Trump resets the clock on Iran talks: What to know

Morning Report is The Hill’s a.m. newsletter. Subscribe here.

Trump, Iran agree to two-week ceasefire

NATO’s Rutte visits Washington

Liberal candidate flips Wisconsin court seat

Abducted journalist freed

President Trump has reset the timer on his threats to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages” after Tehran agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for two weeks in exchange for a temporary pause in U.S. and Israeli attacks.

With less than two hours remaining before his 8 p.m. ET deadline last night, Trump announced the delay, touting progress in negotiations that he said would soon bring hostilities to an end.

“The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East,” the president said in a post on Truth Social. “We received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate.”

“Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated,” he added.

Trump said his agreement followed conversations with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir. He said the deal is subject to Iran agreeing to the “COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING” of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi issued a statement on behalf of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council agreeing to the terms.

“If attacks against Iran are halted, our Powerful Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations,” he said.

Araghchi said safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible through coordination with Iran’s armed forces and with consideration of “technical limitations.”

While the White House touted the deal as a victory, Middle East experts said Trump seems to have handed a major win to Iran without gaining any long-term commitments in return.

“The most important sentence in Trump’s ceasefire post is that the ensuing negotiations will be based on the Iranian 10-point proposal (and not Trump’s 15 points),” said Trita Parsi, the co-founder of the Quincy Institute on Responsible Statecraft, in a post on social platform X.

Iran’s 10-point plan reportedly includes the U.S. lifting all sanctions it has placed on the country, allowing Iran to charge $2 million per oil tanker passing through the Strait of Hormuz, guarantees that Iran would not be attacked again and reconstruction funding.

It does not include Iran giving up its remaining weapons-grade nuclear material, a key demand of many Iran hawks. It would also keep the Islamic regime intact.

“In the best case scenario, Trump struck a deal to reopen a Strait that was open before the pointless war he started, with the IRGC demonstrating its control over the Strait and potentially extracting fees plus sanctions relief,” Ben Rhodes, a former top Obama administration foreign policy staffer, wrote on X Tuesday night.

The news was met with tepid optimism by European leaders who have been increasingly critical of U.S.-Israeli operations in Iran.

“Ceasefires are always good news. Especially if they lead to a just and lasting peace. But this momentary relief cannot make us forget the chaos, the destruction, and the lives lost,” said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, a staunch critic of the war.

“The Government of Spain will not applaud those who set the world on fire just because they show up with a bucket. What’s needed now: diplomacy, international legality, and PEACE.”

Israel was reportedly sidelined in the talks, and the blowback on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was swift.

“There has never been such a political disaster in all of our history. Israel wasn’t even at the table when decisions were made concerning the core of our national security,” Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote online Tuesday evening.

“The military carried out everything that was asked of it, the public demonstrated amazing resilience, but Netanyahu failed politically, failed strategically, and didn’t meet a single one of the goals that he himself set,” he added.

Tehran and Washington remain far apart in terms on a long-term peace deal.

Trump on Monday said Iran’s 10-point proposal was a “significant step” but “not good enough” for him to back off from his threats to launch attacks on power plants and bridges.

Iran also rejected the U.S.’s 15-point plan as “unrealistic.” That plan reportedly includes a rollback on Iran’s nuclear program and limits on its missiles.

Sharif, the Pakistani prime minister, invited the two sides to Islamabad on Friday to begin negotiations on “a conclusive agreement to settle all disputes.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine are scheduled to deliver a press briefing this morning at 8 a.m. ET. It comes after a briefing scheduled for Tuesday morning was canceled ahead of Trump’s deadline.

▪ The Associated Press: Gunmen open fire outside Israeli consulate in Istanbul.

▪ The New York Times: How Trump took the U.S. to war.

3 Things to Know Today:

Republican Clay Fuller has won a special election to fill the seat vacated by former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). His victory will give the GOP one extra seat cushion in the closely divided House once he is sworn in.

Trump announced a slate of endorsements in Indiana legislative primaries set for May, declaring his support for candidates challenging Republicans who opposed his push for the state to redraw its congressional lines before the midterms.

The suspect in the Gilgo Beach, N.Y., killings is reportedly expected to plead guilty today in court, multiple outlets reported. Rex Heuermann has been accused of killing seven women and dumping their bodies on the beach on Long Island.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte takes questions from journalists during the launch of the NATO Secretary General’s Annual Report for 2025 at NATO headquarters in Brussels, March 26, 2026. (Virginia Mayo, Associated Press)

TIMELY VISIT: NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is set to visit the White House today at a critical time for relations between the U.S. and its Western allies.

The trip comes as the U.S. has grown increasingly isolated over its war with Iran, with most European allies keeping their distance from the conflict and some denouncing the operations despite pressure from Trump to get involved.

Their refusal has added to Trump’s years-long frustration with NATO, leading him to escalate his threats last week to withdraw the U.S. from the alliance, in one of his strongest rebukes yet of the organization.

The comments spurred backlash from European allies, Democrats and even some Republicans, as critics noted that withdrawing from NATO requires congressional approval, a prospect that seems highly unlikely.

As The Hill’s Ryan Mancini reports, Rutte’s visit could shake up the state of play on two fronts — the paused U.S. offensive against Iran and the U.S.’s future in NATO.

Rutte has enjoyed a strong working relationship with Trump over the past year, becoming known as NATO’s “Trump whisperer,” on account of his ability to diffuse conflicts between the U.S. and Europe. He was credited with helping to cool tensions over Trump’s monthslong demands that the U.S. be allowed to acquire Greenland.

“He does seem to have a way of speaking to Trump that keeps the United States and the Trump administration engaged in NATO in a constructive way,” Matthew Kroenig, vice president and senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, told The Associated Press.

Still, the task before Rutte may be among the most challenging he’s faced as relations are even more strained.

▪ DW: Europe mulls prospect of NATO without U.S.

▪ The Hill: Trump’s threats stoke war crimes debate.

DHS DISSENT: The conservative House Freedom Caucus came out against a two-step proposal backed by the president to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), adding an obstacle to getting the plan across the finish line.

The House is set to take up a Senate-passed bill to fund all of DHS except for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol as soon as next week, when the chamber comes back from recess. After passing that, the plan would be to move additional funds for ICE and Border Patrol through the reconciliation process, which can pass without Democratic votes.

But the Freedom Caucus said Tuesday that those immigration enforcement agencies can’t be left hanging on the hopes that reconciliation, a difficult process, is successful.

“We must provide robust funding for ICE and CBP, and it should be done with all of DHS in reconciliation 2.0. We can fund DHS for the rest of the President’s term to ensure Democrats can never again take our nation’s security hostage,” the caucus said in a post on X.

The caucus members’ opposition will add to what was already going to be a difficult task for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). House Republicans during a private call last week raged over the plan and Johnson’s flipping after initially being opposed to the idea.

Trump said he wants the reconciliation bill to reach his desk by June 1, but the Freedom Caucus said it could “tightly control this process.”

▪ The Hill: GOP congresswoman calls for two members’ ouster.

MAJORITY EXPANDED: Liberals expanded their majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday as Democratic-backed candidate Chris Taylor easily cruised to victory over her Republican-backed opponent.

Taylor defeated Maria Lazar, a fellow appellate court judge, in the race for retiring conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley‘s seat on the court. Taylor leads by more than 20 points, as of the latest vote count.

The pickup for the court’s left wing will expand their current 4-3 majority to 5-2, ensuring its control stays in place at least through the end of the decade.

The race was formally nonpartisan, but Democrats and Republicans rallied behind opposing candidates. Wisconsin Supreme Court races have been a common occurrence in recent years gaining national attention, and liberals have now won multiple contests in a row.

And another race is already on the horizon as conservative Justice Annette Ziegler doesn’t plan to seek reelection to another term next year.

▪ The Hill: Democrats build on overperformance streak.

EPSTEIN TESTIMONIES: A string of notable individuals with ties to Jeffrey Epstein or the investigation into him are set to testify in the coming months as a House committee continues its probe.

A person familiar with the matter told The Hill’s Miranda Nazzaro on Tuesday that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates will appear before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in June, one of the most high-profile figures to testify.

Gates received attention earlier this year after his name appeared in released Epstein files, showing he communicated with the disgraced financier years after Epstein’s 2008 sex crimes conviction.

The scheduling of Gates’s testimony is the latest of a few that have been put on the calendar in the last couple days. Multiple outlets reported Monday that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick agreed to testify in May following revelations that he was in touch with Epstein years after he originally indicated he had cut off contact.

Tova Noel, a corrections officer who was on duty when Epstein died by suicide in federal custody in 2019, is scheduled to testify in May, and Epstein’s former personal assistant, Lesley Groff, is also set to testify in June.

The interviews will likely keep the spotlight on the Epstein controversy even as the Department of Justice (DOJ) has said it has released the documents required under the law.

▪ CBS News: Details emerge about Epstein’s lenient plea deal.

▪ NPR: Will we ever get to the bottom of the Epstein files?

FIRST IMPRESSION: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche gave his first press conference Tuesday since taking over leadership of the DOJ, defending the president’s vision for the department.

“Nobody has any idea why the attorney general is no longer the attorney general and I’m the acting attorney general except for President Trump,” he said about why former Attorney General Pam Bondi was fired.

Blanche said he wasn’t sure how Trump views DOJ’s leadership, including whether he would be nominated as attorney general permanently, return to his former role as deputy attorney general or do something else.

“I love working for President Trump. It’s the greatest honor of a lifetime. And if President Trump chooses to keep me as acting, that’s an honor. If he chooses to nominate me, that’s an honor,” he said.

“If he chooses to nominate somebody else and asks me to go do something else, I will say, ‘Thank you very much. I love you, sir.’ So I don’t have any goals or aspirations beyond that,” Blanche added.

▪ The Hill: Blanche says DOJ providing legal counsel on Iran strikes.

The president will participate in executive time at 8 a.m. He will meet with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins at 11:30 a.m. He will participate in an interview at 2 p.m. He will meet with Rutte at 3:30 p.m. and participate in a Freedom250 reception at 5 p.m.

The House and Senate are out today.

Vice President Kamala Harris, left, holds hands and sings “We Shall Overcome” with Rev. Al Sharpton, Arndrea Waters King, and Martin Luther King III, Jan. 15, 2025, at a National Action Network event in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin, Associated Press file)

DRESS REHEARSAL: A handful of potential Democratic contenders for the 2028 presidential nomination will appear this week at the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network Convention, making an early appeal to the party’s key Black voter constituency.

The most prominent figure at the convention will be former Vice President Kamala Harris, who is scheduled to speak Friday. The first female Black vice president and 2024 presidential nominee, Harris has said she wouldn’t rule out another White House bid.

But she’s far from the only rumored contender set to take the stage. Other featured names include former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Sen. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.).

The Hill’s Amie Parnes reports the gathering offers a rare and early opportunity for the attendees to start building credibility with the demographic.

“Black voters are a core — if not the core — group of constituents in the Democratic coalition, and this is the first time these candidates are going to be sized up,” Democratic strategist Joel Payne said. “It’s a chance to reset narratives, and set what your public profile might be.”

▪ The Hill: MAHA warns GOP about risks to alliance.

▪ The New York Times: Sharpton moves group to new home in Harlem

U.S. journalist Shelly Kittleson poses for a cellphone photo in a cafe in Baghdad, Iraq, March 30, 2026. (AFP via Getty Images)

SWIFT RELEASE: U.S. journalist Shelly Kittleson has been released a week after she was kidnapped in Baghdad by an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia group.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed Kittleson’s release.

The organization Kataib Hezbollah said it would free Kittleson but required that she leave the country “immediately” as a condition for her release. Two militia officials told The Associated Press that Kittleson was let go in exchange for the release of several militia members detained by the Iraqi government.

The group said the agreement “will not be repeated,” pointing to the U.S.-Israeli operations against Iran.

Alex Plitsas, who is Kittleson’s emergency contact and a national security analyst for CNN, said in a post on X that he and others had been in touch with U.S. officials throughout the day about her release. He expressed appreciation to various U.S. government agencies, the Iraqi government, supporters and advocates.

Kittleson has covered the Middle East for more than a decade, often taking gutsy, informal assignments in dangerous areas. She most recently worked for the news outlet Al-Monitor. She was abducted last Tuesday.

Officials captured one suspect soon after the kidnapping but failed to track Kittleson down. They believed Kataib Hezbollah was responsible for the abduction but didn’t have confirmation until the militia announced her release.

Joyce Karam, the editor in chief of Al-Monitor, called Kittleson’s apparent release a “glimmer of good news.”

▪ The Free Press: The dangers facing journalists.

The 1980s Iran-Iraq War should have taught us not to underestimate Iran, Greg Wallance writes in The Hill.

As Viktor Orban goes, so goes MAGA? Jim Geraghty writes in The Washington Post.

The Artemis II crew captured this view as the Earth sets behind the Moon during a lunar flyby, April 6, 2026. (NASA via Associated Press)

And finally … NASA has released the first images captured by the Artemis II crew during their flyby of the moon, showing a vantage point from its far side.

The crew aboard the Orion spacecraft set a new record for distance traveled from the Earth as they flew around the moon, breaking a record previously held by Apollo 13. Among the images are an “Earthset,” a picture showing the Earth appearing to set below the moon.

Thousands of pictures are expected to ultimately be taken and made available from the journey. The crew is set to return to Earth on Friday.

More Morning Report News

China, Russia sink UN vote on Strait of Hormuz; 10 countries join US in support

Democrats build on overperformance streak in Wisconsin, Georgia elections

House Democrat says he has filed articles of impeachment against Trump

Spanberger drop in approval rating ‘stunning’: Sabato

Trump resets the clock on Iran talks: What to know

Cook Political Report shifts 5 House races toward Democrats

GOP’s Clay Fuller to replace Taylor Greene in Congress

White House budget would cut thousands of TSA jobs: What to know

Freedom Caucus calls for full DHS funding in GOP-only bill, rejecting ...

Democrats expand majority on Wisconsin Supreme Court with Taylor victory

Trump’s gone too far: Invoke the 25th Amendment before it’s too late

Trump suspends attacks on Iran for 2 weeks amid negotiations

Trump’s grave threats toward Iran stoke war crime debate

Why so many Americans now sympathize with the villain

Live updates: Trump says US, Iran have agreed to 2-week ceasefire

America is heading for a recession — and it may be the worst yet

RFK Jr. moves to broaden CDC vaccine panel eligibility after federal judge ...

Democrats call for Trump’s removal over threat against Iran

The Hill Podcasts – Morning Report

© The Hill

visit website