U.S. Hopes for Iran Deal Before Ceasefire Expires on Tuesday

After peace talks last weekend in Pakistan collapsed after 21 hours of face-to-face negotiations, President Trump responded by announcing a U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Trump posted on Truth Social that the Navy would "begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz," threatening any Iranian ship firing on U.S. or peaceful vessels. Vice President Vance, who flew out of Islamabad after the talks, said the two sides had "substantive discussions" but couldn't bridge the gaps — particularly over Iran's demand to control the strait and its refusal to surrender its enriched uranium stockpile. U.S. Central Command reported that nine vessels were turned away without making it through the blockade.

The blockade is intended to keep pressure on Iran to negotiate while the U.S./Iran ceasefire is in effect through Tuesday.

On Friday, President Trump and Iranian officials stated that Iran had agreed to open the strait for the remainder of the ceasefire and “never close the Strait of Hormuz again.” But less than 24 hours later, Iran's military announced it was closed once more, even firing on one ship. The situation is very volatile and until resolved will keep oil prices very high.

U.S. and Iranian negotiators are attempting to finalize a framework memo for a permanent peace deal. The president told Axios that a meeting would "probably take place over the weekend," while making clear the blockade stays in place until an agreement is reached.

Meanwhile, the President brokered a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. On its first day, U.N. peacekeepers confirmed Israel had stopped striking southern Lebanon and Hezbollah had not fired on Israel.

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⛪ Trump vs. the Pope: Pope Leo XIV and President Trump have recently clashed over the war in Iran. Pope Leo calledTrump's threat to destroy Iranian civilization “truly unacceptable,” saying attacks on civilian infrastructure “are against international law”—a direct reaction to Trump's post which warned that “a whole civilization will die tonight.” And the pope tweeted that “God does not bless any conflict” and that military action cannot create peace.

💸 Congress sex scandals claim two seats: Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) both announced Monday they would resign amid separate sexual misconduct scandals. Swalwell, who suspended his California gubernatorial campaign on Sunday and faces allegations including assault and rape by four women, has not set an exact departure date; Gonzales, who admitted to an affair with a staffer who reportedly died by suicide, said he would file his retirement when Congress returned Saturday.

🇭🇺 Orbán ousted in Hungary: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s party suffered a defeat in Hungary's election, ending his 16 years in power. Orbán was one of President Trump’s staunchest European allies.

🕵️‍♂️ FISA pushback: More than two dozen House Republicans voted down two separate procedural votes on Friday to extend the warrantless surveillance program. The Senate then extended the program until April 30, when it will need to be voted on to be renewed. The White House has called for a clean extension, but some Republicans want to reform the program, citing past abuses of FISA.

🏛️ Trump's triumphal arch approved: A federal arts commission on Friday greenlit President Trump's proposed 250-foot “Triumphal Arch” for Washington, D.C. The grandiose arch is modeled after Roman arches marking various triumphs by Roman armies. It closely resembles the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which commemorates Napoleon’s various victories in the early 1800s.

🗑️ Seattle cleans up for the World Cup: Seattle has removed 5.3 million pounds of garbage and 660,000 needles from its streets as part of preparations for the upcoming World Cup, which Mayor Katie Wilson says creates urgency to make the city presentable for roughly 750,000 visiting tourists. Wilson must not have considered making the city presentable for its roughly 800,000 residents.

🏳️‍🌈 Pride month counter-programming: Tennessee’s Governor Bill Lee signed a resolution declaring June “Nuclear Family Month” in his state, defining the nuclear family as one husband, one wife, and their children, and citing statistics on poverty, incarceration, and substance abuse in fatherless homes.

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In 2023, parents in Greystones, a seaside town in Ireland, came together to voluntarily ban smartphones for kids. Three years later, they are loving the results. They named their movement "It Takes a Village," recognizing that you can't fight smartphone culture one child at a time, but that you have to do it together to neutralize the "everyone else has one" argument.

The movement has resonated across Ireland — home to the European HQs of Google, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, and LinkedIn, and where the average firstborn gets a smartphone around age 9, drawing support from local shopkeepers to national politicians, including Ireland's deputy prime minister Simon Harris, a father from Greystones who helped launch the project, and has said the experimentation with young people's mental health via social media "just can't be allowed to continue.”