Trump tells Congress Iran war is 'terminated,' potentially sparking War Powers debate

[0:01] We have some breaking news right now coming from our White House team in regard to the war with Iran. [0:06] The White House officially telling Congress that it considers the Iran war terminated, [0:11] but of course that is despite still the huge military presence that's out there. [0:16] Let's go straight to Jacob Gardenschwartz, our reporter on the scene at the White House. [0:20] Good afternoon to you, Jacob. [0:21] This seems to be a pretty big development here, this term terminated with respect to the Iran war. [0:28] What's going on? [0:30] Yeah, that's right, Patrick. [0:32] You know, we were talking last hour about this novel interpretation of the War Powers Resolution, [0:37] the law that governs how the president must communicate and at times receive approval from Congress [0:43] in order to pursue wars around the world. [0:46] And we were noting that the White House has been making the argument that because there is a ceasefire in effect with Iran, [0:53] the 60-day clock that that law specifically lays out for the White House to receive congressional approval to continue the war was paused. [1:01] That's the language that the Defense Secretary, Secretary Pete Hegseth, said yesterday when speaking on Capitol Hill. [1:07] Well, now we have a formal letter that has been transmitted to the heads of the House and the Senate by President Trump, [1:14] where he says that in his words, the war is in fact terminated. [1:17] Hostilities, that is the language that is used in the statute, are said to have concluded in early April when that ceasefire took effect. [1:25] And the president writing that, quote, [1:27] despite the success of U.S. operations against the Iranian regime and continued efforts to secure a lasting peace, [1:32] the threat posed by Iran to the United States and our armed forces remains significant. [1:36] Accordingly, the Department of War continues to update its force posture in select countries [1:41] and as necessary and appropriate to address Iranian and Iranian proxy forces threats. [1:46] So, in one sense, this is the White House telling Congress that the war is over, [1:50] but in another, suggesting that it is continuing to address its threat posture. [1:54] And as, of course, we know, there continue to be thousands of troops in the Middle East, [1:58] a naval blockade that is ongoing, [2:00] and these negotiations to bring about an end to a conflict that could, in fact, restart hostilities. [2:05] Really a novel interpretation of the law and quite stunning, both in terms of this conflict, [2:11] but in terms also of the long-term precedent. [2:13] I just got off the phone with an expert on war powers to try to get some initial reaction to what this means. [2:19] And what she noted to me, and it's true, if you take this to this logical conclusion, [2:23] the president says that the war ended because of this temporary cessation of hostilities. [2:27] Let's say the war starts again in a couple of days or in a couple of weeks. [2:30] In the White House's view, that means that the 60-day clock starts over. [2:34] They have another 60 days to pursue this war without congressional approval. [2:37] As we reach that next 60 days, they could announce a temporary ceasefire, pause things, and then restart again. [2:44] So it is certainly possible that one interpretation of this is, you know, [2:48] moving forward with the White House's ability to pursue an endless conflict without congressional approval. [2:53] Certainly we will have to see how House and Senate leaders respond to this new breaking development [2:58] that our team just obtained. [2:59] But certainly striking to see the Trump administration describe the Iran conflict as terminated, [3:03] when we know, obviously, there are still active, you know, both the naval blockade actively taking place [3:09] and also conversations about a possible resumption of hostilities in the coming days or weeks. [3:14] Patrick? [3:15] Yeah, Jacob, maybe this is really more of a semantic thing, [3:18] like the war is terminated during that period of the ceasefire, [3:22] but as soon as the ceasefire is over, then the war resumes. [3:26] I guess one of the key questions here was, what is Iran saying at this point? [3:31] Because, of course, they were in the midst of submitting a new proposal, so we were told. [3:37] Does Iran think that this war is terminated? [3:41] We've not yet received any response or sort of reaction to this, [3:45] either from, you know, leaders within Iran or state media, [3:49] often how they communicate their reaction or response to these sorts of things. [3:52] But certainly from their perspective, you know, they have never believed that the war was over. [3:57] They have continued to maintain that the naval blockade is a violation of the ceasefire. [4:02] And as we were noting, even if, you know, you put that aside, [4:06] you say that a blockade is not actually actively hostile, [4:08] but it's just trying to, you know, enforce transit, [4:11] we have seen U.S. troops board Iranian ships that are said to be transporting sanctioned oil. [4:16] That's certainly something some might describe as hostile. [4:19] So, you know, Iran, for its part, has never maintained that the war is over. [4:22] They contend that they are, you know, actively engaging in diplomacy, [4:25] but certainly that the war has continued throughout this time. [4:29] The White House views it differently. [4:31] Now I think the ball is really in Congress's court to see how they respond to this, [4:35] if this changes their posture about perhaps passing a War Powers resolution to say, [4:39] OK, well, if the war is over, we're going to formalize that in some way, [4:42] or if they're content with the Trump administration saying, [4:44] from our perspective, it's terminated, [4:46] and these other things that we're continuing to do will do, you know, without any additional approval. [4:50] Really an open question, as we've been noting, Congress is not currently in session. [4:54] So at this point, we're not expecting to hear from lawmakers publicly on this. [4:57] Certainly we'll be reaching out to their offices to try to get reaction. [5:00] Patrick. [5:01] And, Jacob, it seems like the two objectives from the White House have always been [5:04] to, of course, make sure Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon, [5:08] but also now to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, [5:11] which remains blockaded by the U.S. and then restricted by Iran. [5:15] Those things haven't happened yet, [5:17] so it's hard to understand how this war could be, quote, [5:20] terminated with those two objectives still out there. [5:25] That's a very important point. [5:27] And I'll note just, you know, an hour or two ago, [5:29] when the president departed the White House, [5:31] he confirmed that the White House, the administration, [5:34] received the latest offer from Iran about those diplomatic negotiations, [5:38] what steps Iran is taking to address its nuclear program, [5:41] what agreements it might make for the Strait of Hormuz. [5:43] The president said that he was not satisfied by their response. [5:46] He's not willing to agree to their terms at this moment. [5:49] So, to your point, there is no agreement about the core reasons [5:53] that this conflict broke out, ending Iran's nuclear program, [5:56] ensuring safe transit through the Strait of Hormuz, [5:59] addressing the so-called nuclear dust, [6:01] the enriched uranium that is already within Iran. [6:04] By the White House's own, you know, the president's own language, [6:06] those things have not yet been agreed to, [6:08] although here we have this new document [6:09] where the White House is telling Congress that the war is, quote, terminated. [6:12] Patrick. [6:14] Our White House correspondent, Jacob Gardenschwart, [6:16] helping us understand this breaking news. [6:18] The White House saying that the war with Iran is, quote, terminated, [6:22] making that statement to Congress. [6:24] But, of course, a lot of questions still about what that really means.