The Latest: Trump rejects Iran’s latest response to ceasefire proposal ahead of his trip to China
Iran and the United States reached an impasse again Monday over how to end their war while their ceasefire grew increasingly shaky, with the two sides exchanging fire in recent days, ships and Gulf states being targeted, and fighting flaring between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
President Donald Trump said Sunday that Iran’s response to his latest proposal was “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!”
Also, Trump will travel to Beijing this week for a rescheduled summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. But Beijing’s deep economic ties to Iran, as well as trade tensions over tariff threats stretching back to Trump’s first term, could crimp the meeting, even though the Republican president has for years effusively praised Xi.
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Maritime experts say granting Iran exclusive sovereignty over the strait — or allowing it to collect tolls on ships passing through — would violate a basic and enduring principle of international maritime trade: freedom of peaceful navigation. It’s an ancient idea that was codified by the United Nations’ Convention on the Law of the Sea, which took effect in 1994.
Before the war, the strait was an international waterway through which ships were meant to pass freely.
Agreeing to Iranian sovereignty would cement the country’s control over the waterway — eroding the freedom of navigation on which global trade depends and potentially making other global choke points subject to geopolitical power plays.
Cole Tomas Allen’s lawyers are asking U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden to disqualify at least two top Justice Department officials from direct involvement in prosecuting him because they could be considered victims or witnesses in the case, creating a potential conflict of interest.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro were attending the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner when Allen ran through a security checkpoint and fired a shotgun at a Secret Service officer, authorities said. Defense attorney Eugene Ohm said the defense likely would seek to disqualify Pirro’s entire office from involvement in the case.
McFadden didn’t rule from the bench on that question but asked Allen’s attorneys to elaborate on the possible scope of their recusal request.
Allen is scheduled to return to court on June 29.
The California man accused of storming the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner while armed with guns and knives has pleaded not guilty to charges that he attempted to kill President Trump and fired a shotgun at a Secret Service officer who tried to stop the attack.
Cole Tomas Allen was handcuffed and shackled and wearing an orange jail uniform when he appeared in federal court for his arraignment Monday.
Allen didn’t speak during the brief hearing. One of his attorneys entered the plea on his behalf.
Oil prices are rising as the war with Iran threatens to drag on for longer, but the U.S. stock market is nevertheless holding near its record heights.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil rose 1.7% to above $103 Monday after President Trump blasted Iran’s latest proposal to end their war as totally unacceptable. The rejection keeps the two sides in an uneasy limbo, one that’s already driven the price of Brent up from roughly $70 per barrel before the war.
But the S&P 500 slipped just 0.1% from its record. The Dow fell 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.2%.
Thousands of Louisiana voters have already cast early ballots for congressional candidates in what soon could be the wrong districts. Alabama’s primaries are a week away, but the state could force a do-over for voting on U.S. House races. A new congressional map in Tennessee upended races that had been underway for months.
Republicans’ rush to gerrymander congressional districts across several Southern states after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling hollowed out the Voting Rights Act is confusing voters and creating logistical headaches for local election officials. The changes are hitting while primary season is in progress.
The chaotic upheaval to an election season that could determine which party controls the U.S. House is the latest fallout from an intensely partisan gerrymandering battle initiated by President Trump last year to protect Republicans’ slim majority.
Pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai once hoped Trump could help stop the imposition of a controversial national security law. The law not only took effect but was also used to sentence him to 20 years in prison.
Ahead of an anticipated trip by Trump to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping next week, Lai’s son said his family is now hoping that Trump can help secure his father’s release.
Lai, a prominent critic of Beijing, founded a pro-democracy newspaper that was shut down during a crackdown following the city’s massive anti-government protests in 2019.
Trump is expected to discuss trade, the Iran war and Taiwan with Xi. But he said he is also planning to bring up Lai, telling conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, “there’s a little bitterness, I would say, with him and Jimmy Lai.”
Lai’s son says his family is hopeful that Trump could help, adding that it’s easier to resolve than many of the other complex geopolitical issues the leaders will discuss.
World shares were mixed Monday after Wall Street set more records, and oil rose more than 2% following U.S. President Donald Trump’s rejection of Tehran’s response to the latest U.S. proposal on ending the war in Iran.
U.S. futures edged less than 0.1% lower.
In early European trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.2% to 10,253.99. Germany’s DAX fell less than 0.1% to 24,328.17, and France’s CAC 40 lost 0.8% to 8,049.31.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.5% to 62,417.88 after briefing reaching another record high in intraday trading at above 63,300. Technology-focused investment holding company SoftBank Group, one of Japan’s largest stocks, fell more than 6%.
South Korea’s Kospi gained 4.3% to 7,822.24. It also hit an all-time intraday high, led by gains from tech-related stocks including Samsung Electronics and memory chipmaker SK Hynix.
Long before this week’s trip to China, Trump was already predicting on social media that Xi Jinping would “give me a big, fat hug when I get there.”
But Beijing’s deep economic ties to Iran, as well as trade tensions over tariff threats stretching back to Trump’s first term, could crimp the good feelings when Trump flies to Beijing this week — even though the Republican president has for years effusively praised Xi, making it clear he sees China’s leader as a competitor strong enough to warrant his respect and admiration.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said that Beijing is willing to work with the U.S., based on equality and mutual respect, to expand cooperation, manage differences, and add stability to a turbulent world. The diplomacy between the leaders “plays an irreplaceable strategic guiding role” in the bilateral relation, he said.
There will be plenty of ceremonial splendor, but the grandeur is not expected to rival Trump’s first visit to China in 2017, which Beijing dubbed a “state visit-plus.”
Trump, in his return to the White House, has demonstrated greater ambivalence toward Taiwan, an approach that is raising questions ahead of this week’s summit with Xi Jinping about whether the U.S. leader could be open to dialing back support for the island democracy that Beijing views as its breakaway province.
Trump in December authorized an $11 billion arms package for Taiwan — the largest weapons sale ever to the island — but has not yet moved forward with delivery and even acknowledged that he’s discussed the sale with Xi. He’s groused that Taiwan “stole” America’s semiconductor business and called on Taiwan to pay the U.S. for protection.
All the while, Trump has, with the threat of hefty tariffs, prodded Taipei to agree to massive investments in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and to purchase billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. liquefied natural gas and crude oil.
His rhetoric is fueling speculation in Beijing, Taipei and Washington about America’s commitment to help the island defend itself.
Iran and the United States reached an impasse again Monday over how to end their war while their ceasefire grew increasingly shaky, with the two sides exchanging fire in recent days, ships and Gulf states being targeted, and fighting flaring between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
The volatility could tip the Middle East back into open warfare and prolong the worldwide energy crisis sparked by the conflict, with Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz and America’s blockade of Iranian ports still in place. Trump is expected to use a trip this week to China to urge Chinese President Xi Jinping to pressure Iran into making concessions and end the current limbo. Beijing is the biggest buyer of the Islamic Republic’s sanctioned crude oil, giving it leverage.
Trump said Sunday that Iran’s response to his latest proposal was “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” Ending the blockade before discussing Iran’s nuclear program would eliminate a major point of leverage for Trump in the talks.
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