Trump rejects the latest Iranian proposal as he reviews new military options to restart the war

Jeff Bennett:

Iran today submitted a new proposal to the United States aimed at breaking the diplomatic stalemate, but President Trump rejected it and said he was reviewing new military options to restart the war.

Amna Nawaz:

It has been 60 days since the war began, meaning today is the administration’s legal deadline for congressional approval. But the White House told Congress that it did not need to seek its approval because the war had “ended” – quote – during the current ceasefire.

Nick Schifrin here. He’s been following all of this.

So, Nick, tell us more about what the president said today.

Nick Shiffrin:

Amna, the president not only rejected the new Iranian proposal. He expressed deep doubts about Iran’s ability to present a proposal that satisfies him.

President Donald Trump:

So, they want to make a deal, but I’m not – I’m not happy with it, so we’ll see what happens. They’ve made great strides, but I’m not sure if they’re there or not.

There is huge disagreement. There’s a huge problem – they’re having a huge problem getting along with each other in Iran.

Nick Shiffrin:

So, on the one hand, there’s no agreement and little possibility of reaching an agreement, but the president also admitted yesterday to receiving a briefing from his top commander in the Middle East, Admiral Brad Cooper, that what President Trump told Fox News’ Peter Doocy are two major options.

Donald Trump:

Do we want to go in and blow them up and end them forever, or do we want to try to make a deal? And those are the options.

Peter Doocy, Fox News’ senior White House correspondent:

Do you want to go blow the hell out of them?

(crosstalk)

Donald Trump:

Better not. On a humanitarian basis, I’d rather not do that. But this is a choice. Do we want to go in there heavy and blow them away? Or do we want to do something? They are a very disjointed leadership, as you can understand, Peter, very disjointed.

I mean, they don’t get along with each other, and that puts us in a bad position. One group wants to make a certain deal. The other group wants to make a certain deal, including the hard-liners.

Nick Shiffrin:

After all of the above, an American official told me, Amna, that the options tonight are not actually as black and white as the president suggests.

This official says that on the one hand, there is little appetite for the administration to resume the war completely, but at the same time there is impatience with what this official described as Iran’s slowdown. So, as always, there are multiple military options, including what the official said was one that would try to speed up an agreement without undermining the possibility of reaching an agreement and without resuming the war entirely.

What that could be is an attempt to reopen the Strait, and an attempt to reduce Iran’s ability to launch drones, launch cruise missiles at ships, at ports in the Strait, and under economic pressure, while diplomatic efforts continue.

And remember, the president and the military have many options, because there are still many U.S. military assets in and around the Persian Gulf, and there is still a U.S. blockade that the president and other U.S. officials believe is really strangling the Iranian economy.

Amna Nawaz:

So, Iran’s proposal, which was rejected by the president, what do we know about what was contained in that proposal?

Nick Shiffrin:

We don’t know exactly, but for the president, it’s clearly not enough to change from the proposal that Iran put forward last weekend and which you mentioned, according to a regional and Iranian official, is that if — that Iran would reopen the Strait if the United States lifted its blockade, unfrozen Iranian assets and, most importantly, halted any negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.

The president said today that “Iran is asking for things that I cannot agree to,” but he did not provide any details.

Amna Nawaz:

So, as I mentioned, today is the 60-day deadline required by the White House War Powers Act to get authorization from Congress to continue that war. They say they don’t need this permission.

Why not?

Nick Shiffrin:

Well, the president said today that the War Powers Act is unconstitutional, which is an argument that every president has made, you know, since Richard Nixon, since 1973.

But the president’s lawyers are apparently taking it very seriously, because the White House released this letter that he sent to Congress, and it says – quote – “There has been no exchange of fire between U.S. forces and Iran since April 7, 2026. The hostilities that began on February 20, 2026, have ended,” although, of course, Amna, we just talked about how the president himself said he could resume the war at any time.

We spoke to Harold Koh, a professor at Yale Law School and former State Department attorney for President Obama, and he said it’s as if the president is trying to rewrite the war powers resolution and add a pause button.

Harold Hongjo Koh, former Foreign Ministry official:

It is a misunderstanding of the text of the War Powers Resolution, which states that 60 days after the introduction of U.S. armed forces, that is, 60 days after February 28, the president must terminate any use of U.S. armed forces made at that time, in other words, withdraw all forces that have been sent abroad.

He doesn’t do that. This is not the shot clock in basketball. It’s game hour. It’s knocking from 60 days. Those sixty days are over.

Nick Shiffrin:

Now, after all of this, Amna, so far, Republicans in Congress have not been willing to implement the War Powers Resolution. There have been six votes so far that would have required the administration to withdraw all US military forces from the war in Iran unless Congress authorized the use of military force in Iran.

All six votes failed. But our colleague Lisa Desjardins reports that there is a particular concern, a private worry, among Republicans that it could become a public vote against the administration if the president relaunches full combat operations.

The point here, Harold Koh says, is that even if Congress is not prepared today to enforce the War Powers Act, it maintains the threat to do so.

Harold Hongjo Koh:

Decision points will escalate. This is what happens when you park your car in a parking space and time runs out. You may not get a ticket for a while, but you are definitely under pressure to figure out some sort of solution to legalize it or get out. This is what he feels.

Amna Nawaz:

Meanwhile, Nick, some news late today about American troops in Germany. What’s the latest?

Nick Shiffrin:

Yes, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s spokesman confirmed this afternoon to me and other reporters that the United States will withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany. There are about 36,000 or so soldiers in Germany at the moment, which is 70,000 in Europe.

So part of what the United States has in Europe, of course, comes after a little bit of a war of words between President Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, where Merz criticized the president for not having an exit plan, and the president criticized those comments. Here, 5,000 soldiers will withdraw over the next six to 12 months.

Amna Nawaz:

Nick Schifrin begins our coverage tonight.

Nick, thank you.

Nick Shiffrin:

Thank you.