President Trump lashed out after hosting Mark Rutte, NATO’s secretary general, at the White House on Wednesday.
After careening from one diplomatic extreme to another, President Trump finds himself with a fragile deal that is already showing signs of fraying.
The first day of a tentative cease-fire had the region on edge.
The vice president sought to downplay Israel’s continued bombardment of Lebanon, which he insisted had “nothing to do with” Iran.
Pakistan’s prime minister posted a public plea on X for President Trump to extend his Tuesday evening deadline for Iran. The White House was directly involved in shaping the message.
On the first day of the pause, Iran fired missiles and launched drones in the region. It said an oil refinery on Lavan Island had been attacked. Israel continued its strikes in Lebanon.
A day after a pause in fighting was announced between the United States and Iran, many questions remained, including the status of the Strait of Hormuz.
In a week in which President Trump has veered from threatening to wipe out Iranian civilization to declaring a cease-fire, Congress is out of session and lawmakers with the power to declare war are mostly in the dark.
Analysts said oil and natural gas energy companies would not quickly restore production unless attacks stopped and ships started moving through the Strait of Hormuz.
President Trump knows that even if a cease-fire runs out with no final agreement on the issues dividing Washington and Tehran, the political risk of renewing hostilities is high.