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A curated guide to major news and developments over the weekend. Here’s today’s news:
IRAN WAR – CEASEFIRE
In public statements, the United States and Iran continued to trade threats on Saturday, as tensions escalated following naval clashes and strikes on ships. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that any attack on Iranian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz would be met with a “heavy assault” on U.S. ships and other U.S. targets in the region. President Trump posted a meme on social media of Iranian warships that had been sunk to the bottom of the ocean. Pranav Baskar and Devon Lum report for the New York Times.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House envoy Steve Witkoff met on Saturday in Miami with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani as part of efforts to reach a deal to end the war in Iran, two sources told Axios. Barak Ravid reports.
Trump yesterday rejected the latest offer from Iran to end the war with the United States, declaring it was “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE.” Trump commented hours after the Iranian government said it had sent a counterproposal to end the conflict. Tasnim News Agency reported that Iran’s response focused on “the necessity of lifting U.S. sanctions, ending the war on all fronts,” and demanded an immediate end to the U.S. naval blockade upon signing. Trump did not say what was objectionable, telling Axios simply, “I don’t like their letter. It’s inappropriate. I don’t like their response.” Trump did not make clear whether he intends to continue negotiations or potentially opt for military action. Oil prices rose nearly 3% this morning following news of the continued deadlock that also leaves the Strait of Hormuz largely closed. Erica L. Green, Aaron Boxerman, and Adam Sella report for the New York Times; Barak Ravid reports; Nayera Abdallah, Elwely Elwelly, and Idrees Ali report for Reuters.
“I think it’s accomplished a great deal, but it’s not over,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CBS News when asked about the Iran war, adding, “there are still enrichment sites that have to be dismantled. There are still proxies that Iran supports. There are ballistic missiles that they still want to produce.” Netanyahu declined to give a timeline for ending the conflict. Cheyanne M. Daniel reports for POLITICO.
IRAN WAR – LEBANON OPERATIONS
Three Israeli drone strikes on vehicles south of Beirut on Saturday killed four people, while a series of Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 13 people, according to state media and the Lebanese health ministry. The Israeli military said Hezbollah fired explosive drones into Israel near the border with Lebanon, adding that three soldiers were wounded. It added that Hezbollah fired drones inside Lebanon, one of which hit an Israeli vehicle without inflicting casualties. Hezbollah claimed several attacks inside Lebanon. Bassem Mroue reports for AP News.
IRAN WAR – OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
The United Kingdom announced on Saturday that it was deploying its warship HMS Dragon to the Middle East in preparation for a potential multinational effort to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz once conditions allow. Reuters reports.
China today opposed U.S. sanctions for three China-based companies that Washington claimed enabled Iran’s military operations, calling the curbs illegal and unilateral. “The pressing priority is to prevent by all means a relapse in fighting, rather than using the war to maliciously associate and smear other countries,” a Chinese government spokesperson said. Reuters reports.
Israel established a clandestine military outpost in the Iraqi desert and launched airstrikes against Iraqi troops who almost discovered it early in the war, sources, including U.S. officials, said. Israel built the installation, which housed special forces and served as a logistical hub for the Israeli air force, just before the war started, with the knowledge of the United States. Anat Peled and Jared Malsin report for the Wall Street Journal.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Israeli strikes killed at least three Palestinians in Gaza on Saturday, including two members of the Hamas-run police force, health officials said. Reuters reports.
Israel yesterday deported two activists, Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national, and Brazilian Thiago Avila, after arresting them aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla in international waters, the Israeli foreign ministry said. Israel’s foreign ministry had said that Keshek was suspected of affiliation with a terrorist organisation and Avila was suspected of illegal activity; both denied the allegations, saying they were on a humanitarian mission for Gaza’s civilian population and that their arrest in international waters was unlawful. Reuters reports.
WEST BANK VIOLENCE
Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank on Friday forced a Palestinian family to exhume and move their father’s freshly buried body from a village cemetery near the re-established Sa-Nur settlement, claiming the land was reserved for settlement use. The Israeli military said it had approved the original burial and condemned the incident, while the UN Human Rights Office described it as an example of the growing dehumanisation of Palestinians in the occupied territories. Mohammad Torokman reports for Reuters.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
“I think the matter is coming to an end,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday when asked about the war in Ukraine. Putin added that he was willing to negotiate new security arrangements for Europe, and that his preferred negotiating partner would be Germany’s former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Vladimir Soldatkin and Guy Falconbridge report for Reuters.
Ukraine’s military and regional officials today reported Russian drone strikes and battlefield clashes over the past 24 hours, despite a U.S.-brokered, three-day ceasefire. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said yesterday that Moscow had refrained from large-scale aerial and missile attacks but that it had continued assaults along parts of the long front where Russian forces are advancing. Russia’s Defence Ministry also accused Ukraine of flouting the ceasefire, saying it had downed 57 Ukrainian drones over the past day and “responded in kind” on the battlefield. Reuters reports.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodríguez arrived yesterday at the International Court of Justice in The Hague to defend Venezuela’s claim to Essequibo, a mineral and oil-rich region in western Guyana. The final court hearing will take place today. AP News reports.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to meet in Beijing on Thursday for a two-day summit. The two leaders are expected to discuss the war in Iran, trade, Taiwan, and other points of contention. Lily Kuo reports for the New York Times.
“Our position on Taiwan’s defense budget … is that it was disappointing in that there was some stuff left on the cutting room floor that we believe still needs to be funded,” a senior official said yesterday. Taiwan’s parliament approved extra defense spending of $25 billion on Friday, about two-thirds of the amount sought by the government to bolster the armed forces. Reuters reports.
Trump yesterday posted on social media that three Polish and two Moldovan prisoners had been released from Belarusian and Russian detention. Trump credited U.S. special envoy John Coale for the release and thanked Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko. Reuters reports.
U.S. CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC OPERATIONS
The U.S. military on Friday conducted its third boat strike in five days against a vessel it accused of smuggling drugs, killing two and leaving one survivor in the eastern Pacific Ocean, U.S. Southern Command said on social media. The post also said that the military had notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate a “Search and Rescue system.” A U.S. official said the Mexican navy was in charge of the search for the survivor. Adam Sella and Eric Schmitt report for the New York Times.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
The Justice Department on Friday announced 12 new denaturalization cases, accusing these individuals of concealing serious crimes or committing immigration fraud during the citizenship process. This marks a sharp escalation from an average of 11 cases per year from 1990 to 2017, according to federal data. During Trump’s first term, the number rose to roughly 25–42 cases per year, compared with about 16 per year under the Biden administration, while current plans reportedly aim for hundreds of cases annually. David Nakamura reports for the Washington Post.
Immigration judges issued more than 80,000 “voluntary departure” orders from January 2025 to March 2026, according to court data shared with the Washington Post. The number of people abandoning their immigration cases is at least seven times as high as the number seen in the last 15 months of the Biden administration, when 11,400 took that option. Maria Sacchetti reports.
In media appearances last week, Homeland Security Secretary Makwayne Mullin and Border Czar Tom Homan promised large-scale deportations, arguing that ICE is not “slowing down” and that the administration would crack down on sanctuary cities. Sources said these latest remarks are an attempt to appeal to Trump’s aggrieved MAGA base, which has complained in recent months that the Trump administration is not doing enough on immigration. Homan and Mullin argue that the deportation goals have not shifted, but they have said the administration is taking a “smarter” approach and has emphasized the focus on deporting the “worst of the worst” criminal unauthorized immigrants. Myah Ward, Eric Bazail-Eimil, and Megan Messerly report for POLITICO.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday struck down a voter-approved Democratic gerrymander of four seats. “Damn, California and Virginia were supposed to be our bigger ones,” one House Democrat told Axios. “Democrats now have to pitch a perfect game.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in a statement, “We are exploring all options to overturn this shocking decision. No matter what it takes.” Private discussions on Saturday among Virginia Democrats and Jeffries reportedly included controversial proposals to restore the map, including altering the state Supreme Court or invalidating prior constitutional changes. Andrew Howard reports for POLITICO; Andrew Solender reports; Reid J. Epstein reports for the New York Times.
More than six prosecutors have been demoted or pushed out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia due to fallout from the Justice Department’s push to prosecute former FBI director James B. Comey, according to multiple sources. Other prosecutors have voluntarily left, fearful they could be asked to work on cases that violate their principles, ten sources said. Perry Stein reports for the Washington Post.
Disney’s ABC warned that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr’s “unprecedented” efforts to regulate interviews on broadcast talk shows threaten to “chill” the First Amendment, according to a filing last week with the agency. John Hendel reports for POLITICO.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
The Trump administration has launched a hiring blitz at the Education Department, despite its pledge to eliminate the agency last year, according to an internal presentation viewed by POLITICO. The Federal Student Aid office saw significant staffing cuts last year and is now trying to hire 334 full-time employees by 2027 – a 45 percent increase from its staffing levels as of last month. Rebecca Carballo reports.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A federal appeals court on Friday required the Trump administration to continue allowing lawmakers to inspect immigration detention facilities without advance notice, ruling unanimously that impromptu visits posed minimal problems for the government. Zach Montague reports for the New York Times.
The Justice Department said in a court filing Friday that former President Joe Biden plans to intervene in a lawsuit seeking to stop the Trump administration from releasing about 70 hours of partially redacted audio recordings of Biden’s 2017 interviews with a ghostwriter for his memoirs to Congress and the conservative Heritage Foundation. Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report for POLITICO.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions.
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