces a competitive election this weekend against Péter Magyar of the pro-European Tisza Party. The vice president held a news conference with Mr. Orbán and spoke at a campaign rally, praising his conservative leadership and casting him as a force against pro-migrant and anti-Christian "bureaucrats in Brussels."
Bill Gates, the Microsoft cofounder and billionaire philanthropist, will appear before the House Oversight Committee on June 10 for a transcribed interview as part of the panel's probe into Jeffrey Epstein. Mr. Gates has acknowledged a past friendship with the late financier and convicted sex offender, saying he sought his backing for philanthropic projects undertaken by the Gates Foundation and calling the relationship a "huge mistake." He has denied seeing or taking part in any wrongdoing. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who has also faced scrutiny over his ties to Mr. Epstein, is scheduled to sit for a transcribed interview on May 6.
For your radar…
NASA officials hold a news conference Wednesday to provide an update on Artemis II during day seven of the ten-day manned lunar flyby mission. Watch LIVE on C-SPAN at 3:30pm ET.
