Closing summary
This concludes our coverage of US politics for the day, thanks for reading. Here are the latest developments:
Congressman Eric Swalwell’s campaign to succeed Gavin Newsom as California’s governor imploded after he was accused of sexual assault by a woman who worked for the congressman in interviews with the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN.
In response to the reports, and three more women alleging sexual misconduct by Swalwell, multiple staffers resigned from Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign, and leading California Democrats called on him to drop out of the race.
Among those calling for Swalwell to end his campaign for California governor were the state’s lieutenant governor Eleni Kounalakis, the former Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi, both of California’s Democratic senators, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, the House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, the other leading Democrats in the race, Katie Porter and Tom Steyer and former backers including Arizona senator Ruben Gallego and the powerful California Teachers Association.
Cheyenne Hunt, a Democratic party activist and influencer with more than 200,000 followers on Instagram, who used her platform to spread accusations of sexual misconduct by Swalwell, called the Chronicle report just “the first of many”.
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Katie Porter calls on Swalwell to resign from Congress and end his campaign for governor
Katie Porter, the former congresswoman fighting to make it into the top two in the June nonpartisan primary for California governor, released a statement calling on Eric Swalwell, a fellow Democrat, to drop out of the race and resign his seat in Congress over allegations by four women that he sexually assaulted or abused them.
“In light of the allegations of sexual assault, Eric Swalwell should resign from Congress and end his campaign for public office,” Porter wrote on social media Friday evening. “But those decisions do not absolve him of taking responsibility for his misconduct, especially when he has attempted to silence and retaliate against these victims.”
“These allegations merit full investigations, and these women deserve the right to pursue justice. Too often, men escape any consequence for sexual misconduct by stepping out of power,” Porter continued. “That is a first and necessary step towards justice because it limits the ability for further harm. I stand with these women as they seek justice.”
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Newsom calls allegations against Swalwell 'deeply troubling'
Gavin Newsom, the California governor who is widely expected to run for president in 2028, did not immediately join fellow senior Democrats in the state in calling for Eric Swalwell, a congressman, to drop out of the race to replace him, in the wake of accusations of sexual assault or misconduct from four women on Friday.
“As we continue to learn more, these allegations from multiple sources are deeply troubling and must be taken seriously,” a spokesperson for the governor told reporters.
Newsom’s hesitation contrast with statements from his lieutentant governor, Eleni Kounalakis, the former Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi, and both of California’s Democratic senators, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, who all called for Swalwell to end his campaign for governor to address the allegations.
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Pelosi says she told Swalwell to drop out of California governor's race
Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker and longtime Democratic powerbroker in California, said in a statement released on Friday that she has advised Eric Swalwell to end his campaign for governor to allow for a full investigation of the allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against him made public on Friday by four women.
“The young woman who has made serious allegations against Congressman Swalwell must be respected and heard. This extremely sensitive matter must be appropriately investigated with full transparency and accountability,” Pelosi said.
“As I discussed with Congressman Swalwell, it is clear that is best done outside of a gubernatorial campaign,” she added.
Trump viewed Artemis splashdown during $1m per person dinner with donors, White House says
A White House official told reporters traveling with Donald Trump, but kept away from him during a $1m per person donor diner to raise funds for his political action committee, that the president watched the splashdown of the Artemis II capsule on Friday evening on a TV that was wheeled into the room for the president and his MAGA Inc guests at the Trump Winery in Virginia.
House Democratic leadership calls for Swalwell to end his campaign for California governor and face investigation
The Democratic House leadership, minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, whip Katherine Clark, and caucus chair Pete Aguilar, have released a statement calling on Eric Swalwell to abandon his bid to be California’s governor and face an investigation of allegations that he sexually assaulted a former staffer and abused three other women.
“Following the incredibly disturbing sexual assault accusations against Congressman Eric Swalwell, we call for a swift investigation into these incidents and for the Congressman to immediately end his campaign to be California’s next Governor,” the Democrats said. “This is unacceptable of anyone — certainly not an elected official — and must be taken seriously.”
”We commend the courageous women for sharing their experiences. In this and all circumstances, we must ensure that those who come forward with allegations of sexual assault and harassment are heard and respected,” the statement continued. “All perpetrators of sexual assault and harassment must be held accountable.”
Bard College’s president, Leon Botstein, told his staff at a meeting this week that there was no way he could have known that Jeffrey Epstein – who was a convicted sex offender during their interactions over the years – was actually “reprehensible” and predicted he would soon be cleared of any hint of impropriety about their relationship, according to sources who witnessed the remarks.
The liberal arts college’s board of trustees hired in February the white-shoe law firm WilmerHale to independently investigate communications between Epstein and Botstein.
Botstein has served as president of Bard, which is in New York state, for more than 50 years. He has said he cultivated a relationship with Epstein as a way to raise money for the school. While questions about Botstein’s relationship with Epstein have been swirling for years, the controversy reached a fever pitch earlier this year after the release of millions of “Epstein files” by the US Department of Justice, which revealed that the two regularly corresponded. Botstein has denied the two were friends, despite years of correspondence and in-person meetings, including a 2012 trip by Botstein to Epstein’s island.
In his comments to staff, sources told the Guardian, Botstein suggested words to the effect of “we live in an oligarchy” and that therefore people “cannot be expected to investigate or know the moral character of the people who can afford to donate money”.
Trump offers economic support to Hungary, if the nation votes for his ally Viktor Orbán
Days after dispatching his vice-president to Budapest to campaign for Hungary’s pro-Russia, anti-immigrant, conspiratorial and proudly “illiberal” prime minister, Viktor Orbán, Donald Trump launched a late effort to influence Sunday’s general election there in an even less subtle way: with money.
In a post on his own social media platform, the president wrote: “My Administration stands ready to use the full Economic Might of the United States to strengthen Hungary’s Economy, as we have done for our Great Allies in the past, if Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the Hungarian People ever need it. We are excited to invest in the future Prosperity that will be generated by Orbán’s continued Leadership!”
Powerful California teachers union withdraws support for Swalwell
The powerful California Teachers Association withdrew its endorsement of Eric Swalwell for governor on Friday, after the Democratic congressman was accused of sexual assault by a former staffer.
“The allegations are incredibly disturbing and unacceptable against Rep. Swalwell. We are immediately suspending our support. Our elected board will be meeting as soon as possible to follow our union’s democratic process to determine next steps,” the union said in a statement on its Instagram account.
Earlier in the day, the union had posted a celebration of Dolores Huerta, the teacher and union organizer Dolores Huerta, who revealed last month that her civil rights activist colleague Cesar Chavez had forced her to have sex with him in the 1960s.
A spokesperson for the California Medical Association told the New York Times the doctors group “takes these allegations extremely seriously” and have “convened an emergency meeting of our board” to consider withdrawing its endorsement of Swalwell.
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Senator Adam Schiff withdraws endorsement of Swalwell and calls on him to leave California governor race
Adam Schiff, the California Democrat and former prosecutor, withdrew his endorsement of Eric Swalwell for California governor on Friday and urged him to drop our of the race.
“I have read the San Francisco Chronicle’s account and I am deeply distressed by its allegations,” Schiff wrote in a statement. “This woman was brave to come forward, and we should take her story seriously. I am withdrawing my endorsement immediately, and believe that he should withdraw from the race.”
Schiff was elected in 2024, after spending tens of millions of dollars to elevate Republican Steve Garvey during the nonpartisan primary which, under California’s election law, selects a top two, regardless of party, to face off in the autumn general election. Schiff helped Garvey into second place in the primary by portraying him in advertising as an acolyte of Donald Trump, attracting Republican voters, while Democrats Katie Porter and Barbara Lee, who might have given Schiff a tougher race split the primary vote and finished outside the top two.
A similar dynamic is at work in this year’s California governor race, with the majority of votes divided among a large number of Democrats in recent polling that suggested the top two in the primary could both be a pair of Republicans with less than a third of the vote combined.
One of the lower-polling Democrats, former health secretary Xavier Becerra, also called on Swalwell to quite the race.
“These horrific allegations do not reflect the values of California, especially not someone who seeks to be its leader,” Becerra said in a statement. “Eric Swalwell should suspend his campaign and allow a clear process of accountability to play out.”
CNN reports four women have accused Eric Swalwell of sexual assault or misconduct
CNN has followed the San Francisco Chronicle in reporting that a former staffer has accused congressman Eric Swalwell of sexually assaulting, and adds that three more women also accused the Democrat running to be California’s governor of other kinds of sexual misconduct.
The former staffer, who recounted some of her allegations on camera, in silhouette, told CNN “that the congressman raped her when she was heavily intoxicated and left her bruised and bleeding, an allegation Swalwell strongly denies.
“I was pushing him off of me, saying no,” the woman told CNN of the 2024 incident, which she said happened after she had stopped working in his office. “He didn’t stop.”
The woman told the broadcaster that was the second time Swalwell had nonconsensual sex with her while she was drunk. “In 2019, when she was still working for him, she said she woke up naked with him in a hotel room after a night of heavy drinking. She said she had no memory of what happened but could feel physically that they’d had sexual contact,” CNN reported.
Three other women who spoke with CNN alleged sexual misconduct by the congressman, including unsolicited explicit messages or nude photos from Swalwell.
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Swalwell's campaign chairman resigns and calls on him to drop out of California governor's race
Congressman Jimmy Gomez, a Los Angeles Democrat who was the chair of Eric Swalwell’s campaign for the governship of California, resigned from that role on Friday and called on Swalwell to drop out.
“Today I learned shocking information about Eric Swalwell containing the ugliest and most serious accusations imaginable,” Gomez said in a statement responding to the San Francisco Chronicle report that a former staffer had accused Swalwell of sexual assault.
“My involvement in any campaign begins and ends with trust. I cannot in good conscience remain in any role with this campaign, and I am stepping down from it effective immediately,” Gomez wrote. “The congressman should leave the race now so there can be full accountability without doubt, distraction, or delay.”
Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democratic former mayor of Los Angeles who has failed to gain traction in the race for the governor’s office, went further in his statement, calling for Swalwell to also resign from Congress.
“Today’s reporting on the horrific allegations that Eric Swalwell abused his position and repeatedly sexually assaulted a staffer is shocking and reprehensible,” Villaraigosa said. “Further, Eric Swalwell’s attempt to silence victims to save his campaign for Governor – a campaign he was unfit to enter given these allegations – is a shameful disgrace to our democracy.”
“Now that victims are finally being heard, it has become abundantly clear that Eric Swalwell must withdraw from the governor’s race and immediately resign from Congress,” the former mayor added. “In California, we believe women and no one is above the law.”
'I wished him luck', Trump says of Vance's efforts to negotiate an end to US-Israel war on Iran
On his way to Pakistan for negotiations with Iran over ending the conflict that started with a joint US-Israel attack six weeks ago, vice-president JD Vance told reporters earlier on Friday that he would be acting on the precise instructions of his boss, Donald Trump.
“We’re going to try to have a positive negotiation. The President gave us some pretty clear guidelines,” Vance said.
Speaking to reporters en route to Charlottesville, Virginia, on Friday for a dinner with Maga Inc, a political action committee established to support him, the president was asked what he told Vance before he left.
“Well, I wished him luck,” Trump replied. “He’s got a big thing, we’ll find out what’s going on.” The president then cast the talks as almost inconsequential, repeating his false claim that the US had already destroyed Iran’s military and could easily open the strait of Hormuz “with or without” Iran’s help.
“I think it’s going to go pretty quickly, and if it doesn’t well be able to finish it off- one way or the other, it’s going well,” Trump insisted, as global oil markets remain in chaos and Israel’s desire to prolong the conflict imperils the fragile ceasefire.
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Senator Ruben Gallego apologizes for defending Swalwell and withdraws his endorsment
Ruben Gallego, a Democratic senator from Arizona who had defended Eric Swalwell on social media three days ago, expressed regret for doing so and withdrew his endorsement of the congressman in the race to be California’s governor.
On Tuesday, the same day that Swalwell’s Democratic rival Katie Porter mentioned viral allegations of sexual assault against Swalwell on CNN, Gallego wrote on X: “When you are in first place, is when they target you. Eric is a fighter and he will win the Governors race.”
After the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Friday that one former staffer had accused Swalwell of sexual assault, Gallego issued a retraction.
“I’ve read the San Francisco Chronicle’s reporting and I take it seriously,” Gallego wrote in a statement. “What is described is indefensible. Women who come forward with accounts like this deserve to be heard with respect, not questioned or dismissed. I regret having come to his defense on social media prior to knowing all the information. I am equally as shocked and upset about what has transpired. I am withdrawing my endorsement of Congressman Swalwell, effective immediately.”
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'This is the beginning of the end for Eric Swalwell', gen-Z influencer Cheyenne Hunt says
Cheyenne Hunt, a lawyer, Democratic party activist and political influencer with more than 200,000 followers on Instagram, who has used her platform to spread accusations of sexual misconduct by Eric Swalwell, called the San Francisco Chronicle report on Friday, that a former staffer accused the congressman of sexually assaulting her, “the first of many”.
In a video post captioned: “This is the beginning of the end for Eric Swalwell,” Hunt said: “I am incredibly proud of every single one of these women… who has trusted me with their stories… and started this process of holding this man accountable.”
“The difference between us and Maga,” Hunt added, “is that we hold our own accountable. No more predators in power, from either party – period. It’s time to drop out, Eric Swalwell.”
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Swalwell's rivals in California governor's race call on him to drop out over sexual assault allegation
Democrat Eric Swalwell’s leading rivals in the race to be California’s governor, both Democrats and Republicans, called on him to drop out of the race after a former staffer told the San Francisco Chronicle the congressman had sexually assaulted her.
Steve Hilton, the Republican former Fox News host endorsed by Donald Trump, responded with sarcasm by writing “Totally agree” above a tweet posted by Swalwell in 2019, which read “Support survivors. Believe survivors. We are with you.”
Tom Steyer, a billionaire Democrat, wrote: “I commend the brave former staffer who came forward with her story about Eric Swalwell. Speaking out is never easy, and her account must be taken seriously. At a moment like this, we must make sure that women are heard, and justice is pursued.”
Katie Porter, a former Democratic congresswoman who was the early frontrunner in the governor’s race before video of her losing her temper went viral, suggested in a statement that more than one woman had accused Swalwell of misconduct. “The allegations against Congressman Swalwell are horrifying. I’m thinking of the courageous women who have come forward to share their stories. We believe you and we stand with you,” Porter wrote.
Earlier this week, Porter brought up viral rumors of sexual assault against Swalwell spreading online in an interview with CNN, in which she said: “With regard to Congressman Swalwell, I have seen allegations coming from women staffers. They are very, very troubling allegations. It is those women’s stories to tell when they are ready, and I hope that they feel safe and supported if they choose to do so.
“I have seen the allegations,” she added. “I have not spoken to any women who are saying that they’re going to come forward, but again, our focus here ought to be on protecting these victims, if they have been victims of sexual harassment, sexual assault, we ought to be making sure they feel safe and comfortable speaking up.”
The chorus of viral allegations ahead of the Chronicle’s report was loud enough that Swalwell was asked about them after a town hall in Sacramento on Tuesday.
“No, no, it’s false,” Swalwell told a local TV reporter who asked him if he had “ever behaved inappropriately with female staffers”.
Republican Riverside county sheriff Chad Bianco wrote: “I’m calling on Eric Swalwell to immediately rescind any NDA he has put anyone under.” Rumors that Swalwell had forced staffers to sign non-disclosure agreements have been circulating online, despite the congressman’s adamant denial.
Matt Mahan, the mayor of San Jose who is running for governor as a moderate Democrat and a tech industry ally opposed to a billionaires’ tax, responded to the Chronicle report by writing on X: “To the survivor who risked everything to come forward – I believe you. To the Democratic Party – you’d better hold him accountable. If we don’t, we have no credibility asking anyone else to do the same. To @ericswalwell – drop out.”
Even Ian Calderon, a former majority leader of the California state assembly who suspended his own campaign for governor last month and endorsed Swalwell, called on him to drop out of the race and resign from Congress.
“The allegations against Eric Swalwell are deeply disturbing and troubling. My thoughts are with anyone affected, and I unequivocally support all survivors seeking justice and accountability,” Calderon wrote on social media. “Eric Swalwell must immediately suspend his campaign and resign from Congress.”
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Eric Swalwell accused of sexual assault by former staffer – report
Democrat Eric Swalwell’s campaign to succeed Gavin Newsom as California’s governor was cast in doubt on Friday when he was accused of sexual assault by a woman who worked for the congressman for nearly two years and described the abuse to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Just before the accusation was made public, multiple staffers resigned from Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign, Politico reports.
According to the Chronicle, the woman said she had sexual encounters with Swalwell while he was her boss “and alleged he twice sexually assaulted her when she was too intoxicated to consent”.
Swalwell denied the woman’s accusations in a statement provided to the Chronicle on Friday:
“These allegations are false and come on the eve of an election against the frontrunner for governor. For nearly 20 years, I have served the public – as a prosecutor and a congressman and have always protected women. I will defend myself with the facts and where necessary bring legal action. My focus in the coming days is to be with my wife and children and defend our decades of service against these lies.”
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Comer says he already planned to ask survivors of Epstein’s abuse to testify to Congress before Melania Trump's intervention
James Comer, the Republican chair of the House oversight committee, told Fox News on Friday he had already been planning to invite survivors of sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender who socialized with Donald Trump for nearly two decades, to testify to Congress before Melania Trump endorsed the idea in a surprise statement on Thursday.
“I’ve always planned on having hearings with the victims,” Comer said in an interview on Friday. “My attorneys on the oversight committee have been communicating on a constant basis for months with the attorneys representing Epstein victims.”
“There are some victims who are willing to come in. Most victims aren’t, and I completely understand that,” the Kentucky congressman added. “But we have always planned on having a hearing with Epstein victims once the depositions have been completed. So we have still got some more high-profile men that are coming in. Then, I agree with the first lady: we will have hearings.”
In a separate interview with the rightwing network Newsmax, Comer rejected calls from Democrats to compel the first lady to testify to the committee about Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, both of whom she was photographed socializing during the time the two were charged with abusing minors.
As our colleague Anna Betts reports, More than a dozen Epstein survivors accused the first lady of “shifting the burden” on to them, and away from her husband’s justice department, by calling on Congress to hold public hearings.
“Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have already shown extraordinary courage by coming forward, filing reports, and giving testimony,” said a group of 13 people and the brother and sister of the late Virginia Giuffre, who was one of the most vocal Epstein accusers, in a statement. “Asking more of them now is a deflection of responsibility not justice.”
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Here's a recap of the day so far
More than a dozen survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse have accused Melania Trump of “shifting the burden” on to them after she called on Congress to hold public hearings with victims of Epstein’s abuse. Their response came after the first lady delivered a surprise statement in which she denied that she ever had a relationship with Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
US inflation surged in March, according to the latest consumer price index (CPI) report released on Friday. Overall prices are now up by 3.3% compared to a year ago, and up by 0.9% since February 2026. Democrats blasted the Trump administration in response to today’s data. “Today’s data shows that Trump’s war with Iran has driven up costs and delivered the worst inflation reading in nearly two years,” said Elizabeth Warren, the ranking member on the Senate banking committee.
Donald Trump has said that the Iranians “have no cards” and the only reason they are alive “is to negotiate”. It follows Trump giving an interview to the New York Post, in which he said the US is loading its warships with the “best weapons” in case talks with Tehran – set to begin in Islamabad tomorrow – fail.
The Trump administration on Friday released new renderings of the triumphal arch the president wants to install in Memorial Circle at the foot of the Arlington Memorial Bridge. The mock-up was submitted to the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA), who are next due to meet on 16 April to consider the proposal. Trump dismissed all fired all six commissioners last year and replaced them with loyalists. The panel is also one of two bodies responsible for signing off on his proposed White House ballroom, a project a federal judge blocked last month.
The White House considered but decided against a national televised address by Donald Trump on Tuesday to announce the ceasefire deal with Iran, with some aides and advisers privately voicing concern about potentially overselling the still-nascent agreement, three US officials have told Reuters.
Reuters’ sources said Trump was talked out of making the speech. But the White House denied the discussions rose to Trump’s level. It said in a statement:
This is fake news. This was never even discussed with the president.
As you will remember, Trump ended up announcing the ceasefire in a social media post just hours before his Tuesday 8pm ET deadline, after which he had threatened to wipe out Iran’s “whole civilisation”.
One of the sources told Reuters that Trump had been “adamant” about delivering the address. The officials said it had been under consideration, but the White House did not move forward with it because details of the ceasefire were still shaky.
Trump’s senior advisers were working through what was in the deal and did not think they had enough clarity for the US president to address the nation, the sources said.
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In response to the latest renderings, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said, in a statement to the Guardian, that the administration believes the arch will be “one of the most iconic landmarks not only in Washington DC, but throughout the world”.
He added that the positioning of the arch, near Arlington National Cemetary will serve as “a visual reminder of the noble sacrifices borne by so many American heroes throughout our 250 year history so we can enjoy our freedoms today”.
A White House official also told the Guardian that the estimated cost of the triumphal arch is “still being calculated” and will be shared in the near future. The White House anticipates “some combination of public and private funds” to be used to pay for the project, according to the official.
Trump administration releases latest mock up of so-called Arc de Trump
The Trump administration on Friday released new renderings of the triumphal arch the president wants to install in Memorial Circle at the foot of the Arlington Memorial Bridge.
As part of Donald Trump’s legacy-building quest during his second term in office, the so-called “Arc de Trump” would stand 250ft tall, feature a 60ft golden Lady Liberty, and include a viewing deck. The phrase “One Nation Under God” would stretch across the top od the structure, according to the latest plans from Harrison Design.
The mock-up was submitted to the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA), who are next due to meet on 16 April to consider the proposal.
Trump dismissed all fired all six commissioners last year and replaced them with loyalists. The panel is one of two bodies responsible for signing off on his proposed White House ballroom. Although the CFA approved that project in February, a federal judge halted construction weeks later. The president had already demolished the historic East Wing to make room for it.
The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), which is chaired by one of Trump’s former lawyers, also greenlit the building project days later, but the status of the work remains in limbo following the district court ruling.
Kamala Harris said she is “thinking about” running in the 2028 presidential election.
“I might, I might. I’m thinking about it,” the former vice-president and 2024 candidate told the crowd at a gathering of the National Action Network (NAN), a civil rights organization founded by Al Sharpton, on Friday in New York City.
Expanding on her response to Sharpton’s question about a potential presidential bid, she added: “I served for four years being a heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States … I know what the job is and I know what it requires.
“I’ve been traveling the country the last year, spending a lot of time in the south and many other places, and the one thing I’m really clear about is … the status quo is not working and hasn’t been working for a lot of people for a long time,” she said.
Speaking about the presidency, Harris added: “It’s got to be about the American people and that’s how I think of it. I am thinking about it in the context of … who and where and how can the best job be done for the American people. I’ll keep you posted.”
Harris, who lost to Donald Trump, also criticized the president and the increasing erosion of the US’s global alliances, saying he was the “first president of the United States since world war two who does not believe in the alliances that we have with friendly nations … and the importance that that relationship bears on our standing around the world”.
Melania Trump’s surprise appearance at the White House on Thursday – to announce that she ‘never had a relationship’ with the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell – put Epstein back on the political agenda when focus had been firmly on the US and Israel’s war in Iran.
The intervention came at a difficult time for her husband, Donald Trump, as the fragile ceasefire agreed between the US and Iran seemed to be at risk of falling apart, and as US lawmakers are raising the alarm over the president’s mental stability.
In today’s edition of The Latest podcast, Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian US editor, Betsy Reed, Trump’s rhetoric in the Iran war, and whether there is anything to be hopeful about in US politics.
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Trump says Iranians only alive 'to negotiate' and US is 'loading up the ships' in event of no deal
Donald Trump has said that the Iranians “have no cards” and the only reason they are alive “is to negotiate”.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, the president said:
The Iranians don’t seem to realize they have no cards, other than a short term extortion of the World by using International Waterways. The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate!
It follows Trump giving an interview to the New York Post, in which he said the US is loading its warships with the “best weapons” in case talks with Tehran – set to begin in Islamabad tomorrow – fail.
“We’re going to find out in about 24 hours,” he said. “We’re loading up the ships with the best weapons ever made, even at a higher level than we use to do a complete decimation.
“And if we don’t have a deal, we will be using them and we will be using them very effectively.”
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CNN is reporting that ambassadors from Israel, Lebanon and the United States will hold a first round of preparatory talks in Washington today to set the table for future negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, citing an Israeli official and sources familiar with the talks.
Per CNN’s report, this first round of discussions will be aimed at reaching an agreement on the conditions and agenda for direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, which Israel has said would be aimed at disarming Hezbollah and establishing “peaceful relations” between the two countries.
Lebanon is demanding that Israel agrees to a ceasefire before negotiations can begin, as Tel Aviv continues its ferocious bombardment on the country.
The talks will be held with Michel Issa, the US ambassador to Lebanon; Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the US; and Nada Hamadeh Moawad, Lebanon’s ambassador to the US, according to CNN’s sources.
Khanna calls on Melania Trump to testify before Congress: ‘She has relevant information’
Melania Trump’s televised statement on Thursday, in which she said that she “never had a relationship” with Jeffrey Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell, prompted a sharp response from one of the Democratic lawmakers behind the legislation requiring the justice department to release Epstein‑related files.
Ro Khanna said the first lady should now testify before Congress. “She has relevant information. If she didn’t have relevant information, how could she say that Epstein was not acting alone?” the congressman told MS NOW.
“We need to ask her who were the other men that she believes may have been involved in raping or abusing these young girls,” the California Democrat said. “What did she know?”
Pope Leo has issued a thinly veiled criticism of the US-Israeli war on Iran, saying “military action will not create space for freedom”.
Writing on X, he also said that God “does not bless any conflict”.
He said:
God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.
Military action will not create space for freedom or times of #Peace, which comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples.
Democrats blast Trump and war on Iran for latest inflation surge
Democrats have blasted the Trump administration following the latest inflation report, which shows a 3.3% surge in consumer prices since March 2025.
“Today’s data shows that Trump’s war with Iran has driven up costs and delivered the worst inflation reading in nearly two years,” said Elizabeth Warren, the ranking member on the Senate banking committee. “Trump’s chaotic tariffs were already squeezing American families, and now he’s sent energy prices skyrocketing, with gas prices above $4 a gallon and the cost of food still too high. Every family struggling to fill their gas tank or buy groceries knows exactly who is responsible.”
Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, said that the March consumer price index (CPI) was “another reason we must end this war now”.
“Americans are paying the price for Trump’s idiocy every day,” he said in a statement on social media.
In an interview with CNBC on Friday, Pete Buttigieg, the former transportation secretary under Joe Biden said that the Trump administration is “actively making energy prices higher with a war that nobody wanted, nobody asked for”.
“That, of course, is the direct reason why inflation is higher now than it was before,” said Buttigieg, who is widely considered a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028.
On Truth Social, Donald Trump issued a cryptic message this morning that appeared to be in reference to the upcoming negotiations in Islamabad, but remains unclear.
“WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL RESET!!!” he wrote.
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A reminder that my colleagues are covering the latest out of the Middle East at our dedicated live blog.
This includes the news that vice-president JD Vance warned Iran not to “play” the US during upcoming negotiations in Pakistan.
Vance spoke to reporters ahead of travelling to Islamabad today for a weekend of talks with the regime and mediators. “If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we’re certainly willing to extend the open hand,” he said. “If they’re gonna try and play us, then they’re gonna find that the negotiating team is not that receptive.”
The annualized inflation rate has not pushed past 3% since summer 2024, when inflation was finally cooling after reaching a generational high of 9.1% in June 2022.
The war on Iran has driven the American economy into deeper uncertainty, adding to a precariousness that first came with Donald Trump’s tariffs last year.
US inflation surges amid war on Iran and spiking oil prices
US inflation surged in March, according to the latest consumer price index (CPI) report released on Friday.
Overall prices are now up by 3.3% compared to a year ago, and up by 0.9% since February 2026.
Donald Trump will be in Washington for much of the day.
He’ll be in closed door policy meetings until he leaves for Charlottesville, Virginia, where he’s due to attend a meeting and roundtable dinner with Make America Great Again Inc, the pro-Trump super pac at 6:30pm ET. That’s not open to the media, but we’ll let you know if anything changes and we hear from the president.
Donald Trump’s administration this week acknowledged it made a significant error in figures it used to help justify a fraud probe into New York’s Medicaid program.
The error, one of at least a few misrepresentations in its description of the program, prompted health analysts to question how many of the Republican administration’s sweeping anti-fraud efforts around the country were based on faulty findings, AP reported.
“These numbers could have been cleared up in a phone call, so it’s really slapdash,” said Fiscal Policy Institute senior health policy adviser Michael Kinnucan, whose recent analysis called attention to the Trump administration’s inaccurate claim.
The mistake appeared in comments made last month by Dr Mehmet Oz , the administrator of the Centers for Medicare + Medicaid Services, in a social media video and in a letter to New York’s Democratic governor announcing the fraud investigation.
Oz claimed that New York’s Medicaid program last year provided some five million people with personal care services, which assist people in need with basic activities like bathing, grooming and meal preparation. That would add up to nearly three-quarters of the state’s 6.8 million Medicaid enrollees.
“That level of utilization is unheard of,” Oz said in the video, adding in his post that New York needs to “come clean about its Medicaid program.”
A Trump administration appointee has delayed publication of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that shows benefits related to the Covid vaccine, leading to concerns that the administration is engaging in behind-the-scenes tactics to undermine vaccines.
Research by CDC scientists found that the Covid vaccine cut the likelihood of emergency room visits and hospitalizations for healthy adults last winter by about half, according to reporting from the Washington Post. The acting CDC director, Jay Bhattacharya, reportedly delayed the report’s publication due to concerns surrounding the research’s methodology.
The move to postpone the publication of the CDC’s report has raised concerns among experts and former CDC officials about further attacks to the agency’s vaccine-related work by the Trump administration.
Since Trump took office last January, health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and his appointees have engaged in public and behind-the-scenes maneuvers to hamper vaccine research and recommendations.
“This is definitely an escalation of this administration’s undermining of CDC science,” said Dr Fiona Havers, a former senior adviser on vaccine policy at the CDC. “The fact that they are now blocking this is extremely concerning.”
Havers resigned from the CDC last year, in response to the Trump administration’s approaches to vaccine policy.
Donald Trump is an “evil human being” who “wants to be an emperor” and should be removed from office over the war in Iran, Yassamin Ansari, an Iranian American member of the US Congress, has told the Guardian.
Ansari, the daughter of Iranian immigrants who decades ago fled the regime, spoke out after the president threatened to wipe out Iran’s civilisation before backing down and announcing an uncertain two-week ceasefire.
As news of the truce broke on Tuesday night, Ansari said in a statement she was “momentarily relieved for the 90 million Iranians who just spent the worst 24 hours of their lives thinking they were about to face nothing short of a nuclear catastrophe”.
But the Arizona Democrat maintained that Trump’s dire promises of genocide and war crimes warrant intervention by the cabinet or Congress. Earlier on Tuesday, Ansari warned that the president represents a clear and present danger to Iran, the US and the world.
“There is no doubt in my mind he is mentally unstable and not all there but I also believe he is a deeply troubled, evil human being that only cares about himself and his family,” she said in a phone interview. “He has shown that throughout his entire life. He has shown that throughout his presidency by ripping away healthcare and basic necessities from the average American, while he and his family have made billions of dollars.”
Melania Trump’s surprise statement denying she had any relationship with Jeffrey Epstein sparked confusion about why she had chosen to speak out, and whether Donald Trump knew that the first lady was planning to draw attention to a subject he has called for the public to move on from.
Even normally well-sourced correspondents for rightwing outlets were at a loss to explain why Melania Trump felt the need to issue the seemingly out-of-the-blue statement about her relationship with Epstein, the late sex offender who socialized with her husband for nearly two decades, or his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
The Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich said that she and her team were baffled.
“We’ve been trying to understand why she made it today, if there was something that she is reacting to that might already be in the news that has upset her, or if there’s a story that’s yet to come out, that’s about to drop that she wanted to get ahead of,” Heinrich told Fox viewers. “Because it did feel like it came out of left field for us.”
“We’re still trying to figure out why she made this statement today,” she added. “I’ve called every contact in my phone, including the president, and not gotten any answers.”
The New York Post, which, like Fox, is owned by Rupert Murdoch and often acts like an arm of the Trump White House communications team, was also puzzled. “It’s unclear why the first lady chose to hold the press event at a time when the White House is trying to move on from the Epstein saga that has been a drag on her husband’s second term,” the New York tabloid reported.
Epstein survivors accused Melania Trump of 'shifting the burden' after surprise statement
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Melania Trump has been accused of “shifting the burden” onto sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s survivors after her extraordinary statement at the White House.
As part of her statement distancing herself from the disgraced financier, the first lady also called on Congress to take sworn testimony in a public hearing from Epstein victims. Several victims did meet with the House oversight committee in a closed session last fall.
But on Thursday evening in a joint statement released to the media, a group of survivors said the first lady had moved to “protect those in power”.
They accused her of “shifting the burden onto survivors under politicized conditions to protect those with power”.
The statement read:
Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have already shown extraordinary courage by coming forward, filing reports, and giving testimony.
Asking more of them now is a deflection of responsibility, not justice.
It added:
It also diverts attention from [former attorney general] Pam Bondi, who must answer for withheld files and the exposure of survivors’ identities.
Those failures continue to put lives at risk while shielding enablers. Survivors have done their part. Now it’s time for those in power to do theirs.
The first lady told reporters on Thursday that she “never had a relationship” with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
It was unclear which specific accusations spurred the first lady to respond publicly. She delivered her scripted remarks at a podium in the same room Donald Trump used to address the nation on the war in Iran last week.
“I [have] never been friends with Epstein,” Trump said in her statement. “I am not Epstein’s victim. Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump.”
The first lady went on to say that she and the president were invited to the same parties as Epstein “from time to time” as “overlapping in social circles is common in New York City and Palm Beach”. But she specifically denied that her emails to Maxwell were anything more than “casual correspondence”.
Read the full story here:
In other developments:
The push from House Democrats to pass a war powers resolution by unanimous consent failed yesterday, after the pro forma speaker, Republican Chris Smith, did not recognize Democrats. It was always a tall order, given that pushback from even a single member would require Democrats to pursue a formal vote on the resolution.
While it’s largely a symbolic move, Democrats in both chambers have vowed to hold votes again when Congress returns from recess next week. On the steps of the US Capitol, lower chamber Democrats appeared confident that when Congress returns from recess next week, they will have at least a couple of House GOP members who are willing to buck their party and pass the resolution.
Donald Trump told NBC News that he is “very optimistic” a peace deal with Iran was within reach as a diplomatic delegation led by his vice-president JD Vance prepared to head to Pakistan for high-stakes talks aimed at ending the war this weekend. Iran’s leaders “talk much differently when you’re at a meeting than they do to the press. They’re much more reasonable,” the president said, in line with his administration’s narrative that there’s a disconnect between what Tehran says publicly and privately.
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