Web desk(National Times)- United States President Donald Trump faced pointed criticism over the Iran war in a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans on Wednesday, shortly before his administration asked Congress for tens of billions of dollars to pay for the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several Republicans who attended said Trump engaged in a shouting match with Senator Bill Cassidy, who said the administration needed to explain a framework deal <\/a>Trump signed last week that gives Iran financial incentives but falls short of the goals he laid out at the war\u2019s beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe American people need to know more than we are being told,\u201d Cassidy told reporters. \u201cIt does not appear, although I don\u2019t know for sure, that the course of this is going the way that we were told.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later on Wednesday, the Senate\u2019s Republican leaders scheduled a late-night vote to block a resolution calling for an end to hostilities with Iran in what appeared to be an effort to please the president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Senate voted by 50 to 47, largely along party lines, to block a war powers resolution that had advanced on a procedural vote in May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cassidy, who had voted for recent Iran war powers resolutions, voted no, and Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a Republican who also had voted in favor of war powers resolutions, voted present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two Republicans, Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted with every Democrat except one in favor of the resolution. Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democratic no vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Michael Bennet of Colorado did not vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis vote puts Iran on notice,\u201d Trump said on social media after Wednesday\u2019s late-night vote, although it does not affect the earlier vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wednesday\u2019s high-volume lunchtime exchange with a member of Trump\u2019s own party shows how the war has weighed on Trump ahead of November elections that will determine control of Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With his approval rating at its lowest since Trump returned to office last year, just one in four Americans believes the war was worth its costs, a Reuters<\/em>\/Ipsos poll showed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The exchange came a day after the Senate voted <\/a>to direct Trump to end the war in a separate vote on a resolution passed by the House of Representatives this month. Cassidy was one of four Republicans to back it, along with opposition Democrats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump did not mention the exchange with Cassidy, who was unseated by a Trump-backed challenger in a primary election this year. Later, he criticised the Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIran sees that, they go, \u2018What\u2019s that all about?\u2019. Now you know, it\u2019s meaningless, right?\u201d Trump told reporters at the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Several hours later, the administration asked Congress for $70 billion to cover the cost of the war, adding to the $867 billion US military budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a Wednesday evening post on X, Cassidy thanked Vice President JD Vance and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff for \u201cthe thorough briefing this afternoon on Iran\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI appreciate the quick invitation to the White House to address many of my concerns,\u201d Cassidy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Benchmark oil prices fell on Wednesday to their lowest since before the war started, as the initial accord between the United States and Iran lifted Iran\u2019s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, allowing traffic to flow again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before it was blockaded in the war, the waterway had carried a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But conflicting accounts have emerged over elements of the deal, which has prompted criticism of Trump at home and abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Financial incentives for Iran, inspections of its nuclear facilities, control of the strait and Israel\u2019s parallel war in Lebanon have all been disputed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The deal sets up 60 days of talks to tackle thornier details, such as Iran\u2019s nuclear program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The proposed peace deal has provoked scepticism in the Middle East, where many states came under attack from Iran during the war and view the accord as too generous to Tehran, including a $300 billion fund and the waiver of some sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Washington\u2019s Gulf allies fear the reconstruction fund could help Iran rebuild its military. The accord also does not address Tehran\u2019s ballistic missile capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The deal requires Iran to let shipping flow freely through the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days, and Tehran has suggested it might impose tolls after that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Iran could propose environmental, navigation and security fees in upcoming talks with Gulf states, said a diplomat briefed on the talks. Washington and its Gulf allies oppose such fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re not going to do anything that undermines the security of our allies, our longstanding allies in the region,\u201d US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Kuwait City, where the UD embassy resumed operations after a stoppage due to the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Washington, Lebanon and Israel discussed a US-backed proposal for Israel\u2019s forces to pull out of some territory it invaded to be handed back to Lebanese army control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would not pull troops out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Israel has been battling Hezbollah in Lebanon since the group attacked Israel on March 2 in support of Iran, and Tehran has made a cessation of hostilities there central to its demands in any peace deal with the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An Israeli drone strike on a car in southern Lebanon killed two people on Wednesday, Lebanese sources told Reuters<\/em>, while Israel said it struck two armed Hezbollah fighters. It was not immediately clear if the incidents were the same.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Web desk(National Times)- United States President Donald Trump faced pointed criticism over the Iran war in a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans on Wednesday, shortly before his administration asked Congress for tens of billions of dollars to pay for the conflict. Several Republicans who attended said Trump engaged in a shouting match with Senator Bill […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a>Iran war weighs on Trump\u2019s republicans<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Cassidy got briefing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Regional scepticism<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Israel, Lebanon meet in Washington<\/h2>\n\n\n\n