What to know
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are answering questions about President Donald Trump’s $1.5 trillion defense budget request on Capitol Hill today. The House and Senate hearings come a day after President Donald Trump said he was “not in a rush” to end the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, which began after Trump made the initial budget request.
- Iran has rejected the U.S. peace proposal and called on the U.S. to end its naval blockade of Iranian ports to re-engage in further negotiations. On Monday, Tehran issued a counteroffer that Trump deemed “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE.” The counteroffer included a demand for war reparations form the U.S., an end to sanctions on Iranian oil and rights regarding Iran’s nuclear program.
- Trump is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping this week in Beijing, where he is expected to ask for help pressing Iran into accepting the U.S. demands to end the war.