Sen. Mark Warner’s daughter Madison dies at 36 after long diabetes battle

April 20, 2026 / 3:32 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia announced on Monday that his daughter Madison has died following a lengthy battle with juvenile diabetes and other health issues. She was 36.

“We are heartbroken beyond words by the passing of our beloved daughter, Madison,” Warner and his wife, Lisa Collis, wrote in a statement shared on social media. “She filled our lives with love and laughter, and her absence leaves an immeasurable void.”

The couple said they are “grateful for the loving support of friends and family during this difficult time” and asked for privacy as they “navigate this profound loss.”

Warner has been in the Senate since 2009, after serving as governor of Virginia. He and his wife live in Alexandria, Virginia, and have two other daughters — Gillian and Eliza.

Warner has been an advocate for diabetes research in the Senate, often citing his own family’s experience having a daughter with Type 1 diabetes. He’s spoken out about making insulin more affordable and sponsored legislation to increase access to diabetes care more broadly.

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Who is Ahmad Vahidi? Iran’s new IRGC chief tied to global attacks and ‘Death to America’ ideology

2026-04-20 1:38pm EDT / Fox News

Analyst says putting someone with ‘such a bloody and murderous record’ atop the IRGC shows Iran is not moderate

By Efrat Lachter Fox News

As President Donald Trump’s deadline for Iran to decide whether to extend a two-week ceasefire between the countries approaches, attention is increasingly turning not to Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, but to a shadowy Revolutionary Guard commander with a long record of terror, repression and hardline ideology.

Ahmad Vahidi, recently elevated to the top of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the elite paramilitary force within Iran’s military, is emerging as one of the most powerful men in Iran and, according to analysts, one of the key figures likely deciding whether Tehran resumes fighting or continues talks.

“By any standard, Vahidi is considered a radical even within the regime’s hardline elite, and his rise is a warning that Tehran’s war machine now calls the shots,” Lisa Daftari, foreign policy analyst and journalist, told Fox News Digital.

“Putting someone with such a bloody and murderous record at the top of the Revolutionary Guard Corps confirms that the regime is not moderating under pressure. On the contrary,” Daftari added, “it is doubling down on men whose careers are built on hostage‑taking, assassinations, and domestic repression. By any standard, Vahidi is considered a radical even within the regime’s hardline elite, and his rise is a warning that Tehran’s war machine now calls the shots.”

TRUMP’S APOCALYPTIC IRAN WARNING RAISES STAKES FOR SWEEPING US STRIKE THREAT

Why it matters: Analysts say Vahidi’s rise could shape whether Iran moves toward peace or deeper conflict. For the U.S., that means heightened risks to troops, allies and global stability if a hardline figure with a history tied to terror networks is now helping call the shots in Iran.

Ahmad Vahidi, recently elevated to the top of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the elite paramilitary force within Iran’s military, is emerging as one of the most powerful men in Iran.(Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto)

Power increasingly concentrated outside formal institutions

Vahidi’s rise comes at a moment when Iran’s formal political institutions appear weaker than ever.

Experts describe the Islamic Republic today as a system in which informal networks and personal relationships matter more than official titles.

Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, described Iran as “a system of men, not laws, but one whose success rested on institutionalizing their power,” where decisions increasingly flow through Revolutionary Guard figures rather than the civilian government.

Beni Sabti, an Iran expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said Vahidi may now be even more influential than parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf or even Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei.

“In my view, he is more dominant right now, even if they are coordinated. This is not a time for internal competition,” Sabti said, adding that Vahidi is the only one who meets the new supreme leader face-to-face.

VANCE EN ROUTE TO PAKISTAN FOR HIGH-STAKES IRAN TALKS AS ‘FRAGILE’ CEASEFIRE TEETERS

Long before the world knew the name Qassem Soleimani, Vahidi was one of the men who helped build the infrastructure of Iran’s overseas terror operations.(Morteza Nikoubazl/Nur Photo)

He previously led the Quds Force before Qassem Soleimani

Long before the world knew the name Qassem Soleimani,the longtime commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force who was killed in a 2020 U.S. drone strike, Vahidi was one of the men who helped build the infrastructure of Iran’s overseas terror operations.

He served as commander of the Quds Force in the 1990s, before Soleimani took over the elite unit responsible for foreign operations, covert action and support for proxy groups.

Analysts say Vahidi played a central role in building Iran’s network of terrorist allies across the Middle East, particularly in Lebanon.

“Ahmad Vahidi is the embodiment of the Islamic Republic’s most militant wing,” Daftari told Fox News Digital. “As Qassem Soleimani’s predecessor at the Quds Force, he helped build Tehran’s terror infrastructure abroad.”

Sabti said Vahidi was part of the original generation of Iranian operatives who forged ties with militant groups in Lebanon before and after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Some accounts suggest he trained in camps linked to Palestinian and Lebanese factions in southern Lebanon, helping lay the foundation for Iran’s alliance with Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terror group, in Lebanon.

Vahidi has been linked by analysts and Western governments to some of the deadliest attacks carried out by Iranian-backed networks over the past four decades.

As the commander of the Quds Force from 1988 to 1998, he has been connected to the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing that killed 241 U.S. service members, the 1996 Khobar Towers attack in Saudi Arabia, and a 2008 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Yemen.

VANCE WARNS IRAN WILL ‘FIND OUT’ TRUMP IS ‘NOT ONE TO MESS AROUND’ IF CEASEFIRE DEAL FALLS APART

Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei receives protection from elite NOPO force following his father’s assassination in U.S.-Israel attack on Tehran compound Feb. 28.(Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto)

One of the world’s most wanted Iranian officials

Daftari noted that Vahidi “has been implicated by Argentine prosecutors in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA (Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.” Eighty-five people were killed in the bombing.

Argentine investigators and courts have also linked Vahidi to the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, although the Interpol red notice against him is specifically for his alleged role in the 1994 AMIA bombing.

In April, Argentina renewed attention on him after its President Javier Milei’s government designated the entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization and singled out Vahidi by name.

In announcing the move, the Argentine government said that red notices remained in place for several Iranian officials, “among them former Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi, who was recently appointed to lead the IRGC.”

Vahidi is under multiple layers of sanctions by both the United States and the European Union. The sanctions significantly restrict his ability to travel, move money or do business internationally.

Washington first sanctioned him in 2010 for links to Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. Vahidi was redesignated in 2022 for “being an official of the Government of Iran and being responsible for or complicit in, or responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, the commission of serious human rights abuses against persons in Iran or Iranian citizens or residents, or the family members of the foregoing, on or after June 12, 2009, regardless of whether such abuses occurred in Iran.”

He was redesignated by the United States in 2022 under Executive Order 13553 after Mahsa Amini’s death, when he served as interior minister and oversaw the regime’s response to nationwide protests.

Vahidi was sanctioned for orchestrating internet blackouts and directing Iran’s Law Enforcement Command, known as NAJA, during the crackdown, according to the U.S. Treasury.

The European Union first sanctioned him in 2008, and imposed parallel sanctions in 2022 over the use of live ammunition, arbitrary detention of protesters and journalists, and the violent suppression of demonstrations.

Human rights groups accused Iranian authorities of using live fire, mass arrests and torture against protesters, which resulted in more than 30,000 deaths.

Yigal Carmon, founder and president of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) warned, “Under his leadership, more such crimes are to be expected in the West against both Jews and non-Jews.”

PAKISTANI GENERAL SAYS IRAN DIPLOMACY STILL ‘ALIVE, DESPITE US BLOCKADE, FAILED TALKS’

Iran’s Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi briefs the media on elections in Tehran, Iran, March 4, 2024. Argentina sought the arrest of Vahidi on April 23, 2024, over his alleged involvement in the deadly 1994 bombing of Buenos Aires Jewish community center.(Vahid Salemi/AP)

Analysts say he represents the regime’s most radical faction

Experts say Vahidi is not merely another hardliner, but one of the most extreme figures even within Iran’s already radical ruling elite.

Sabti is warning that Vahidi’s growing influence could make Tehran less likely to agree to a genuine ceasefire.

“He brings even more radicalization into the system and may not want to stop the war, because it serves the interests of the Revolutionary Guards to continue,” Sabti said.

One of the biggest concerns surrounding Vahidi is that even if Iran agrees to a ceasefire, he may see it only as an opportunity to regroup.

That concern has taken on new urgency as Trump’s deadline approaches.

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Iranians react after a ceasefire announcement at the Enqelab square, in Tehran, Iran, April 8, 2026.(AFP via Getty Images)

If Vahidi is indeed the man increasingly calling the shots in Iran, analysts say the key question is not whether Iran wants a ceasefire, but whether the Revolutionary Guard commander believes continued confrontation better serves his interests.

Carmon said, “Trusting him is a grave mistake. He belongs to the hard ‘DEATH TO AMERICA’ corps.”

Iran’s mission to the United Nations declined to comment.

Efrat Lachter is a foreign correspondent for Fox News Digital covering international affairs and the United Nations. Follow her on X @efratlachter. Stories can be sent to efrat.lachter@fox.com.

Trump says energy chief ‘wrong,’ expects lower gas prices as soon as Iran war ends

April 20, 2026 4:07 PM UTC / Reuters

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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about research into mental health treatments in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., April 18, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

WASHINGTON, April 20 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed his top energy official’s view that gas prices will not drop until 2027, saying ​Americans can expect lower costs as soon as the Iran war ends.

On Sunday, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNN that while gasoline below $3 a gallon “could happen later this year, that might not happen until next year.”

The Reuters Power Up newsletter provides everything you need to know about the global energy industry. Sign up here.

“I think ​he’s wrong on that. Totally wrong,” Trump told a reporter ​from The Hill, adding that prices are expected to come ⁠down “as soon as this ends.”

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While Wright, also on CNN, agreed that “with ​the resolution of this conflict, you’ll see prices go down,” no clear ​end is in sight. A fragile ceasefire is set to expire shortly and the chances another round of peace talks succeeding are unclear.

Trump and his fellow Republicans are under pressure ahead ​of November’s midterm elections after pledging to lower costs. With months ​left to go, U.S. gasoline prices remain high, inflation is rising and Trump’s approval ratings ​are ⁠down.

The average price for a gallon of regular gas on Monday was $4.04, according to an estimate by AAA, compared to $3.15 a year ago. Oil prices rose 5% globally on Monday.

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Iran has shuttered the Strait of Hormuz, a ​key shipping channel, ​as the war that ⁠started with the U.S. and Israel launching strikes Iran on February 28 reaches the two-month mark. Trump had said ​the military campaign would last four to six weeks.

Rising ​fuel ⁠prices have triggered higher prices nationwide on a range of goods and services, from airline tickets and housing to fertilizer and groceries.

Trump himself has said ⁠gas ​prices may stay high until November but has sought ​to brush off concerns. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last week predicted they would fall to the $3 per gallon range ​this summer.

Reporting by Susan Heavey; editing by Michelle Nichols and Nia Williams

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

How long will high gas prices last? Trump’s team doesn’t seem to have any idea

2026-04-20 1:52 PM ET / CNN

Analysis by

Aaron Blake

Donald Trump Investing Oil & gas Economy

People put gas in their cars at a gas station located in front of the ConocoPhillips Oil Refinery in Wilmington, California on April 11.

Etienne Laurent/AFP/Getty Images

The domestic politics of the Iran war can mostly be summed up by two words right now: gas prices.

And perhaps no issue better epitomizes the administration’s haphazard messaging strategy when it comes to the war.

President Donald Trump on Monday directly contradicted Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s comments just a day earlier about how long gas prices could linger. While Wright had told CNN that we might not see gas under $3 per gallon until 2027, Trump called him “totally wrong.”

Days before, Trump contradicted his own words on the very same subject. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has contributed to some inconsistent messaging here, too.

In other words: It’s a mess. The Trump administration doesn’t seem to have taken any care to drive a consistent message that wouldn’t ultimately come back to bite it in the backside. And the situation reinforces how Trump and his team seemed to anticipate a much shorter war or at least underestimated how much damage Iran could cause to the global oil supply.

Let’s recap.

On March 8, about a week into the war, Wright told CNN’s Jake Tapper that gas would be back under $3 per gallon “before too long.” When pressed on how long, he indicated it was just weeks away.

“In the worst case, this is a weeks, this is not a months thing,” Wright said.

Wright then told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that there was a very good chance this would happen by the summer.

But as the weeks rolled on and the Strait of Hormuz remained closed, Wright’s prediction was proven false. More than seven weeks into the war, gas remains around $4 per gallon, according to Gas Buddy.

By April 12, reality seemed to set in. Fox News aired an interview in which Trump said gas and oil prices might not even drop at all before the November midterm elections.

“It could be [lower], or the same, or maybe a little bit higher, but it should be around the same,” Trump told Maria Bartiromo.

But when Trump spoke with Bartiromo just days later for her Fox Business Network show, his tone shifted dramatically.

He said that “gasoline is coming down very soon and very big.”

“I think they’ll be much lower before midterm,” he added. “Much lower.”

But sandwiched between those two interviews, Wright started to walk back his own comments. When asked about sub-$3 gas by the summer, he said, “by the summer is an aggressive time frame now.”

And on April 15, Bessent seemed to want to adjust the goalposts. The talk had been about gas under $3, and he said at a White House briefing that he was “optimistic that sometime between June 20 and September 20, that we can have $3 gas again.”

But he also switched his phrasing, mentioning “gas with a three in front of it” — which could mean anywhere from $3.00 to $3.99.

“I’m optimistic that during the summer, we will see gas with a three in front of it sooner rather than later,” Bessent said at the same briefing.

That’s a rather modest prediction, given gas was just a shade over $4 per gallon in the national average at the time. (Gas in many areas of the country already had a three in front of it, and it wouldn’t take much to drop the average to that point.)

But it was Wright who offered perhaps the most pessimistic comments to date on Sunday.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright speaks during a panel at the BlackRock Infrastructure Summit in Washington, DC, on March 11.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Speaking to Tapper again, he suggested it would be a while before gas would drop below $3.

“That could happen later this year,” Wright said. “That might not happen until next year.”

He then emphasized that $3 per gallon gas is an ambitious goal, calling it “pretty tremendous in inflation-adjusted terms.”

But those comments apparently didn’t sit well with Trump, who spoke Monday with The Hill and directly undercut his energy secretary.

“No, I think he’s wrong on that,” Trump said. “Totally wrong.”

Trump and his team have offered confusing and often-contradictory messages on the Iran war from the beginning. But Trump contradicting Wright so directly and so quickly stands out. It’s especially striking since it was only about a week ago that the president was sounding quite pessimistic himself.

Trump, of course, seemed to think better of those comments and quickly adjusted course.

This is a critical issue, given gas prices are the most in-your-face reminder about the ongoing cost of this war and that they could take a while to fall even if the war ends quickly.

But there just seems to be almost no message discipline — no united front on what the administration is supposed to tell people about how long they’ll have to deal with higher gas prices.

Trump’s desire seems to be an “all is well” emphasis that assures victory and price relief are just around the corner. The obvious problem there — and Wright’s original prediction that high gas prices would only last weeks, not months, is a case in point — is that officials look inept when that doesn’t pan out.

The energy secretary said “weeks” was a “worst case.” But even if peace talks are successful this week, it seems unlikely gas prices could drop that much, that quickly.

Which would suggest we’re in a worse situation than even the worst-case scenario that the Trump administration envisioned.

So it’s justifiable for Americans, who the administration led to believe this would be a temporary hardship, to wonder if Trump officials have any idea what they’re doing.

Trump pushes back against pundits, says Israel did not talk him into the Iran war

April 20, 2026 12:04pm EDT / Fox News

President Donald Trump rejected the notion that Israel convinced him to launch the war against Iran, asserting in a Monday Truth Social post that the outcome “will be amazing.”

The president said the heinous Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack against Israel bolstered his view that Iran must be blocked from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“Israel never talked me into the war with Iran, the results of Oct. 7th, added to my lifelong opinion that IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON, did,” the president declared in the Truth Social post.

“I watch and read the FAKE NEWS Pundits and Polls in total disbelief. 90% of what they say are lies and made up stories, and the polls are rigged, much as the 2020 Presidential Election was rigged. Just like the results in Venezuela, which the media doesn’t like talking about, the results in Iran will be amazing – And if Iran’s new leaders (Regime Change!) are smart, Iran can have a great and prosperous future!” he added.

US SEIZES IRANIAN SHIP AFTER OPENING FIRE; PAKISTAN TALKS IN DOUBT

President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives at the White House on Sept. 29, 2025, in Washington, D.C.(Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The commander in chief launched the U.S. into the war against Iran in conjunction with Israel earlier this year, prosecuting a punishing air campaign against the Islamic Republic for more than a month.

While Trump announced a ceasefire earlier this month, tensions have remained high, and the president warned on Sunday that if Iran fails to accept the deal offered by the U.S., the American military will destroy Iran’s bridges and power plants.

US MILITARY ANNOUNCES ANOTHER DEADLY STRIKE AGAINST ‘NARCO-TERRORISTS’

An Iranian flag is planted in the rubble of a police station, damaged in airstrikes, on March 3, 2026, in Tehran, Iran.(Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

“Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz — A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement! Many of them were aimed at a French Ship, and a Freighter from the United Kingdom. That wasn’t nice, was it?” Trump said in a Sunday Truth Social post.

“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY! They’ll come down fast, they’ll come down easy and, if they don’t take the DEAL, it will be my Honor to do what has to be done, which should have been done to Iran, by other Presidents, for the last 47 years. IT’S TIME FOR THE IRAN KILLING MACHINE TO END!” he declared.

The U.S. opened fire on an Iranian-flagged cargo ship on Sunday.

“Guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) intercepted M/V Touska as it transited the north Arabian Sea at 17 knots enroute to Bandar Abbas, Iran. American forces issued multiple warnings and informed the Iranian-flagged vessel it was in violation of the U.S. blockade,” U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) noted.

MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATE CLAIMS ISRAEL ‘JUST AS EVIL’ AS HAMAS

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6393434222112

“After Touska’s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings over a six-hour period, Spruance directed the vessel to evacuate its engine room. Spruance disabled Touska’s propulsion by firing several rounds from the destroyer’s 5-inch MK 45 Gun into Touska’s engine room. U.S. Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit later boarded the non-compliant vessel, which remains in U.S. custody,” CENTCOM added.

Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.

By Dana Bash, CNN

Published 1:12 PM EDT, Mon April 20, 2026

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Iran thinks ‘they can outlast Trump’: Former Trump Iran negotiator on the stakes for a second round of peace talks

Inside Politics

Nate Swanson, a former Iran negotiator in the Trump administration, joins “Inside Politics” ahead of a second round of U.S.-Iranian talks. Swanson tells Dana Bash, “I think Iran’s perspective is they can outlast Trump. And so to that extent, time is on their side. But if this goes on indefinitely, they both lose.”

4:35 • Source: CNN

How Trump’s messaging on Iran has shifted in 3 days since he said Tehran “agreed to everything”

2026-04-20T13:46:00-0400 / CBS News

By

Updated on: April 20, 2026 / 2:41 PM EDT / CBS News

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Washington— In less than 48 hours this weekend, President Trump went from saying Iran has “agreed to everything,” including working with the U.S. to remove its enriched uranium, to warning that if Iran doesn’t sign a U.S.-backed deal, the “whole country is getting blown up.”

The president’s rapid shifts in messaging, expressed in phone calls with individual reporters and on Truth Social, come as the two-week ceasefire in the war with Iran enters its final days, and as the state of negotiations with Iran is uncertain.

The president has also shared contradictory statements about negotiations, telling the New York Post on Monday morning that the U.S. delegation, including Vice President JD Vance, would arrive in Islamabad Monday night. But after the president said that, a White House official said the U.S. delegation had not left yet, but rather, “plans to travel to Islamabad soon,” without a date given. Iran said Monday that it has no current plans to return to peace talks.

Here’s how the president’s messaging has changed since Friday.

Friday afternoon, April 17: Trump says Iran has “agreed to everything”

The president said in a Friday afternoon phone interview with CBS News senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang that Iran has “agreed to everything,” and will work with the U.S. to remove its enriched uranium. The president said the U.S. would “take” the uranium.

The president also told CBS News that Tehran agreed to stop backing proxy groups, such as Hezbollah and Hamas, which the U.S. considers terrorist organizations.

Mr. Trump’s remarks came shortly before markets closed for the weekend, and as Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz open, oil prices fell and stocks jumped.

But within a couple of hours of the president’s comments to CBS News, a spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry released a statement that said, in translation, “Enriched uranium is as sacred to us as Iranian soil and will not be transferred anywhere under any circumstances.” The comment went on to say that “transferring uranium to the United States has not been an option.”

The conflicting statements raised questions about how much Iran had actually agreed to, and whether the president’s comments were more hopeful than facts warranted.

Friday evening: Trump says “I don’t think there’s too many significant differences” with Iran

Speaking with reporters upon his arrival in Phoenix for a speech, the president said he didn’t think there are “too many” significant differences on various points with Iran.

The president was asked about reports that Iran said there were still significant differences in their positions on a possible deal.

“Well, there could be,” the president said. “Let’s see what happens. If there are, we’ll have to straighten it out. But I don’t think there’s too many significant differences.”

The president said little about Iran on Saturday

President Trump, who returned from a West Coast swing late Friday night, said little about the war and negotiations on Saturday.

During an Oval Office signing event Saturday morning, when CBS News reporter Olivia Rinaldi tried to ask the president about the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps firing on ships in the strait, the president told her and the rest of the press to “get out,” adding, “thank you very much, everybody.”

In the afternoon, the president went to his golf club in Northern Virginia.

Sunday morning, April 19, before 8 a.m.: Trump says that without a deal, the “whole country is getting blown up”

The president told Fox News’ Trey Yingst early Sunday morning that, “If Iran does not sign this deal, the whole country is getting blown up.” The president said the talks in Pakistan would be Iran’s “last chance.”

The president’s warning harkened back to his April 7 remark that “a whole civilization will die tonight” without a deal. Later on April 7, the president announced the current ceasefire agreement.

Sunday morning, April 19, 8:10 a.m.: Trump says if Iran doesn’t take deal, U.S. will knock out every single power plant and bridge

An ambush that killed a French soldier in Lebanon, which France’s president blamed on Hezbollah, and reports of Iran firing on ships in the Strait of Hormuz prompted concerns about the tenuous ceasefire and the prospects of a long-term peace deal.

The president took to Truth Social Sunday morning to say Iran’s decision to “fire bullets yesterday into the Strait of Hormuz” constitutes a “Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement!”

“Many of them were aimed at a French Ship, and a Freighter from the United Kingdom,” he wrote. “That wasn’t nice, was it? My Representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan — They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations.”

Then the president went a step further, saying that if Iran doesn’t take the deal the U.S. is offering, the U.S. will attack all of its power plants and bridges.

“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” Mr. Trump wrote. “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY! They’ll come down fast, they’ll come down easy and, if they don’t take the DEAL, it will be my Honor to do what has to be done, which should have been done to Iran, by other Presidents, for the last 47 years. IT’S TIME FOR THE IRAN KILLING MACHINE TO END!”

Monday morning, April 20: Trump says if ceasefire expires, “then lots of bombs start going off”

As part of a round of phone calls with reporters Monday morning, the president told PBS News that if the ceasefire with Iran expires this week, “then lots of bombs start going off.”

The two-week ceasefire has been expected to end Tuesday night, unless an extension or some other deal is agreed to.

Mr. Trump told Bloomberg Monday morning that it’s “highly unlikely” he’d extend the ceasefire if a deal isn’t reached by the time it expires. He also told Bloomberg the ceasefire would expire Wednesday night Washington time, not Tuesday.

Vance has not yet left for Iran talks in Pakistan, source says

2026-04-20T15:18:39.972Z / Reuters

By Reuters

April 20, 2026 3:18 PM UTC Updated 47 mins ago

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U.S. Vice President JD Vance gestures as he boards Air Force Two, after peace talks with Iran in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, April 12, 2026. Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

WASHINGTON, April 20 (Reuters) – Vice President JD Vance is ​still in the United States and ‌has not yet departed for Pakistan, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, as prospects ​for a second round of negotiations with Iran ​remain unclear.

President Donald Trump has said ⁠he would send a U.S. delegation to ​Pakistan for additional talks before a ceasefire is ​set to expire in the coming days. Iran is considering attending the peace talks, a senior Iranian ​official told Reuters on Monday, but ​no decision had been made.

The Reuters Iran Briefing newsletter keeps you informed with the latest developments and analysis of the Iran war. Sign up here.

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A second source familiar with ‌the ⁠matter said the U.S. delegation has not departed yet, but plans to travel to Islamabad soon.

The New York Post earlier reported that Trump ​said in ​an interview ⁠that Vance, White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner ​were on their way to the ​talks. ⁠The three participated in the first round of talks to end hostilities that began ⁠with ​U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran on ​February 28.

Reporting by Gram Slattery, Katharine Jackson and Susan ​Heavey; editing by Doina Chiacu and Michelle Nichols

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

以色列总理内坦亚胡（左）是美国总统特朗普的盟友，此前传出他影响特朗普作出攻打伊朗的决定。 （路透社档案照片）

美国总统特朗普说，以色列并未说服他攻击伊朗，似乎是在反驳此前传出以色列总理内坦亚胡影响他作出决定的报道。

路透社报道，特朗普星期一（4月20日）在Truth Social社媒发文写道：“以色列从未说服我发动对伊朗的战争，10月7日（哈马斯袭击以色列）的结果更加坚定我毕生的观点，即伊朗永远不能拥有核武器。”

特朗普也说：“如果伊朗的新领导人足够聪明，伊朗就能拥有一个伟大而繁荣的未来！”

泰政府拟增加举债近200亿元应对经济压力

2026年4月20日 23:15 / 联合早报

泰政府拟增加举债近200亿元应对经济压力

泰国首相阿努廷的政府已公布一系列措施，以缓解能源价格上涨的影响，包括向低收入群体发放现金补贴、补贴交通运输业以及为中小企业提供低息贷款。 （法新社）

（曼谷综合电）泰国政府星期一（4月20日）宣布，计划通过紧急法令举债约5000亿泰铢（约198亿新元），以应对能源危机带来的经济压力。

副首相巴功告诉记者，此举是出于现金储备紧张以及外部和环境风险上升的考虑。实际借款金额可能低于5000亿泰铢，但根据公共债务规定，必须将上限提高至法律规定的全额。

目前，泰国公共债务约占国内生产总值的66%。为配合这一轮举债，泰国政府已在商讨将公共债务占国内生产总值（GDP）的比率上限，从目前的70%调高至75%。

知情人士告诉彭博社，这是正在讨论的几个方案之一，最终决定须由首相阿努廷领导的财政和货币政策委员会批准。

泰国财政部长埃尼提上周说，如有必要，可以提高债务上限。

阿努廷暗示新财年预算将削减非必要项目

阿努廷星期一概述了2027年预算编制的指导方针，暗示将削减非必要项目并限制预算增长，以控制财政风险。

阿努廷政府已公布一系列措施，以缓解能源价格上涨的影响，包括向低收入群体发放现金补贴、补贴交通运输业以及为中小企业提供低息贷款。

去年11月，内阁批准了2027财年的预算计划，总额为3.788万亿泰铢。这项计划预计支出将比本财年增长0.2%，赤字将下降8.37%。

据预算局称，预算案将于6月23日提交内阁，之后将于7月1日至3日提交下议院审议。