Live updates: Trump vows at news conference to obliterate Iran's power plants and bridges

A prominent Democratic senator on the committee that oversees the Pentagon is requesting additional information from the Defense Department following reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is withholding the promotions of several Black and female senior officers.

NBC News reported last week that Hegseth had blocked or delayed promotions for more than a dozen Black and female senior officers across all four branches of the military. Some of those efforts are seen as having been targeted because of their race or gender, or their perceived affiliation with the Biden administration’s policies or officials, according to NBC news reporting that cited nine U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

Hegseth’s actions have raised concern inside the White House, the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill, according to U.S and congressional officials. Some lawmakers, including both Republicans and Democrats, see the decisions as Hegseth taking too far his efforts to scrub the Pentagon of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, according to the officials.

“Public reports allege that these holds may have been motivated by political ideology, inappropriate bias, or immutable and constitutionally protected characteristics rather than merit,” wrote Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, in a letter to the panel’s chairman, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss. “Military advancement must remain strictly meritocratic and based on performance,” the letter, dated April 3, reads.

Read the full story here.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., today characterized Trump's threats to Iran yesterday as “unhinged.”

“He’s definitely threatening a war crime against the people of Iran because he’s essentially saying that if they don’t open the Strait of Hormuz that he’s going to destroy their civilian infrastructure, destroy power plants, destroy bridges,” Van Hollen, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told NBC News as he left the Capitol this afternoon from a pro forma session.

“The American people already recognize that this illegal war of choice is a big mistake,” he added.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is eyeing votes on the floor of the chamber this month to adopt the budget resolution for another sweeping Republican party-line bill.

Thune's office told NBC News that the "goal" is to approve the budget by the end of the month, to instruct committees to begin working on the bill itself, which can bypass a Senate filibuster and cut out Democrats.

Republicans want to use the legislation to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, and potentially include other items like Iran war funding. The bill is part of the two-track plan the GOP hatched to end the current DHS shutdown.

The president has called on Republicans to send him the bill by June 1.

In his comments to reporters, Trump repeated his threat to destroy Iran's bridges, power plants and civilian infrastructure by midnight tomorrow, bombing the country back into "the stone ages."

"We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o'clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business — burning, exploding, and never to be used again," he said.

He added, "I mean complete demolition by 12 o'clock, and it will happen over a period of four hours."

"Do I want to destroy their infrastructure? No," Trump added. "It will take them 100 years to rebuild right now, if we left today, it would take them 20 years to rebuild their country, and it would never be as good as it was. And the only way they're going to be able to rebuild their country is to utilize the genius of the United States of America."

Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave a timeline of the rescue mission for the U.S. airmen in Iran. Caine stressed the "dangerous" nature of the operation and said the promise to leave no American war fighter behind was fulfilled. 

'Incredibly dangerous': Gen. Caine breaks down the timeline of the U.S. airmen rescue mission

10:29

Asked about his comments earlier today that he would like to take Iran's oil but Americans want troops to come home, Trump repeated the point.

"If I had my choice, yeah, because I'm a businessman first," he said.

He also referred to the "old days" when the spoils of war would go to the "winner."

"To the winner belong the spoils, go the spoils," he said.

"And I've said, 'Why don't we use it?" he continued, referring to the phase. "To the victor, go the spoils, and we don't have that — we haven't had that in this country probably in 100 years."

Asked whether he was winding down the war with Iran or escalating it, Trump declined to say.

"I can't tell you," he said. "I can't tell you. I don't know."

"It depends what they do," he added.

Trump said that he extended the deadline to tomorrow rather than have it expire today because he "thought it was inappropriate the day after Easter."

"They have till tomorrow," Trump said. "Now we'll see what happens. I can tell you, they're negotiating, we think in good faith, we're going to find out. We're getting the help of some incredible countries that want this to be ended, because it affects them also."

Trump said that former President Barack Obama "chose Iran over Israel" in that administration's nuclear agreement with Tehran and questioned how Jews in the U.S. can vote for Democrats because of how he has prioritized Israel.

“If you’re Jewish in New York City or anyplace else in this country, how you can vote for a Democrat is unbelievable," he said.

Trump has previously said similar things about American Jews, claiming in the past that Jewish people who vote for Democrats "do not love Israel" or calling them "disloyal" to that country.

The president's comments that Jews must be loyal to Israel is widely considered to be an antisemitic stereotype that says U.S. Jews have a higher allegiance to a country other than the U.S. and has drawn the condemnation of Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.

Trump said that some "military people, very professional, that preferred not doing it," referring to embarking on the rescue operation.

"There were military people that said, 'You just don't do this,'" he said.

The president did not specify who was not on board with the mission.

He said that hundreds of people were involved in the mission, adding, "hundreds of people could have been killed."

"So we had people that were within the military that said, 'This is not a wise' — and I understood that, but I decided to do it," he said.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, said that U.S. service members took on substantial enemy fire during the rescue of the American pilot last week.

Caine said that the search and rescue task force came "under fire" en route to rescuing the pilot of the plane that was shot down in Iran. He said that remotely piloted aircraft, drones and other tactical aircraft "were violently suppressing and engaging the enemy in a close in gun fight to keep them away from the front-seater and allow the pick-up force to get into the objective area."

Caine explained that one of the pilots in the rescue operation "was hit by enemy fire."

"This pilot continued to fight, continued the mission, and then upon exit, flew his aircraft into another country and determined that the airplane was not landable," Caine said. "This was one of our A-10 Sandy aircraft. The pilot then made the decision to eject over friendly territory, and was quickly and safely recovered and is doing fine."

He also added, "the trailing aircraft, took several hits. The crew sustained minor injury, and they are going to be fine."

A reporter asked Trump whether threatening to hit Iran's infrastructure and cut off their power would punish the people for the actions of the regime.

"They would be willing to suffer that for their freedom," Trump said.

The president said Iranians want the U.S. strikes to continue and that Iranians "want freedom."

"They have lived in a world that you know nothing about," he added. "It's a violent, horrible world, where if you protest, you are shot."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth laid out details about the timing of the two rescue missions.

The first mission was "audacious daylight, thunder run right up the middle," Hegseth said, adding that the mission was authorized less than two hours after the military determined where the first service member was located.

Hegseth said a coordination call was held open for nearly 46 hours between the F-15 fighter jet crashing and the second service member being rescued.

"From the moment our pilots went down, our mission was unblinking," he said. "The call never dropped. The meeting never stopped. The planning never ceased." 

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said that the CIA deployed “both human assets and exquisite technologies” to find the second U.S. service member in what he likened to “hunting for a single grain of sand in the middle of a desert."

Ratcliffe confirmed that the CIA embarked in a deception campaign to confuse Iranians who were looking for the service member. Earlier in his remarks, he also emphasized the "the unique tradition of the U.S. armed forces that we leave no man or woman behind."

"This was a no fail mission," he said. "That was the spirit in which the president put us to work, and we were determined not to let him down, or our airman down."

Later, Ratcliffe praised the president's work.

"I know that the confidence of CIA's officers is boosted by the knowledge that their work is informing a president who's not afraid to make the hardest decisions when the stakes are highest," he said.

Trump has repeatedly emphasized that rescue operations are highly risky to the service members involved in the missions and are often not undertaken for that reason, but that he did not hesitate to give the go-ahead to find the missing airman.

During his press conference, Trump provided intricate details of the rescue over the weekend of the second airman in Iran.

"This is a rescue that’s very historic," he said.

Trump explained that the airman, a colonel, had landed in Iran a "significant distance away from the pilot" who had been rescued on Friday.

Speaking about the second airman, Trump said, "He was injured quite badly and stranded in an area teeming with terrorists from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — rough group — as well as besieged military, militia and local authorities."

President Donald Trump pretends to aim a sniper gun while speaking Monday with reporters at the White House. Julia Demaree Nikhinson / AP

Trump said Iranians were "given a tremendous incentive to find this pilot."

"Despite the peril, the officer followed his training and climbed into the treacherous mountain terrain and started climbing toward a higher altitude, something they were trained to do in order to evade capture," he said.

Trump said that someone leaked information about the rescue of the first service member before the second one had been brought to safety, adding, "we're looking very hard to find that leaker."

Trump said Iran did not know that a second service member was missing until the leaker shared information.

'Give it up or go to jail': Trump threatens punishment over F-15 story leak

02:08

"All of a sudden, they know that there's somebody out there," he said of the Iranians. "They see all these planes coming in. It became a much more difficult operation because a leaker leaked that we have one, we've rescued one, but there's another one out there that we're trying to get.

"So actually, the country Iran, put out a major notice — you all saw it — offering a very big award for anybody that captures the pilot," Trump said. "So in addition to a hostile, very talented, very good, very evil military, we had millions of people trying to get an award, so when you add that to it, but we have to find that leaker, because that's a sick person."

The price of U.S. crude oil jumped from $112 to about $114 per barrel just since Trump began his news conference. The price of international Brent crude also rose, although less so.

The Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 stock indexes also gave up their gains and turned lower for the day.

In his initial remarks at the White House news conference, Trump threatened to take out the "entire country" of Iran.

"The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night," Trump said.

Trump discusses rescue operation for U.S. airmen shot down over Iran

03:35

He had given tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET as the deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping route for oil, or suffer the widespread destruction of its infrastructure.

Trump has started his press conference. He is kicking off his remarks by discussing the rescue missions for the two U.S. service members in the F-15 fighter jet that was shot down in Iran.

"This is a rescue that is very historic," he said.

The Senate Leadership Fund, the main GOP super PAC involved in Senate races, announced today that it is reserving $342 million in ads across eight Senate races for the fall as Republicans defend their majority. Democrats need to net four seats to take over the chamber.

The group, which is aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., announced spending in five states Republicans are defending in November, reserving $79 million worth of ads in Ohio, $71 million in North Carolina, $42 million in Maine, $29 million in Iowa and $15 million in Alaska.

The super PAC is also targeting three Democratic-held seats as the GOP looks to expand its majority, reserving $45 million in Michigan, $44 million in Georgia and $17 million in New Hampshire.

“Thanks to the tremendous successes of Senate Republicans and Majority Leader John Thune, Senate Leadership Fund is better positioned than ever to execute an aggressive offensive strategy to protect and expand the Republican Senate Majority," Alex Latcham, the group's executive director, said in a statement.

Asked by a reporter whether he expected JD Vance to continue talks with intermediaries in Pakistan on ending the war with Iran, Trump said that the vice president is involved.

"He is, and we have Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner talking," Trump said, referring to the special envoy and his son-in-law. "They're all unified and they're all talking."

Asked about the possibility of Vance being part of an in-person meeting, Trump said, "could be."

Asked by a reporter how U.S. strikes on Iran's bridges and power plants would not be a war crime, Trump pointed to the killing of protesters by Iran's government.

"They kill protesters," the president said, claiming Tehran has slaughtered tens of thousands of its people. "They're animals, and we have to stop them, and we can't let them have a nuclear weapon. Very simple. They want a nuclear weapon. They've been trying for a long time."

Trump has threatened to hit Iran's bridges and power plants if Iran does not meet his deadline for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping route for oil, by 8 p.m. ET tomorrow.

A former U.S. ambassador for war crimes warned last week that if Trump goes ahead with his threat to bomb power and desalination plants, it could risk turning the U.S. into a "rogue state."

Trump appeared to cast doubt on the possibility of a 45-day ceasefire with Iran.

"The only one that's going to set a ceasefire is me. I haven't said any ceasefire, but they would like to have a ceasefire," he said about Iran.

A senior White House official urged caution in reporting how definitive a ceasefire agreement could be.

“It’s one of many things being discussed and POTUS has not signed off on the idea,” the official said.

Axios first reported on the 45-day ceasefire proposal.

Trump told reporters at the White House Easter Egg Roll that the U.S. tried to send guns to Iranian protesters to fight against the government.

"They don't have guns," Trump said of the Iranian people, after asserting that civilians were not protesting the government out of fear of being killed.

"We sent some guns, but the group that was supposed to give — which I said would happen, to my people, I said it, I called it exactly," he said. "We sent guns, lot of guns. They were supposed to go to the people so they could fight back against these thugs."

"You know what happened?" he said. "The people that they sent them to kept them, because they said, 'What a beautiful gun, I think I'll keep it.' So I'm very upset with a certain group of people, and they're going to pay a big price for that."

Trump says he would like Iran's oil but 'American people would like to see us come home'

01:00

Speaking to reporters at the White House Easter Egg Roll, Trump said that it the choice were up to him, he would take the oil from Iran, adding that the American public doesn't want the U.S. military to remain in the country.

"If I had my choice, what would I like to do? Take the oil, because it's there for the taking. There's not a thing they can do about it," the president said. "Unfortunately, the American people would like to see us come home. If it were up to me, I take the oil, I keep the oil, I would make plenty of money, and I'd also take care of the people of Iran much better than they've been taken care of."

Trump then referred to the oil that the U.S. is receiving from Venezuela after capturing its former leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife in January.

"Venezuela has worked out so incredibly," Trump said. "We have 100 million barrels of oil right now in Houston being refined. It's been great."

Asked by a reporter at the Easter Egg Roll whether tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET was his final deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said "yeah."

Trump said that Iran has "made a proposal and it's a significant proposal," adding that this was a "significant step" but "not good enough."

Asked what he would say to Americans who do not like the war with Iran, Trump said, "they're foolish because the war's about one thing: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon."

Polls indicate that most Americans do not approve of U.S. military action in Iran, but Republicans have been broadly supportive of Trump’s actions.

Trump says White House has more than 40,000 eggs for the Easter Egg Roll

01:37

Trump said there are 40,000 eggs at the White House Easter Egg Roll this morning.

"Today, we have more than 40,000 eggs supplied by all of the great egg farmers that are with us," he said.

The president recounted the high price of eggs last year when he took office, saying his administration worked to get the price down — and that he had refused to use plastic eggs at the last White House Easter Egg Roll.

"And within a short period of time, eggs came down," Trump said. "They came down 40% 50%, and by the time we got there, we had so many eggs we didn't know what to do with them."

The president added that he expects 30,000 to 50,000 people to attend the event today.

Flanked by first lady Melania Trump and someone dressed in an Easter Bunny costume, Trump quickly pivoted to talking about the Iran war during his remarks at the White House Easter Egg Roll.

The president praised the rescue yesterday of the second service member from the downed F-15 fighter jet in Iran, and the crowd cheered.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive with the Easter Bunny on the balcony for the White House Easter Egg Roll. Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images

Trump said Iran is "not too strong at all, in my opinion," adding that the U.S. will "soon find out."

The president has set the deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by 8 p.m. ET tomorrow.

Trump announced in a Truth Social post yesterday that he would hold a news conference with members of the military today at 1 p.m. ET at the White House.

"We have rescued the seriously wounded, and really brave, F-15 Crew Member/Officer, from deep inside the mountains of Iran," Trump wrote, referring to the U.S. rescue of the second airman from Iran. "The Iranian Military was looking hard, in big numbers, and getting close. He is a highly respected Colonel. This type of raid is seldom attempted because of the danger to “man and equipment.” It just doesn’t happen!"

"The second raid came after the first one, where we rescued the pilot in broad daylight, also unusual, spending seven hours over Iran. An AMAZING show of bravery and talent by all!" he added.

Andrew Harnik / Getty Images

The Easter Egg Roll is a White House tradition dating back to 1878.

Mark Schiefelbein / AP

Andrew Harnik / Getty Images

This year, for the first time, 150 live chicks were part of the celebration.

The Supreme Court this morning paved the way for the Trump administration to dismiss the criminal case against Trump ally Steve Bannon over his failure to respond to congressional subpoenas.

Although Bannon was convicted and served jail time, he and the Trump administration are now seeking to have the case thrown out after the fact, in what would be a mostly symbolic outcome.

Read the full story here.

Trump endorsed former Fox News host Steve Hilton for governor of California in an overnight Truth Social post, potentially shaking up a crowded primary race that will see the top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of their political party.

“Steve can turn it around, before it is too late, and, as President, I will help him to do so!” Trump wrote, referring to what he has characterized as the poor leadership of Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democrats running the state. 

Read the full story here.

With the Iran war ongoing, Americans are facing the ripple effects of rising fuel costs, bringing not only the average price of gas to $4.12 a gallon, but also airfares are rising and Amazon has added a temporary 3.5% surcharge for third-party sellers. Higher diesel fuel costs are also driving up grocery prices, especially those requiring refrigeration. NBC’s Sam Brock reports for "TODAY."

Iran war hikes cost of groceries, airfare, gas and more

02:00

Members of Elon Musk’s private security team were deputized as federal agents last year even though some of the billionaire’s guards lacked the required training and law enforcement experience, according to newly released government emails.

The emails shed new light on how the U.S. Marshals Service responded to Musk’s entourage during his five-month stint in the second Trump administration. The agency in February 2025 approved a request that it said came from the White House to deputize Musk’s bodyguards, a decision that allowed them to carry weapons in some federal buildings and continue protecting him.

Read the full story here.

Tax cuts are becoming the hottest new idea in Democratic politics from coast to coast, as candidates across the party spectrum seek to capitalize on cost-of-living struggles and win back working-class voters.

Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., recently rolled out sweeping tax cut plans. Booker seeks to create a federal tax exemption for up to $75,000 in income for married couples. Van Hollen wants to set that figure at $92,000. Both have been floated as potential 2028 presidential candidates.

In California, progressive candidate for governor Katie Porter, a former Democratic congresswoman, is proposing to wipe out state income taxes for California families making up to $100,000 per year.

In Georgia, gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former mayor of Atlanta and Biden administration official, is campaigning on “eliminating state income taxes for teachers.”

Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., gazed at the Chicago Hilton Hotel’s vaulted ceilings and reflected on its grandeur. When he was a kid growing up with a single mother on Chicago’s South Side, he said, he couldn’t dream of being in a place like this. 

Once he entered an expansive ballroom packed with 900 people — a mostly Latino audience attending the Hispanic American Construction Industry Association’s annual dinner — Gallego, who can move in and out of speaking Spanish, shook hands and stopped for photos and then took the stage to deliver an address riddled with notes of national devotion. 

“Let’s be clear about one thing, and let’s not let anybody forget, especially in this environment right now: Latinos are patriots,” Gallego said to applause. “We have loved this country, even if this country does not fully love us.” 

In an interview before the dinner last week, the Marine Corps veteran and Harvard University graduate held up his appeal to Latinos as among the reasons he would consider a run for president in 2028.

Read the full story here.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., expressed skepticism yesterday about the Trump administration’s 2027 budget plan, which includes a request of $1.5 trillion from Congress to fund the Defense Department, 44% more than what was appropriated for this year.

“I have a hard time seeing that size of an increase as being justified,” Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”

He added that he and other members of the committee would be “taking a look at it” over the next several weeks.

Read the full story here.