Trump considers 'another big hit' on Iran amid peace talks. Live

Trump says oil prices will 'plummet,' again

Michael Loria

President Trump told a crowd of lawmakers gathered at the White House Tuesday evening that the Iran war will end "very quickly" and afterwards oil prices will "plummet."

"We’re going to end that war very quickly. They want to make a deal so badly," Trump said of the Iranians. He addressed lawmakers gathered at the White House for the annual Congressional Picnic. "It’s going to happen and it’s going to happen fast. You’re going to see oil prices plummet."

The president’s claims come as his Republican allies are becoming noticeably antsy about the war, which has driven up gas prices and inflation amid an election season. The Senate Tuesday passed a resolution aimed at curbing Trump’s war powers. 

Trump has made claims similar to those he made Tuesday evening since the start of the war. Iranian senior leaders have invariably shot down his words as "fake news."

Contributing by USA TODAY White House reporter Zac Anderson

Senate takes first steps to check Trump’s war powers

Zachary Schermele

The Senate on Tuesday moved forward for the first time with a measure to end the war in Iran, striking a political blow to President Trump.

Several Republican senators didn’t vote and a key GOP bloc defected, leading to a 50-47 vote in favor of the war powers resolution. 

The measure faces an uphill battle to actually becoming law but its progress signals potentially waning support in Congress for the administration’s war in the Middle East. Rising gas prices, spiking inflation and the president's sinking polling numbers have become political liabilities for battleground GOP lawmakers as the November midterm elections approach.

Among those who voted to curb Trump’s war powers was Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, who lost his primary reelection days ago after Trump crusaded against him. Those who did not vote included retiring Sen. Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, whom Trump has repeatedly publicly attacked, and Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican whom the president abruptly declined to endorse on Tuesday. 

Read more about the vote here.

'Put pen to paper'

Natalie Neysa Alund

During an afternoon press conference at the White House on May 19, American Vice President J.D. Vance said President Donald Trump asked his administration to “aggressively negotiate” with Iran in “good faith.”

Vance then addressed why he recently traveled to Islamabad, Pakistan.

“The vice president of the United States is willing to cut a deal so long as the Iranians are willing to meet us again, on that core issue of never having a nuclear weapon," Vance said.

“What I think is that the Iranians want to make a deal,” Vance said. “But we’re not going to know until we are actually putting put pen to paper and… signing a negotiated settlement.

‘We’re locked and loaded’ Vance says of potential military strike on Iran.

Zac Anderson

Vice President JD Vance said “a lot of progress” has been made in negotiations with Iran’s leaders over a permanent deal to end to the war, but Trump continues to weigh another military strikes if a deal can’t be reached.

“As the president just told me, we’re locked and loaded,” Vance said during a May 19 press briefing. “We don’t want to go down that pathway, but the president is willing and able to go down that pathway if we have to.”

A ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran has been in place since last month, but Trump is threatening to strike Tehran again amid frustrations over peace negotiations. After saying Monday he was “an hour away” from an attack on Iran before calling it off, the president said Tuesday that “we may have to give them another big hit.”

Trump warns he's considering 'another big hit' on Iran

Joey Garrison

President Donald Trump warned of a potential new wave of U.S. attacks on Iran as negotiations on a deal to end the war remain at a statement.

"I hope that we don't have to do the war. But we may have to give them another big hit," Trump told reporters on Tuesday. "I'm not sure yet. You'll know very soon."

Trump said he was "an hour away" from ordering airstrikes on Iran on Monday before he decided to follow the requests of leaders from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and hold off.

"We were all set to go," Trump said. "We were going to be striking. It would have been happening right now. The boats, the ships are all loaded. They're loaded to the brim And we were all set to start."

Trump was unclear about a timeline for Iran to agree to a deal or face the consequences. "I'm saying maybe two or three days. Maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday, something. Maybe early next week. A limited period of time, because we can't let them have a nuclear weapon," the president said.

Oil tops $110, bond yields surge with more pain ahead

Andrea Riquier

Brent crude oil traded near $111 a barrel and bonds sold off hard May 19 as the conflict dragged on.

The benchmark U.S. 10-year note jumped about 7 basis points to about 4.662%, while the 30-year bond continued its climb above the key 5% threshold, trading near 5.183% in the morning.

Stocks and other assets slumped as Wall Street opened, and gas prices pushed higher, with a gallon of unleaded regular averaging $4.533, AAA reported.

What’s even more concerning is that conditions may deteriorate from here.

“While gas prices do terrify me, I think the thing that is going to be even more shocking to consumers is going to be the late summer price increases,” said Karim Marshall, director of climate and energy policy at the nonpartisan Consumer Federation of America.

Marshall believes that the cumulative price gains in energy costs – not just gasoline, but diesel, which fuels much of the food supply infrastructure, will keep adding up even as Americans start the heavy driving season of the summer.

“It's going to get worse,” he told USA TODAY on May 18.

Iran proposal includes reparations, US troop withdrawal, state media says

Christopher Cann

Iran's latest proposal calls for an end to the war on all fronts including Lebanon, a troop withdrawal from areas near Iran, a lifting of sanctions, compensation for damage caused by the war, and an end to the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and ships, the country's state media reported on Tuesday.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi described the latest proposal from Tehran, which was little altered from the plan that President Donald Trump rejected last week as "garbage."

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the foreign minister's comments.

Trump on Monday said he delayed a planned attack on Iran after the country sent its latest proposal. The president added that there's a "very good chance" the two country's will strike a deal that involves Tehran's nuclear program. Trump has repeatedly made threats and later backed off since the war began, and he has previously expressed hope that deals could end the war diplomatically.

Trump calls off strike on Iran for 'a little while, hopefully, maybe forever'

Francesca Chambers

Trump said Monday evening he delayed a planned attack on Iran for "a little while, hopefully, maybe forever" at the request of U.S. allies and mediators in the Middle East, as negotiators work on an agreement to end the war in Iran.

"It's a very positive development, but we'll see whether or not it amounts to anything," Trump said.

The president has intermittently announced fresh military strikes that he subsequently called off once the U.S. declared that talks with the Iranians were moving in the right direction.

"This is a little bit different," Trump said. "We were ready to go in tomorrow, very big."

Trump added that the "last thing" Iran is thinking about these days is its nuclear program: "Now they have to put it down in writing."

The president again called the war an "excursion" that was necessary in his view to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Top Trump ally says any Iran deal must be approved by Congress

Michael Loria

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, said Monday afternoon that any deal with Iran to end the war must be approved by Congress.

"Any agreement reached between the United States and Iran must come before Congress for approval, as was the case for the JCPOA under President Obama," said Graham, referring to an Obama administration deal with Iran aimed at limiting the country’s ability to make a nuclear weapon. "If we can end the conflict through diplomatic means that achieve our national security objectives, that would be a major accomplishment."

According to Graham, a top Trump ally, the White House’s aims in negotiating are: ensuring Iran stops enriching uranium; that the U.S. obtains the country’s supply of the nuclear material; Iran allowing free trade through the Strait of Hormuz; Iran eliminating its nuclear and ballistic weapons programs; and Iran ending support for "terrorists."

Obama’s deal with Iran aimed to stop the country from developing a nuclear weapon by offering to lift sanctions in exchange for Iran accepting limitations on its nuclear program. The deal fell apart after the U.S. withdrew from the agreement during the first Trump administration. 

Republicans said the deal was not effectively keeping Iran from building a bomb. Iran says they were not developing nuclear weapons. Graham said any deal with Iran would have to be better than the one forged under the Obama administration.

Graham’s comments come hours after he pushed for renewed attacks on the Islamic republic.