More than three weeks after a fragile ceasefire took effect, the calm between the U.S. and Iran is holding—but diplomatic hopes are not. President Donald Trump has flatly rejected Tehran’s latest overture to end the ongoing conflict, throwing the future of the truce into fresh uncertainty.
Speaking Friday in West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump didn’t mince words, calling Iran’s leadership “quite brutal people.” He added, “I will tell you we’re doing very well,” offering no indication that Washington is ready to step back from the brink.
Yet even as hostilities smolder, the president insisted in a letter to Congress that the U.S. is not actively at war, claiming the confrontation that erupted in late February has already ended. His statement lands as the U.S. enters its 60th day of military action against Iran—a critical trigger under the War Powers Resolution, which requires congressional approval for operations beyond that window.
“Most people consider it totally unconstitutional,” Trump said of the 60-day rule. “Also, we had a ceasefire, so that gives you additional time.”
But legal experts and congressional Democrats are pushing back hard. “There is nothing in the War Powers Resolution’s text or design that suggests the clock can be paused,” one expert said. “That clock ran out on May 1st.”
On the home front, Americans are feeling the ripple effects. Gas prices have surged past $6 a gallon in California, thanks to Iran’s continued stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for global oil shipments. “It’s like the grocery store—just keeps going up and up and up,” one resident told reporters.
Trump has promised prices will plummet once the war ends, but with his rejection of Iran’s peace offer, no endgame is in sight.
In a related move, the Pentagon is pulling 5,000 U.S. troops out of Germany. Defense officials framed the decision as payback for Berlin’s refusal to help in the Iran conflict—a signal that the war’s political fallout is widening far beyond the Middle East.
