Trump on his ‘unconditional surrender’ demand to Iran: ‘I’ve had it’
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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday was not revealing what action he might take related to Iran after multiple sources said he’s been presented with a range of options by his national security team.
Asked by reporters on the South Lawn Wednesday morning, Trump said he wasn’t ruling out using U.S. military assets to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities.
“I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” he said.
Trump met with his advisers in the Situation Room on Tuesday afternoon after departing the Group of Seven summit in Canada early, citing tensions in the Middle East.
On Tuesday, Trump had demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender” in a social media post. Asked on Wednesday to elaborate what that means, Trump said: “That means I’ve had it, okay. I’ve had it. I give up.”
“No more. Then we go blow up all the, you know, all the nuclear stuff that’s all over the place there,” Trump said.
The president said his patience has “already run out” with Iran, and that Iran wants to negotiate but be said it may be too late.
His message for the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei? “I say good luck,” Trump said.
The president also sought to push back on prominent MAGA voices who’ve been outspoken about the U.S. not getting involved in the war between Israel and Iran.
“My supporters are more in love with me today, and I’m in love with them more than they were even at election time,” Trump said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Seven in 10 Americans think President Donald Trump’s tariffs on international trade will drive up U.S. inflation, outweighing hopes that they’ll boost manufacturing employment and fueling a 64% disapproval rate of how he’s handling the issue.
Even nearly half of Republicans — 47% in the ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll released Friday — said they think tariffs will negatively impact inflation. That jumps to 75% among independents, a swing group in national politics.
The tariffs admittedly are a moving target. The administration has paused some (albeit not those on China) pending negotiations.
And there is a perceived positive: 59% said they think the tariffs will have a positive impact on creating manufacturing jobs in the United States, including 90% of Republicans and 60% of independents. That, along with bringing prices down, were some of Trump’s key campaign promises.
But — given the current state of play — the scale tips negative again on a third factor: 56% in this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates with fieldwork by Ipsos, think Trump’s handling of tariffs will negatively impact America’s economic leadership in the world vs. 42% who see a positive impact.
Democrats, for their part, are roundly opposed to the tariffs. Nine in 10 think they will negatively impact inflation (90%) and U.S. economic leadership in the world (89%) alike, and a near-unanimous 96% disapprove of Trump’s handling of them. Democrats aren’t sold on tariffs creating manufacturing jobs, either: 68% think they’ll hurt, not help.
Given inflation fears, Trump’s overall rating for handling tariffs is a broad 30 percentage points underwater, 34%-64%. That’s far worse than his 7-point deficit in approval on handling immigration (as reported here), demonstrating that public sentiment is especially prickly when economic well-being is on the line.
Indeed, in his own party, 25% of Republicans disapprove of Trump’s handling of tariffs, as do 30% of conservatives. And disapproval reaches 48% among non-college-educated white men and 47% of rural Americans, two of Trump’s core support groups.
Methodology: This ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll was conducted online via the probability-based Ipsos KnowledgePanel® April 18-22, 2025, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 2,464 adults. Partisan divisions are 30%-30%-29%, Democrats-Republicans-independents.
Results have a margin of error of 2 percentage points, including the design effect. Error margins are larger for subgroups. Sampling error is not the only source of differences in polls.
The survey was produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates, with sampling and data collection by Ipsos. See details on ABC News survey methodology here.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Thursday announced he’s nominating Michael Waltz to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as interim national security adviser while keeping his current role as well.
“I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating Mike Waltz to be the next United States Ambassador to the United Nations,” Trump wrote on his conservative social media platform. “From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first. I know he will do the same in his new role.”
“In the interim, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as National Security Advisor, while continuing his strong leadership at the State Department,” Trump continued. “Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Sources had told ABC News earlier Thursday that Waltz was expected to leave his post as national security adviser.
The move came as President Trump has been increasingly frustrated by Waltz after he came under intense scrutiny for inadvertently adding a reporter to a Signal chat with top Trump officials discussing a U.S. military strike on Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Waltz responded to Trump’s announcement on X, writing: “I’m deeply honored to continue my service to President Trump and our great nation.”
Rubio was a National Prayer Event at the White House earlier Thursday before the news broke. He was seen standing in the colonnade on his phone, and at times speaking with White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce learned about Rubio replacing Waltz in the middle of Thursday’s press briefing. She was being asked by reporters on whether Rubio would consider the position when Trump’s social media post came out.
“It is clear that I just heard this from you,” Bruce said as she reacted to the news in real time. She praised Rubio as “a man who, as I think you all know, has worn several hats from day one” and is “someone who is well known by the president.”
Bruce said the move was not “not entirely surprising,” but acknowledged “these last 100 days, it’s like hanging onto a freaking bullet train.”
Waltz was spotted doing a Fox News interview at the White House on Thursday morning, but was not present later on at the prayer event.
He was in attendance at Trump’s Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, where he offered praise for the president’s leadership and strength on the world stage during his first 100 days in office.
Trump publicly defended Waltz in the aftermath of the March Signal mishap, telling NBC News the day after details came to light in an article by The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg that Waltz “has learned a lesson and is a good man.”
Trump was asked further about Waltz’s future by The Atlantic in an April 24 interview. He said Waltz was “fine” despite being “beat up” after accidentally adding Goldberg to the group chat.
Trump also said in that interview that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who also came under fire for the Signal fiasco, was “safe.”
“I think we learned: Maybe don’t use Signal, okay?” Trump said about the controversy. “If you want to know the truth. I would frankly tell these people not to use Signal, although it’s been used by a lot of people. But, whatever it is, whoever has it, whoever owns it, I wouldn’t want to use it.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Justice is suing the city of Los Angeles over its sanctuary city policy, alleging it interferes with the enforcement of federal immigration laws, officials announced on Monday.
“The challenged law and policies of the City of Los Angeles obstruct the Federal Government’s enforcement of federal immigration law and impede consultation and communication between federal, state, and local law enforcement officials that is necessary for federal officials to carry out federal immigration law and keep Americans safe,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit is targeting Ordinance Number 188441, which prohibits city resources, including personnel, from being used for immigration enforcement. The DOJ is seeking a permanent injunction barring the city from enforcing the ordinance.
The Los Angeles City Council and the city’s mayor, Karen Bass, are named among the defendants in the lawsuit, which was filed Monday in California’s Central District federal court.
The lawsuit comes after President Donald Trump deployed National Guardsmen and Marines to the city, over the objections of local and state leaders, in response to protests against the government’s immigration crackdown.
“Sanctuary policies were the driving cause of the violence, chaos, and attacks on law enforcement that Americans recently witnessed in Los Angeles,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement Monday. “Jurisdictions like Los Angeles that flout federal law by prioritizing illegal aliens over American citizens are undermining law enforcement at every level — it ends under President Trump.”
Bill Essayli, U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said in a statement that the lawsuit holds Los Angeles “accountable for deliberately obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration law.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
