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How Trump’s Iran agreement fails to achieve many of his goals

2026-06-18T16:01:59.228Z / CNN

• President Donald Trump has scaled back or set aside nearly all of his biggest goals for the war with Iran.
• Trump, for example, initially vowed to obliterate Iran’s missile program. But on Wednesday, he signaled Iran would be allowed to have some missiles.
• The memorandum of understanding makes extensive concessions to Iran while seeming to achieve few of Trump’s original objectives.

AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.

When the Iran war began on February 28, President Donald Trump proclaimed that the US military would “destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground.”

“It will be totally, again, obliterated,” Trump declared in a video.

In the days that followed, his administration cast the obliteration of Iran’s missile program as a paramount goal for the war, given the threat that they said it posed to US bases and allies in the region.

But now that Trump has a preliminary agreement with Iran, he’s sounding a very different note. Appearing at a press conference Wednesday at the end of the G7 summit in France, Trump suggested it was only fair that Iran be allowed some missiles.

“They have to have some, because other people have some,” Trump said. He added that “missiles aren’t the problem” because “they don’t blow up the planet.”

The president doubled down later, saying: “In relative proportion, I think it’s OK.”

It was a remarkable about-face from Trump on what had been one of his biggest stated goals for the war. And it was far from the only reversal.

In his apparent desperation to cut a deal to get out of the war, Trump has scaled back, set aside or abandoned nearly all of his biggest goals.

Trump’s goals have long been a moving target. His administration often listed four goals, but those four goal regularly varied, depending on who was talking and when. And Trump often didn’t seem to have a true north star when it came to what he wanted to accomplish.

Here are some of the biggest goals he set and where they stand, according to his latest comments and the 14-point memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran, which includes significantly more concessions to Tehran than vice versa.

The goal:“We’re going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally, again, obliterated.” – Trump on February 28_

The latest: By late March, the goal was scaled back to “dramatically reduce” Iran’s missile program.

Today, the MOU doesn’t even mention missiles, which Iran declared to be a red line in negotiations. And Trump signaled Wednesday that Iran would be allowed to have some.

The goal:“There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” – Trump on social media on March 6_

The latest: Soon after, Trump appeared to give up on this goal by pushing for negotiations. Now there is an initial agreement that makes extensive concessions to Iran — and many, including on the right, say it’s more of a US surrender than an Iranian one.

The goal:“When we’re finished, take over your government”; “It’ll be yours to take”; “This is the moment for action. Do not let it pass.” – Trump on February 28_

The latest: This goal also quickly subsided, when it became clear the Iranian people were not taking Trump’s cue. The president has occasionally insisted that the fact that Iranian leaders were killed in the war represents a form of regime change, but the new supreme leader is the former supreme leader’s son. And Trump claimed Wednesday, “I didn’t do this for regime change.”

The goal:“We will ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. It’s a very simple message: They will never have a nuclear weapon.” – Trump on February 28_

The latest:This one is very much to be determined. The MOU declares that Iran “reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons.” But Tehran has always maintained it is not pursuing them. And there is very little indication about what kind of terms might be agreed to that would truly stamp out the threat forevermore.

The goal:“There will be no enrichment of Uranium” – Trump on social media on April 8_. “We want no enrichment” – Trump_ on March 23_

The latest: Very similarly to the missile-related goal, Trump has also seemed to back off this. He has indicated Iran would be allowed to enrich uranium for civilian purposes. “It’s a little hard when other people have it, other adjoining states have it, and you’re not letting them have it for purposes of electricity and things like that,” he said Wednesday. “You have to use a little common sense.”

He had told the New York Times earlier this month that Iran could enrich at low levels but that it “could never be used by the military.”

The goal:“We also want the enriched uranium. … We’re going down, and we’ll take it ourselves.” – Trump on March 23_

The latest: This is another unknown, but the MOU appears to come up shy of Trump’s goal. The MOU says that the two sides “agreed to resolve the disposition of stockpiled enriched material pursuant to a mechanism that will be mutually agreed upon.” But it also indicates the uranium will be “down blended” rather than seized — i.e. “be down blended on site under the supervision of the” International Atomic Energy Agency.

And on Wednesday, Trump told reporters that destroying Iran’s nuclear stockpile is “much less important” than preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon.

“It’s much less important, because it’s very hard to get at that,” he said.

The goal:“The mission of Operation Epic Fury is laser-focused … (including) destroy their navy and other security infrastructure” – Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on March 2

The latest: Iran’s Navy was largely wiped out in the war’s early days. Iran does, however, retain significant asymmetric capabilities to control the Strait of Hormuz, including via drones, mines and small attack boats known as “fast boats.”

Preventing funding of proxy groups like Hezbollah and Hamas

The goal:“And finally, we’re ensuring that the Iranian regime cannot continue to arm, fund and direct terrorist armies outside of their borders.” – Trump on March 2_

The latest:The administration largely stopped talking about this for a while, and the MOU contains no language about Iran’s support for Hezbollah, Hamas or other proxy groups. In fact, the MOU appears to benefit Hezbollah by purporting to end fighting in Lebanon, where Israel is striking Hezbollah. Trump said Wednesday that in further negotiations, “we’ll talk also about the terrorist proxies that they have.” It’s also worth noting that the MOU immediately frees up Iran to sell oil, which Trump’s State Department has linked to Iran’s financing of these groups.

The goal:“We want it open. We want it free. We don’t want tolls. It’s an international waterway. They’re not charging tolls.” – Trump on March 21_. “Permanently toll-free” – Trump_ to the New York Times on Sunday_

The latest: The MOU says Iran will use “its best efforts” to ensure “the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge, for 60 days only, from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa.”

But that clause “for 60 days only” clearly comes up shy of Trump’s goal, at least for now. And Iran is signaling it intends to charge “fees.”

“Iran has sovereign rights in the Strait of Hormuz, and naturally, we will charge for the services,” Iran’s parliament speaker and key negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said this week, according to Al Jazeera.

A third of Americans say they’re reading fewer books

June 18, 2026 / 1:47 PM EDT / CBS News
By Fred Backus

As the summer reading season begins in earnest, a third of Americans say they’re reading fewer books for personal enjoyment than they did 10 years ago — a decline that cuts across age and education levels.

About half who report reading less say it’s because they are too busy and don’t have enough free time, and about half also say there are too many distractions competing for their attention. More than a third say their own attention spans have gotten worse over the past 10 years.

So what are people doing instead? More than half who are reading less say they’re spending more time watching movies and television, as well as spending more time on social media — the latter reason being cited by nearly two in three adults under 30.

More than a third are engaged in more gaming, and this is particularly true among men under 50, more than half of whom say they are spending more time playing games instead of reading for pleasure. The top answer for women under 50 is spending more time on social media.

But it’s not all sitting in front of screens: about a third of both men and women are doing more physical activities.

How, and what, are people reading?

While most readers still prefer the printed page to digital or via audiobooks, some of the most voracious readers have embraced digital formats — a third who read more than 20 books a year say they usually read them digitally.

Most readers rely on recommendations to some degree when deciding what books to read, and recommendations from friends and family are where many usually turn to. Beyond that, older readers tend to read book reviews for recommendations, while readers under 30 are far more likely to consult social media and influencers.

As to what they prefer to read, fiction is more popular than nonfiction, driven by a clear preference among many women (men are divided).

Why fiction? The top reasons picked are for entertainment, to relax and escape, for good stories and characters, and to use their imagination.

For those who prefer fiction to nonfiction, mysteries edge out science fiction and fantasy as the most popular genre overall, and they are favored by both women and readers who read the most books per year (though men are more likely to pick up sci-fi and fantasy).

For those who prefer nonfiction, history is the top choice (the clear favorite among men), while women are more divided between books about religions, philosophy, or spirituality and books about self-help and wellness.

How many books are you reading?

Though many Americans are reading fewer books, most haven’t given up reading altogether: about a third read upwards of six books a year, including 12% who read more than 20. And it’s not just older people who are reading books: younger adults read about the same number of books as older adults, though women read more books than men.

A quarter of Americans, however, say they don’t generally read any books at all.

This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 2,023 U.S. adults interviewed between June 2-4, 2026. The sample was weighted to be representative of adults nationwide according to gender, age, race, and education, based on the U.S. Census American Community Survey and Current Population Survey, as well as 2024 presidential vote. The margin of error is ±2.8 points.

CBS News poll on Americans’ reading habits

Iran hardliner behind US deal warns Tehran won’t honor agreement if Trump fails to deliver

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has vowed Trump would ‘pay the price’ and warned American bases and ships would be ‘burned’

June 18, 2026 2:17pm EDT / Fox News

By Efrat Lachter

Qalibaf leads Iran lawmakers in IRGC uniforms, chants ‘Death to America’

Iranian Majles members, led by Speaker Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf and dressed in Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps uniforms, threaten the EU with consequences over a terror designation and chant “Death to America!” Feb. 1, 2026. (Credit: MEMRI TV)

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Iran’s hardline parliament speaker and key negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that Tehran would not honor its commitments under a newly signed memorandum with the U.S. if Washington fails to uphold its side of the deal, according to the media arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“If the United States does not honor its commitments, there is no way Iran will honor its own commitments,” Ghalibaf said, according to the outlet.

Ghalibaf’s warning was echoed Thursday by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani, who threatened the U.S. in remarks translated by MEMRI TV, saying, “Americans should know their place and avoid confronting the Muslims.”

Qaani added that “Trump is trembling” and warned that the U.S. “should fear not only Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb, but many other locations as well.”

MEET IRAN’S HARDLINE SPEAKER WHO THREATENED TO BURN US FORCES — REPORTEDLY TEHRAN’S POINT MAN FOR TALKS

The warnings came after President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian Wednesday digitally signed a copy of the memorandum aimed at ending the war and resuming the flow of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s hardline parliament speaker and key negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that Tehran would not honor its commitments under a newly signed memorandum with the U.S. if Washington fails to uphold its side of the deal.(Majid Asgaripour/WANA)

The memorandum gives Iran major economic relief while leaving some of the most difficult nuclear questions for a final agreement to be negotiated throughout the next 60 days. Under the 14-point plan read by a senior U.S. official, Washington agreed to begin lifting its naval blockade, work with regional partners on a $300 billion reconstruction and development plan for Iran, and terminate U.S., U.N. and other sanctions on an agreed schedule as part of a final deal.

The memorandum also says all licenses, waivers and permissions needed for related financial transactions would be granted by the United States.

In return, Iran reaffirmed that it “shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons,” and the two sides agreed to resolve the fate of Iran’s stockpiled enriched material under a future mechanism, with the minimum method being on-site down-blending under International Atomic Energy Agency supervision.

The agreement defers many of the hardest questions — including how to wind down Iran’s nuclear program — until the 60-day negotiation period for a final deal.

But the Iranian figure at the center of the deal is not a diplomat known for moderation.

Ghalibaf, a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander and longtime regime insider, has threatened American forces, vowed Trump would “pay the price” and built his career through loyalty to Iran’s security establishment.

The new warning underscored what experts say is the central risk of the agreement: Washington may be entering a deal with officials who can enforce Iran’s commitments, but who have shown little sign of changing the regime’s long-term posture toward the U.S., Israel or the region.

Ghalibaf, 64, is a product of Iran’s security establishment. He rose through the ranks of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during the Iran-Iraq War, eventually becoming commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps air force.

He later served as Iran’s national police chief, overseeing internal security forces responsible for suppressing protests, including the 1999 student uprising, alongside Qassem Soleimani.

After transitioning into politics, Ghalibaf attempted to run for president multiple times but failed. He instead built his career through loyalty to the system, serving as Tehran’s mayor for more than a decade before becoming speaker of parliament in 2020.

FAMILIES OF IRAN’S ELITE LIVE LAVISHLY ABROAD WHILE ORDINARY CITIZENS SUFFER AT HOME

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf looks on as parliament members wearing military uniforms chant in support of the IRGC in Tehran, Iran, on Feb. 1, 2026.(Hamed Malekpour/Islamic consultative assembly news agency/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters)

“Ghalibaf doesn’t have an independent line. His strength is that he is a ‘yes man,’” Beni Sabti, an Iran expert at the Institute for National Security Studies, previously told Fox News Digital. “If he is told to shake hands with Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, he will do it. If he is told to escalate, he will. It is not about moderation, it is about who gives the orders.”

“His name has also been linked to multiple corruption allegations, including misuse of oil revenues and sanctions evasion networks involving his family. His sons have reportedly been involved and are under sanctions,” Sabti said, adding, “There have also been public scandals involving family members traveling abroad and making luxury purchases, including widely circulated images of them arriving with numerous high-end Gucci suitcases.”

Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the image of Ghalibaf at a signing ceremony with a senior U.S. official would be a propaganda victory for the regime.

“There was a time when the Islamic Republic would have been terrified to be seen signing such a thing,” Ben Taleblu told Fox News Digital. “Post-war, this is a sign of the regime’s opportunism, and no one identifies that opportunism better than someone like Ghalibaf, who comes from the IRGC, who is a corrupt politician and is a wheeler and dealer.”

But Taleblu warned that Washington should not confuse Ghalibaf’s opportunism with moderation.

“The mirage is the myth of Iranian military moderation and the myth that, with time, this regime will integrate and put aside all the things that have kept it on the sidelines for so long,” he said. “Transforming Iran via a deal — that is a huge lift.”

Ghalibaf’s wartime statements reflect the hardline posture inside Iran’s leadership. In remarks aired on Iranian television on Jan. 12 and translated by MEMRI, he warned that U.S. forces would face catastrophic consequences if they confronted Iran.

“Come, so you can see what catastrophe befalls American bases, ships and forces,” he said, adding that American troops would be “burned by the fire of Iran’s defenders.”

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION UNVEILS SWEEPING TERMS OF PROPOSED IRAN AGREEMENT

A man lights a cigarette with fire from a burning picture of Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf as Israelis rally in support of nationwide protests in Iran in Holon, Israel, on Jan. 14, 2026.(Ammar Awad/Reuters)

More recently, he warned that “the blood of American soldiers is the personal responsibility of Trump,” and vowed Iran would “settle accounts with the Americans and Israelis,” adding that “Trump and Netanyahu crossed our red lines and will pay the price.”

John Hannah, a senior fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America and a former national security adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, said Ghalibaf’s expected role reflects the reality of who holds power inside Iran.

“If you’re going to sign an agreement with Iran, those are the forces in charge and calling the shots, presumably with the approval of the new Supreme Leader,” Hannah told Fox News Digital. “If the U.S. harbors hope that Iran will ever implement any of their obligations under the MOU, these are the people — odious as they are — capable of making it happen.”

But Hannah said the central question is whether Iran’s leadership sees compliance as useful, or whether the agreement is simply a tactical pause.

“The big question is whether they see it in their interest to do so, or are they only buying time, rebuilding their power and preparing for the next round of conflict,” he said.

Ben Taleblu was even more blunt, warning that even a seemingly favorable agreement would not change the nature of the regime.

“Even if you’ve got the perfect deal, with this kind of regime, with this kind of mentality, they will escalate,” he said. “I thought we would have learned by now what the regime did after the JCPOA. It built a vast missile arsenal. It literally built an empire of terror proxies that took Israel years of blood, effort and money to dismantle, backed by American support.”

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Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a press conference in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 27, 2024.(Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS)

“If we engage in pay-to-play with these guys,” he added, “I’m sorry to sound the alarm bell like this — but something tells me this is bad either way.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

Efrat Lachter is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering international affairs and the United Nations. Follow her on X @efratlachter. Stories can be sent to efrat.lachter@fox.com.

New book reveals how Trump compared himself to Mao, Stalin, Attila the Hun

2026-06-18T19:36:36.876Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/18/politics/new-book-reveals-how-trump-compared-himself-to-mao-stalin-atilla-the-hun

• President Donald Trump showed reporters a document comparing his power to historical figures like Stalin and Mao.
• The document’s author turned out to be a golf caddy, not a historian as Trump claimed.
• A new book reveals Trump’s second term, from gluing gold decorations to ordering federal investigations.

AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.

When President Donald Trump sat down for an interview in March with New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan for their new book, he showed them a document arguing he was more powerful than some of the most feared and treacherous leaders in history — including Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Stalin, Mao, and Hitler.

Trump had been asked by Haberman and Swan about the power he wielded as president in his second term and his place in history, which prompted him to tell the story of a two-page document he had received from “a historian” during an event honoring the hall of fame golfer, Gary Player. Trump proudly asked an aide to fetch a copy of the document, which argued that each of the other leaders, “however fearsome in his day, had no global reach. Their power was local. But (Trump’s) was not.”

Trump proudly showed them the letter, Haberman and Swan write, “reciting the names of some of history’s most powerful figures, explaining how each fell short of his own power as US president.”

These leaders “maintained power through fear,” Trump said, according to the book. “Who would ever do a thing like that? Right?”

But when Swan and Haberman tried to find the author, it turned out, he was not a historian, but actually Player’s longtime caddy and personal confidant. The caddy told Haberman and Swan that he “had first shared his assessment of Trump’s power with Player and later explained it directly to Trump over golf in Florida.”

Trump posted the document on Truth Social just after midnight Thursday — an interesting coincidence that one source told CNN may have been an attempt to get out in from of the book. Trump wrote that the author was a “presidential historian.”

The anecdote is one of many striking scenes captured in Haberman and Swan’s new book, “Regime Change,” which was obtained by CNN ahead of its release on Tuesday. The book provides a blunt, behind-the-scenes portrait of the first 14 months of Trump’s second term, in which the president has wielded his power without constraint — often in a haphazard, improvisational manner — to persecute his perceived enemies, rattle global markets and wage war abroad.

Haberman and Swan capture moments big and small, including the administration’s flailing response to the Epstein files scandal and Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran. Throughout, they illustrate how Trump’s second term is even more unconstrained than his first, depicting his willingness to break with longstanding norms and offering insight into the president’s often biting and unvarnished views of fellow world leaders and even members of his own team.

Based on more than 1,000 interviews over a three-year period, Haberman and Swan’s book contains direct quotes that they explain come from the person speaking, someone who heard them directly or from “contemporaneous notes, recordings, or transcripts.”

They both spoke to Trump several times over the course of their daily reporting, in addition to their hourlong sit-down with Trump in March.

Here are more key moments from “Regime Change”:

Haberman and Swan recount a scene in the Oval Office that reveals how invested Trump is in the golden redecorating inside his White House office.

One morning, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt walked into the Oval Office and found Trump “clutching a tube of superglue and attempting to affix gold decorations to the marble fireplace mantel,” according to the book.

“As he was known to prefer his own aesthetic handiwork to anyone else’s, the sight of the President squeezing glue onto gilded appliques and mounting them on the wall himself surprised no one in his inner circle,” Haberman and Swan write.

After retaking office last year, Trump quickly transformed the look of the Oval Office, adding gold everywhere, including new gold vermeil figurines on the mantle and medallions on the fireplace, gold eagles on the side tables, gilded Rococo mirrors on the doors, and, nestled in the pediments above the doorways, diminutive gold cherubs shipped in from Mar-a-Lago.

A ‘con man’ and ‘better than The Apprentice’

Trump’s second-term foreign policy has been dominated by his decision to go to war with Iran alongside Israel.

Haberman and Swan capture Trump’s hot-and-cold feelings about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including his initial hesitation about war with Iran. They write that Trump told an Israel skeptic in the early months of his administration that he didn’t want “any part” of a Netanyahu war with Iran.

Trump told another adviser that Netanyahu was a “con man,” according to the authors, who say that it is one of the worst insults in Trump’s lexicon.

In an excerpt of the book released by The New York Times in April, Haberman and Swan describe a February gathering in the White House Situation Room that included Trump, Netanyahu and a handful of top US and Israeli officials. In the meeting, Netanyahu presented Israel’s case for going to war with Iran, which Trump ultimately decided to back.

Haberman and Swan also write about Trump’s skepticism toward Ukraine and its leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, as Russia’s war in Ukraine dragged into Trump’s second year despite his campaign promise to resolve it within 24 hours.

After a remarkable argument in the Oval Office between Trump, Zelensky and Vice President JD Vance last February, Haberman and Swan write that Trump thought the confrontation was great.

“Better,” he would tell an advisor, “than The Apprentice,” according to the book.

Haberman and Swan capture some of the president’s vitriol toward his own Cabinet, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a longtime associate of Trump’s who played a key role in carrying out Trump’s tariffs over the past year.

The authors recount a scene in April 2025 where Lutnick was trying to convince Trump that tariffs couldn’t put US automakers at a major disadvantage.

Trump said that Lutick “used to be tough” but had gotten “weak” after coming to Washington, Haberman and Swan wrote.

“You used to be a killer, Howard,” Trump said, according to the authors. “I remember when you were thirty-five, you were a killer. And now you’ve got your beautiful wife, and your big house, and you’re just soft. And you’re a pussy. You know what you are? You’re a pussy.”

Months later, as tariff revenues began coming in, the authors write that Lutnick used Trump’s insult with a quip of his own, telling the president he was “your twenty-five-billion-dollar-a-month pussy.”

The book dives into one line that Trump chose not to cross in his second term: Trying to fire then-Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

Instead, Trump launched a campaign last year to try to make Powell’s life miserable.

An aide told the authors at the time that Trump was not going to fire Powell, he was just going to torture him.

Haberman and Swan recount how Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought brought Trump a plan to attack Powell over the renovations of the Federal Reserve building, which led to an extraordinary visit by the president to tour the site last July.

“I want to bust his fucking balls, honestly,” Trump said of Powell during a July staff meeting, according to the book. “What about that fucking building? Can we stop it? Can we stop construction. I just want to bust his fucking balls. Fuck him.”

Trump asked if they could stop construction. “I’ll look into it,” Vought said.

“No don’t look into it,” Trump replied. “Bring me a plan.”

Vought’s general counsel at OMB, Mark Paoletta, came up with the plan to appoint Trump allies to the National Capital Planning Commission, an arcane board that dealt with construction in the Washington, DC, region.

Trump told his then-deputy chief of staff, James Blair, to join the board. “It’s like a two-week campaign. You know what to do. I just put you on the board. You have fun, you be vicious, you do a job,” the president said, according to the authors.

After the meeting, Blair went to Will Scharf, Trump’s staff secretary, and had him join the board, too. Scharf chaired a meeting the very next day, where Blair ordered up a “full review” of the Federal Reserve renovation project.

In April 2025, Trump issued executive orders instructing the Justice Department to investigate several perceived enemies, including Chris Krebs, the former head of DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency who was fired in November 2020 after he stated publicly that the 2020 election was “the most secure in American history.”

Haberman and Swan reveal that the investigation came after Trump couldn’t remember Krebs’ name.

According to the book, Trump “began to muse about past grievances” while in a meeting with several staff, including his powerful deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller and Boris Epshteyn, Trump’s longtime aide.

“I remember there was this lawyer who was in the administration who said the election was fair and there’s no fraud. Who was he?” Trump asked.

“Oh the DHS — I think you’re talking about the DHS guy,” Miller replied. “I forget his name.”

Epshteyn then googled Krebs’ name. “Yeah, Chris Krebs,” Trump said, according to the book. “Whatever happened to him? He was a bad one. Take a look at him.”

Haberman and Swan write that Miller then proceeded to have a presidential memo drawn up, “unleashing the resources of the federal government on a man whose sole offense against Trump had been to attest to the security and validity of his 2020 election.”

Haberman and Swan offer new insights into the efforts of Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to win over Russian President Vladimir Putin and end the war in Ukraine.

Trump tapped Witkoff, a longtime friend and New York real estate developer, as his chief negotiator for a number of diplomatic crises, including Gaza and Ukraine.

Witkoff sought a breakthrough with Putin based on personal chemistry, the authors write, adding that Putin “seemed to play into this” while giving up nothing on the battlefield.

Haberman and Swan write that during a meeting last year at the Kremlin, Putin was doodling on his personal stationary. Witkoff asked what it was and Putin held up the paper, which said “3+2,” which was shorthand for the territorial framework that Witkoff had discussed with him to stop the fighting.

“Can you sign that for me and can I take it home?” Witkoff asked, according to the book.

Putin signed the drawing, and Witkoff had it framed in black with a taupe mat, Haberman and Swan write.

Less than half of Americans can afford quality healthcare, Gallup finds

June 18, 2026 / 1:52 PM EDT / CBS News

Less than half of Americans could afford medical expenses and access to quality care last year, according to a new Gallup poll, highlighting mounting financial strain even among many higher-income households.

The share of “cost secure” Americans — those who could afford access to quality care and pay for doctors’ visits and prescriptions — fell to 49% last year, down from a peak of 61% in 2022 and marking the lowest level since Gallup began tracking the metric in 2021.

The decline in affordability is coupled with rising concerns among Americans about their ability to cover healthcare costs. Fifty-one percent of those polled by Gallup said they are concerned about paying for medical services in the next year, while 42% worry about affording prescription drugs.

The difficulty spans income levels. About one-third of households earning between $120,000 and $179,999 a year and one-fifth of those making at least $180,000 said they either lacked quality coverage or struggled to afford expenses such as prescription drugs, Gallup found.

Affordability is also a challenge across generations. Every age group in Gallup’s data, aside from those aged 50 to 65, shows a decline in the share of people who can afford healthcare from 2023 to 2025. Adults aged 18 to 29 are the most vulnerable, with only about a third considered cost-secure.

The data may only capture some of the strain Americans are currently feeling, as the study was conducted before the expiration of Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax subsidies in early 2026 caused premiums to spike — prompting some Americans to forgo insurance.

Data from January shows ACA enrollment dipped by more than 1 million from 2025. KFF,a nonprofit provider of health policy news and research, estimates that nearly 5 million fewer people will enroll in ACA plans this year.

In January, the Trump administration announced”The Great Healthcare Plan,” which the White House said would lower health insurance premiums and deliver money directly to Americans to cover healthcare costs. A month later, the administration launched TrumpRx, a site where Americans can get drugs at discounted prices.

Gallup based the findings on web and mail surveys of 5,660 U.S. adults conducted between October and December.

Edited by Aimee Picchi

Top Senate Republican rips into Trump’s Iran deal, says $300 billion makes Obama deal look like ‘a pittance’

June 18, 2026 1:09pm EDT / Fox News

Roger Wicker said Trump’s Iran deal ‘negotiates away the victories of Operation Epic Fury’

By Alex Miller, Fox News

Trump issues stark warning to Iran as critics raise red flags over emerging agreement

Fox News contributor Ben Domenech joins ‘Varney & Co.’ to weigh concerns over President Donald Trump’s emerging Iran deal and explain why critics remain skeptical of Tehran’s commitments.

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Republicans aren’t taking President Donald Trump’s deal with Iran well.

While Congress has still not received the actual memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by Trump and Iranian officials, lawmakers have seen the reports circulating in the media.

And one of the top Republicans in the Senate warned that while he supported the war’s initial objectives, he feared that the current agreement would undermine those same objectives.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., shredded the MOU in a statement on Thursday, in which he cautioned that the agreement “negotiates away the victories of Operation Epic Fury in ways that are completely out of step with the president’s goals.”

TRUMP’S IRAN DEAL ‘GIVING A LOT MORE TO GET A LOT LESS’ THAN OBAMA’S, SENATOR SAYS

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., speaks to the press in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 11, 2024.(Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)

“Specifically, the $300 billion fund for the reconstruction and economic development of Iran — though not funded by U.S. taxpayers — would make Iran’s payoff under President Obama’s 2015 deal look like a pittance by comparison,” Wicker said.

The proposed $300 billion fund has given Republicans heartburn as details have emerged in recent days, with some comparing it to the billions that flowed to Iran under former President Joe Biden.

The agreement stipulates that the U.S. would coordinate with regional partners to develop the fund, which would be finalized as part of the 60-day deal.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION UNVEILS SWEEPING TERMS OF PROPOSED IRAN AGREEMENT

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6398590114112

Wicker also took issue with lifting sanctions on Iran and forcing Israel to stand down against Hezbollah, “an Iranian-backed terrorist organization that continues to attack Israel on its northern border.”

“The Iranian regime has not renounced its ultimate goal — ‘Death to America, Death to Israel,’” Wicker said. “The regime will invest every penny it receives to further that aim.”

“President Trump has pursued peace through strength,” he continued. “I hope the intermediaries working on this deal are not undermining that objective.”

Wicker isn’t alone in his fear that Iran will turn around and use the funds for nefarious efforts.

REPUBLICANS BAT DOWN BID TO HANDCUFF TRUMP’S WAR POWERS AS PEACE DEAL NEARS

Sen. Ted Cruz speaks as Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI director, testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington on Jan. 30, 2025.(Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, warned that “giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is an exceptionally bad idea.”

“And I think, unfortunately, the president is receiving some really bad advice on this deal,” Cruz told reporters.

Cruz compared the fund to billions shipped to Iran under the Biden administration, which he charged was the “most catastrophic foreign policy” decision made during the prior administration, and that the “money funded terrorism across the globe in a very real sense.”

“If we give billions of dollars to Iran, that money will be used to murder Americans,” he said. “And so I don’t believe we should do that. And the idea that we would have effectively a Marshall plan for Iran and come in and rebuild Iran after they’ve been the leading state sponsor of terrorism for 47 years — they’ve murdered nearly a thousand Americans — I don’t think that makes any sense.”

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Vice President JD Vance, who has become the public face of the deal, defended the fund during a press briefing at the White House on Thursday, contending that the only way Iran could access that funding, which he vowed was not coming from taxpayers, was “if they comply fully and change their behavior.”

“So you really have a win-win situation for the United States of America,” Vance said.

Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.

US diplomats depart Latin America-focused mission amid clashes with Trump ally

2026-06-18T18:56:50.349Z / Reuters

WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) – Several senior U.S. diplomats posted to the Organization ​of American States have quit or been fired amid clashes with a Trump-appointed ambassador, according to six sources familiar with the matter, changes that have cut the institutional ‌expertise available to the historically important U.S. mission.

Founded in 1948, the OAS is the Western Hemisphere’s main multilateral forum and focuses on regional security, human rights, democracy and economic development. The Washington-based body has played a central role in settling contested elections in Latin America in recent years and has often brought together U.S. allies in condemning human rights violations in authoritarian states like Cuba and Nicaragua.

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In recent months, however, the U.S. mission to the OAS has faced significant staff turnover, with ​the deputy chief of mission, the chief of staff, a senior political counselor and at least one more foreign service officer departing, according to the sources, who were granted anonymity ​to discuss personnel matters.

Those individuals comprised a significant chunk of the U.S. mission – which typically hosts just a handful of full-time foreign service officers – and essentially its ⁠entire senior staff, the sources said.

The departures are the latest example of how the Trump administration is reshaping the diplomatic corps, in many cases by sidelining senior career diplomats.

The changes also underline the ​administration’s deep skepticism of multilateral institutions even in strategically important regions like Latin America, where it is devoting more attention and resources.

Some of the departing staff have clashed with the current ambassador, Leandro Rizzuto ​Jr., a personal friend of U.S. President Donald Trump whose management style has struck many career officials as confrontational and erratic, the sources said.

In one interaction earlier in the year, for instance, Rizzuto compared staff who shared concerns about the mission directly with State Department leadership to “rats,” two of the sources said.

In an interview with Reuters, Rizzuto pushed back against criticisms of his style, while acknowledging that several senior diplomats recently quit or were fired. He said he is attempting ​to shift the OAS’ focus from human rights and democracy to economic issues, a change that he says has upset some State Department staff. He did not respond to a follow-up email inquiring specifically ​about the “rats” comment.

“I’m a business guy, so the bottom line is I want results, and without making it personal, if you can’t do the job, I’d rather you have another job,” Rizzuto said.

The State Department did not ‌respond to a ⁠detailed list of questions. The senior diplomats who were forced out either could not be reached for comment, did not respond to requests for comment or declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

Rizzuto said those who have been fired or who resigned have been succeeded by high-performing replacements.

A FOCUS ON THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

Trump officials have publicly questioned the OAS’ continued relevance, as they have of most multilateral institutions. But they have also suggested the body could make reforms to prove its utility in the 21st century, including by playing a more prominent role in hemispheric security and law enforcement.

Since returning to office, Trump ​has strongly reasserted the U.S. role in Latin America, ​most dramatically with a military raid that ⁠captured the president of Venezuela and left in place more U.S.-friendly leaders.

Rizzuto, the billionaire heir to a cosmetics fortune, was nominated to be ambassador to Barbados and two other Caribbean nations during Trump’s 2017-2021 term.

His nomination failed, however, amid revelations that he reposted conspiracy theories on X, including a false claim that Republican Senator ​Ted Cruz’s wife was part of a secret effort to combine the governments of the U.S., Mexico and Canada. He was instead appointed to the top ​diplomatic post in Bermuda, a ⁠position that does not require Senate approval.

Rizzuto secured an ambassadorial confirmation without significant incident during Trump’s second term and took office late last year.

After securing the post, Rizzuto had a large oil painting of himself placed in the central vestibule of the U.S. mission to the OAS, three of the sources said. Rizzuto did not respond to an email asking about the painting.

In the interview, Rizzuto said he forced out his deputy chief of ⁠mission and ​chief of staff, while his political counselor quit. Rizzuto described himself as “the fairest guy,” adding that he advocated for employees ​who were giving their all.

The sources pushed back against the suggestion that State Department staff were incompetent or disinterested.

Under the Trump administration, the State Department’s workforce has been radically transformed, which critics say has often been to the detriment of career public servants. ​Several hundred officers were dismissed in mass layoffs last year, and in December, the administration removed nearly 30 career ambassadors, largely leaving those posts vacant.

Reporting by Gram Slattery; Editing by Don Durfee and Deepa Babington

Gram Slattery is a White House correspondent in Washington, focusing on national security, intelligence and foreign affairs. His work covers how key U.S. foreign policy decisions are debated, shaped and executed. He was previously a national political correspondent, covering the 2024 presidential campaign. From 2015 to 2022, he held postings in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Santiago, Chile, and he has reported extensively throughout Latin America.

White House staff bids farewell to planes used as Air Force One for more than 35 years

2026-06-18T17:02:01.797Z / CNN

• Two White House officials posted farewells to the Boeing 747-200 that has flown as Air Force One since 1990.
• It comes as the first of three planes being modified for the role is set to be delivered soon.
• Three 747-800s are being modified, including a luxury jet donated by the government of Qatar to bridge the gap between the old planes and the two additional planes Boeing is modifying.

AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.

Washington, DC—

After an early Thursday morning landing near Washington, two White House officials posted social media farewells to the heavily modified Boeing 747-200, which has flown as Air Force One since 1990, as the first of three planes being modified for the role is set to be delivered soon.

“The last ride,” White House communications director Steve Cheung said sharing a photo of the plane – which the Air Force calls a VC-25A – in a post on X. “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino posted a videohttps://x.com/Scavino47/status/2067523503817977868?s=20 of the aircraft and wrote he has “been fortunate to fly around the world on this iconic plane for 5 1/2 years — of the 35 years it has been serving US presidents… THANK YOU…”

Three 747-800s are being modified as VC-25Bs to fill the role of Air Force One, including a luxury jet donated by the government of Qatar to bridge the gap between the old planes and the two additional planes Boeing is modifying that won’t be done for roughly two more years.

It’s not clear what is happening to the old VC-25As, as the Air Force noted in a statement they will remain part of the fleet.

“The VC-25B Bridge aircraft will soon join the active executive airlift fleet alongside the VC-25A and C-32,” an Air Force spokesperson told CNN. The C-32 is a modified Boeing 757, which often flies the vice president, first lady, cabinet members and occasionally fills in as Air Force One.

CNN previously reported that the Qatari jet was expected to be delivered “no later than summer 2026.” It comes after over a year of scrutiny and skepticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle as well as some security officials who criticized Trump for accepting the expensive gift and worried about security vulnerabilities.

The plane had to undergo significant changes to operate as a suitable replacement for Air Force One, CNN previously reported. US spy and security agencies were expected to have the aircraft stripped down and rebuilt to include the necessary security and communications equipment.

The current VC-25A fleet is more than three decades old and has been long ridiculed by Trump, who wants new planes.

Tail number 29000 landed at Joint Base Andrews Thursday morning after carrying Trump on his trip to Europe.

The other VC-25 hasn’t been seen flying since it landed at Majors Airport in Greenville, Texas, on June 2, according to open-source flight tracking site ADS-B exchange. The airport is the same location where the donated Qatari jet is being converted for use as the next Air Force One.

The Air Force began modifying the donated jet last summer.

Plane spotters saw the aircraft with a new paint job selected by the president earlier this month.

The new planes will be red, white, gold and dark blue, a color scheme proposed during Trump’s first term in office but reversed by the Biden administration in favor of a more traditional light blue and white Air Force One paint job. When Trump was reelected, his preferred color scheme was returned to the planes.

The modified Qatari jet last flew on June 10, for a short circle flight landing back at Majors Airport, the same place it took off from, according to ADS-B exchange.

Air Force Secretary Troy Meink previously told lawmakers that it would “probably” cost the Air Force less than $400 million to retrofit the donated aircraft.

An Air Force release last month said the plane had officially completed modifications and was “on schedule to roll out in a new red, white and blue livery this summer.”

“Ultimately, the Bridge aircraft fulfills a critical short-term requirement, guaranteeing the Air Force continues to execute its no-fail mission for the commander in chief while laying a rock-solid foundation for the future,” the release said.

It’s not clear when the aircraft will be brought to Washington and what will happen to the two old planes when it enters service.

The vintage aircraft, however, have a storied history, visiting countries around the world from Iraq and Cuba to China and Australia.

George H.W. Bush first flew on the aircraft in 1990 on a trip to Kansas.

On September 11, 2001, former President George W. Bush was interrupted during an event at a Florida elementary school after the attack on the World Trade Center South Tower in New York City and was hurried to one of the VC-25A planes. It flew the president to an Air Force base near Shreveport, Louisiana, and then to a secure bunker on an Air Force base in Nebraska.

It later transported the former president to Washington, DC, where he addressed the nation hours later.

It also once flew Presidents Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush to Israel for the funeral of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, according to the Air Force.

CNN’s Aaron Cooper contributed to this report.

Hegseth announces review of U.S. forces in Europe, blasts “shameful” NATO allies

June 18, 2026 / 1:52 PM EDT / CBS News

The Pentagon is launching a six-month review of U.S. forces and bases in Europe, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday at a meeting of NATO defense ministers, shortly after he accused allies of “shameful” inaction during the Iran war.

Without naming specific nations, he called out allies for criticizing the U.S. campaign against Iran and denying permission for the U.S. to use some bases in Europe for launching aircraft or ships.

“It’s shameful,” Hegseth said. “These allies, they put America’s sons and daughters, our sons and daughters, at risk by denying them the predictable access facing overflight that never should have been in question at all.”

He said that dynamic is part of why the U.S. will launch what he called a “NATO 3.0” review of U.S. troops in Europe that could take six months or less. NATO 3.0 is an initiative introduced in February by Undersecretary of Defense For Policy Elbridge Colby, who said it was time for European countries to take primary responsibility for the continent’s conventional defense.

On Thursday, Hegseth said NATO 2.0, which he called “an era of freeriding,” is over.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks ahead of the NATO Defense Ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels on June 18, 2026. Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images

His announcement of the review of U.S. forces in Europe comes ahead of the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, next month, which President Trump is expected to attend. It also comes amid bipartisan concerns on Capitol Hill over recent troop withdrawals from the continent.

In May, the Pentagon announced the withdrawal of 5,000 troops from Germany. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, the GOP chairmen of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, released a statement saying they were “concerned” by the decision.

“Any significant change to the U.S. force posture in Europe warrants a deliberate review process and close coordination with Congress and our allies,” Wicker and Rogers wrote.

The Pentagon also reduced the number of brigade combat teams assigned to Europe, a move that also took some members of Congress by surprise.

During a House Armed Services Committee hearing, GOP Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia told Army leaders that “these are major decisions that appear to many of the members of this committee to be last-minute decisions.”

There are currently about 80,000 U.S. troops in Europe. Congress has already required the Pentagon to submit a plan before cutting forces below 76,000. The Senate Armed Service Committee’s draft version of this year’s defense policy bill, known as the NDAA, would add an additional check.

The current bill, which was voted out of the committee last week, would require the defense secretary to submit an assessment of the impact of any drawdown 120 days before implementing it.

In his announcement of the review, Hegseth said some allies were committed to “freeriding” on America’s support because they were not showing tangible progress towards spending 5% of GDP on defense by 2035, a target NATO established during last year’s summit in The Hague.

Estimates released by NATO earlier this year showed 31 of the 32 member countries spent 2% of GDP on defense in 2025, an increase from 18 that did so in 2024. President Trump repeatedly pushed NATO allies to meet the 2% target during his first administration.

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, a co-chair of the Senate NATO Observer Group, noted the “tremendous progress” to ramping up defense spending during an event Wednesday at the Atlantic Council. But he said that allies should use the upcoming summit to discuss shortfalls in the capacity to produce weapons.

“I think as people acknowledge that one of the reasons why the family is having a fight is because some of the brothers and sisters were just not stepping up to the level the family expected, then we can have a good discourse with this president,” Tillis said.

“What we don’t want to have in Ankara is some discussion of us reducing our commitment to NATO. That’s the worst possible thing that can come from that,” the senator said before the review was announced.

Republicans blast Trump’s Iran agreement as details emerge

2026-06-18T19:07:22.397Z / Reuters

WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s interim deal to end the Iran war met scorching public criticism from some of his fellow Republicans as copies of the signed agreement circulated on Capitol Hill on Thursday.

One Republican senator called the framework pact announced this week the “worst foreign policy blunder ​in decades,” another said some reported provisions seemed “ill-advised,” and some pro-Republican commentators also broke with Trump over the agreement.

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The criticism was a rare rebuke from members of the Republican Party who ‌have mostly offered full loyalty to the president, but are increasingly restive as the economic effects of the Iran conflict have hurt their prospects ahead of midterm elections in November that will decide control of Congress. Democrats, who are seeking to regain control of one or both of the legislative chambers, have also been critical of the agreement.

The White House sent the text of the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to members of Congress on Thursday, a day after Trump signed the preliminary deal to end the war. The document, seen by ​Reuters, matched what had been read out by a U.S. official on Wednesday.

Lawmakers from both parties have said they want more information from the White House.

By Thursday, congressional aides said there had been no ​briefings for Congress on the deal or the administration’s plans, and there had been no announcement that any were scheduled.

Some of the sharpest criticism of the MOU ⁠has involved reports that the Trump administration has agreed to release frozen Iranian assets, allow the creation of a $300 billion private wealth fund to trigger investment in Iran and ease sanctions.

‘BLUNDER’

“Iran’s nuclear ambitions were not curbed, and ​they have learned that threatening the Strait of Hormuz works and will undoubtedly leverage it in the future,” Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana wrote in a post on X.com.

He noted that before the war, the strait – one of ​the world’s most important oil shipping routes – was open and Iran faced steep sanctions. “Now, 13 Americans are dead, families have paid billions at the pump, sanctions will be lifted, and the bombing has stopped. This is the worst foreign policy blunder in decades,” Cassidy wrote.

Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the Republican chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, said he worried that the MOU “negotiates away” U.S. military successes.

Wicker also said it would be a mistake to force Israel to stand down against Hezbollah in Lebanon and ​opposed lifting any sanctions on Iran or unfreezing Iranian funds, “in exchange for Iran’s mere agreement to negotiate for another 60 days.”

Trump blasted his critics in a post on social media. “These fools, who think I haven’t been tough ​enough on Iran, when the Stock Market Just Hit A RECORD HIGH, and Oil prices are “tumbling” down, are either jealous, bad people, or stupid. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!! President DJT” he wrote.

The agreement to end the conflict and open the economically ‌vital Strait of ⁠Hormuz is in some ways a positive for Trump, who has needed a way out of a conflict that has driven up energy prices and sapped U.S. military resources. And the final agreement, still to be negotiated, could provide additional gains for the U.S.

But critics argue that the interim deal offers Iran significant benefits in return for giving the United States two things it had before – an open strait and a promise from Iran to not develop a nuclear weapon.

COMMENTATORS: ‘A DISASTER’

Ben Shapiro, a conservative pundit and podcaster who had previously cheered the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, blasted the memorandum of understanding as a “disaster,” but placed the blame on Vice President J.D. Vance. Shapiro said Vance ​had failed Trump by backing the deal.

“This MOU appears to ​be, just from the text, a disaster that ⁠does not achieve any of the actual signal goals that were set by the administration,” Shapiro told Fox News on Wednesday.

Mark Levin, one of Trump’s most outspoken supporters, has also broken with him over the deal. On Thursday, the conservative Fox News commentator took aim at Republican Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas for suggesting Iran should be ​allowed to retain ballistic missiles for defensive purposes.

“This man should never be elected dogcatcher,” Levin said of Marshall in a Thursday post on X, calling the administration’s decision ​not to include ballistic missiles in ⁠the agreement an “outrage.”

“To downplay the damage these missiles do (ask the Arab countries what they think about ballistic missiles) and the significance of not including them in any deal is utterly irresponsible,” Levin wrote. “Iran is a terrorist regime that has killed our people, how many more times do we need to be reminded of this.”

Still, many Republicans praised the agreement.

On KCMO Radio, Marshall praised Trump for choosing “a path to lasting peace – not another forever war” and said there would be controls ⁠on how Iran ​spends the money it receives and that it would not come from U.S. taxpayers.

Lawmakers may eventually review a deal. Under the 2015 ​Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA), passed after Democratic President Barack Obama’s international Iran nuclear pact, any agreement involving Iran’s nuclear program and the easing of sanctions must be reviewed by Congress.

The Trump administration has given mixed signals about whether he planned to do so, but several lawmakers, ​including Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close administration ally, have said it must be sent to Capitol Hill.

Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; additional reporting by Nathan Layne, David Morgan and Doina Chiacu; editing by Don Durfee

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.