Good Monday evening. In this edition: Vance touts progress in first round of Iran talks; and Starmer announces resignation as British prime minister.
Plus, Walz subpoenas, Greenspan and reflecting pool.
Iran Negotiations
Vice President JD Vance called the first round of negotiations with Iranian leaders in Switzerland "very productive" and said they created a "good foundation for a successful final deal" to end the war that began in late February.
The vice president, who led the U.S. delegation, said the talks resulted in "mechanisms" to ensure the Strait of Hormuz remains open, the establishment of a working group to address fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and a commitment from Iran to invite U.N. inspectors to its nuclear sites.
"We have the Iranians allowing weapons inspectors, nuclear inspectors into their country for the first time in a long time," he said. "We're obviously going to bolster that inspection regime to make sure they can never have a nuclear weapon."
The Iranian government cited "major progress" to end the fighting in Lebanon but disputed that anything had been finalized with respect to its nuclear program.
The Iranian Foreign Ministrysaid the country had made "no new commitments" regarding nuclear inspections and that any inspections would take place "under existing procedures," without expanding on what that might entail.
Vice President Vance said technical discussions between the two sides will continue in the coming days at the Burgenstock Resort on Lake Lucerne.
"We left a lot of our team. The Iranians left a lot of their team at the resort there to keep on working at it," he told reporters. "All in all, a very productive 36 hours. We're going to have to keep working it."
The negotiations got off to a rocky start over the weekend, with Iran saying it was closing the Strait of Hormuz in response to continued Israeli attacks in Lebanon, prompting President Trump to threaten Iran's negotiators.
President Trump touted the peace talks when talking to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday and reiterated that he wouldn't be shy about using military force again if Iran doesn't live up to the memorandum of understanding signed last week.
"If Iran doesn't live up to their agreement, or if they're not behaving, I will do what I have to do," he said.
"As long as they respect us — I don't want to use the word fear because that's an inappropriate word — but as long as they respect us, we're not going to have any trouble."
Oil prices continued to fall on Monday as tanker traffic picked up through the strait and as the Treasury Department temporarily lifted its sanctions on Iranian oil, citing the "ongoing productive" peace talks.
Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, fell to around $78 per barrel, about where it was in early March.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that he plans to resign amid lagging support and internal divisions within his governing Labour Party, setting up the United Kingdom to have its seventh prime minister in the past decade.
"The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election. I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question. And I accept that answer with good grace," he said in a statement outside No. 10 Downing Street.
"Every decision I've taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party."
Prime Minister Starmer said he will remain in office until a new party leader is selected, no later than September.
"I will do everything I can to ensure an orderly handover of power," he said. "I will also give my successor my full and unequivocal support, knowing that they will inherit a Britain that is far stronger and fairer than the one I inherited two years ago."
Andy Burnham, the popular former mayor of Greater Manchester, is widely expected to succeed him as Labour Party leader and prime minister after winning a special election last week to return to Parliament, where he previously served from 2001 to 2017.
"Keir has given huge service to our country and I want to thank him for his leadership and dedication during such a challenging period," Mr. Burnham said in a statement. "His decision marks the beginning of a transition and it is important that this process is conducted in an orderly and responsible way. I will put myself forward as part of this process."
Mr. Burnham was sworn into the House of Commons on Monday, shortly after the prime minister's announcement.
He received a big boost when his top potential challenger, Wes Streeting, the former health secretary under PM Starmer, endorsed him to take over the Labour Party.
If no serious challenger emerges, Mr. Burnham could be installed as prime minister next month.
Mr. Starmer became leader of the Labour Party in 2020 and was swept into Downing Street in July 2024 following the party's electoral victory that ended 14 years of Conservative Party government.
His standing was diminished by revelations about his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the U.S. despite his ties to Jeffrey Epstein and was further weakened by Labour's losses in local elections in May.
President Trump, who has clashed with Prime Minister Starmer over the past year, appeared to preempt his announcement on Sunday morning.
"Keir Starmer will resign as Prime Minister of The United Kingdom," he wrote on social media. "He failed badly on two very important subjects — IMMIGRATION AND ENERGY (OPEN NORTH SEA OIL!). I wish him well!"
A federal judgethrew out multiple Justice Department grand jury subpoenas to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and other state and local leaders, calling them an unconstitutional effort to punish those officials over their refusal to cooperate with the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz, who was nominated by President George W. Bush, wrote that "the dominant purpose of the challenged subpoenas is to coerce Minnesota officials into assisting the federal government with enforcing civil immigration law and to harass and retaliate against them for failing to do so." The subpoenas were issued in January after Minnesota officials sued to block Operation Metro Surge, a federal immigration crackdown that sparked protests and backlash against the Trump administration. "I will never stop exercising my constitutional rights to stand up for Minnesotans and the American freedoms that we hold dear," Gov. Walz said in a statement.
Alan Greenspan, the influential economist who served five terms as Federal Reserve chair under four presidents, died Monday at the age of 100. "He was a giant of a man who helped shape the U.S. economy for decades under presidents of both parties, but was always honest in acknowledging his mistakes," his wife, NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell, said in a statement. Mr. Greenspan was an economic adviser to Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan before being tapped as Federal Reserve chair in 1987, a position he would hold until 2006. He presided over an unprecedented economic boom during his nearly two decades leading the central bank, championing low-interest-rate policies and lax regulation. But his reputation took a hit shortly after he left office, with critics blaming his easy-money policies and support for deregulation as key factors that led to the Great Recession of 2007-2009, the deepest downturn since the 1930s. See his appearances in our video library.
President Trumpreiterated his claim that vandalism was the cause of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool's new coat of paint peeling off following his $16 million renovation. "They went in there with a knife," he told reporters in the Oval Office. "They cut it very violently." The president did not provide any evidence for his claim but said five people have been arrested and suggested evidence would be presented in court. He said the pool would likely have to be drained again to repair it, saying vandals cut a 300-foot-long gash in the pool and poured in corrosive chemicals. The president also claimed algae growing in the pool was caused by fertilizer being dumped into the water.
For your radar…
President Trump delivers remarks Tuesday on affordability from the Mack Truck plant in Macungie, Pennsylvania. Watch LIVE on C-SPAN3 at 2pm ET.
