President Donald Trump’s 24th week back in the Oval Office is set to focus on Republican lawmakers sprinting to meet a July 4 deadline to pass a massive piece of legislation that will advance the president’s agenda, while the White House simultaneously juggles ongoing talks related to conflict and tensions in the Middle East.
Trump’s 23rd week in office was one of his most consequential on the books after he ordered U.S. military strikes on a trio of nuclear facilities in Iran last Saturday evening that critics said threatened to pull the U.S. into another war. Instead, the strikes appear to have wiped out Iran’s burgeoning nuclear program that had the Middle East and nations worldwide on edge. It ended in a ceasefire between Iran and Israel as Trump took a victory lap for ending the ’12 Day War.’
‘This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will! God bless Israel, God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States of America, and GOD BLESS THE WORLD!’ Trump posted to Truth Social last week.
‘One big, beautiful bill’
Republicans in Washington, D.C., are hyper-focused on passing the ‘one big, beautiful bill’ this week, ahead of lawmakers’ July 4 deadline to land the legislation on Trump’s desk for his signature. The budget reconciliation bill, if passed, will advance Trump’s agenda on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt. The legislation is currently before the Senate.
Senate Republicans successfully carried the legislation over a procedural hurdle late on Saturday in a 51-49 party-line vote after hours of negotiations. All Republicans voted in support of advancing the bill except for Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Rand Paul, R-Ky. Tillis announced on Sunday, after bucking Republican colleagues and the president, that he would not seek reelection in 2026.
Following the procedural vote, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., required clerks on the Senate floor to read the entire 940-page Senate GOP’s version of Trump’s megabill as a delay tactic that stalled debate on the package by about 16 hours.
Senate lawmakers will hold 20 hours of debate that is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans as the bill moves along ahead of the Friday deadline. Senate Democrats are expected to use all of their allotted time, while Senate Republicans will likely only use a portion of their hours.
‘Tonight we saw a GREAT VICTORY in the Senate with the ‘GREAT, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL,’ but, it wouldn’t have happened without the Fantastic Work of Senator Rick Scott, Senator Mike Lee, Senator Ron Johnson, and Senator Cynthia Lummis,’ Trump posted to Truth Social overnight Saturday.
‘They, along with all of the other Republican Patriots who voted for the Bill, are people who truly love our Country! As President of the USA, I am proud of them all, and look forward to working with them to GROW OUR ECONOMY, REDUCE WASTEFUL SPENDING, SECURE OUR BORDER, FIGHT FOR OUR MILITARY/VETS, ENSURE THAT OUR MEDICAID SYSTEM HELPS THOSE WHO TRULY NEED IT, PROTECT OUR SECOND AMENDMENT, AND SO MUCH MORE.’
Ongoing discussions with Iran
The White House is expected to hold ongoing talks with Iran this week after the U.S. successfully carried out military strikes on three nuclear facilities in the country last Saturday.
‘So Iran wants to meet. As you know, their sites were obliterated. Their very evil nuclear sites,’ Trump told the media last week.
Details related to the reported discussions are vague, with Iran denying it is participating in ongoing talks, while the White House said the U.S. remains in close communication with Iranians and intermediaries.
‘I spoke to our special envoy Witkoff at length this morning and I can assure all of you we continue to be in close communication with the Iranians and through our intermediaries as well, namely the Qataris, who have been an incredible ally and partner throughout this entire effort,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a briefing on Thursday. ‘And as I said, this administration is always focused on diplomacy and peace, and we want to ensure we can get to a place where Iran agrees to a non-enrichment civil nuclear program.
‘The president wants peace. He always has, and right now we’re on a diplomatic path with Iran. The president and his team, namely special envoy Witkoff, continue to be in communication with the Iranians and especially our Gulf and Arab partners in the region to come to an agreement with Iran,’ she added.
Trump announced on June 21 that the U.S. successfully carried out strikes on Iran in a Truth Social post that was not preceded by media leaks or speculation that an attack was imminent. The unexpected social media post was followed just hours later by a brief Trump address to the nation while flanked by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance.
‘A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan,’ Trump said from the White House late on Saturday in an address to the nation regarding the strikes. ‘Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise. Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity, and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s No. 1 state sponsor of terror. Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success.’
The operation included the longest B-2 spirit bomber mission since 2001, the second-longest B-2 mission ever flown and the largest B-2 operational strike in U.S. history, Hegseth said.
Operation Midnight Hammer followed Israel launching preemptive strikes on Iran on June 12 after months of attempted and stalled nuclear negotiations and subsequent heightened concern that Iran was advancing its nuclear program.
Trump floats ceasefire in Gaza
While celebrating the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, as well as a separate U.S.-brokered peace deal between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday, Trump predicted a potential ceasefire in Gaza as the war between Hamas and Israel continues since 2023.
Trump called the situation in Gaza ‘terrible’ while speaking to the media from the Oval Office on Friday, but expressed optimism there could soon be a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
‘I think it’s close. I just spoke with some of the people involved,’ said the president, adding, ‘We think within the next week we’re going to get a ceasefire.’
Trump also addressed the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying, ‘We’re supplying, as you know, a lot of money and a lot of food to that area because we have to. I mean, you have to. In theory, we’re not involved in it, but we’re involved because people are dying.’
‘MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!! DJT,’ Trump posted to Truth Social early on Sunday as he posted other messages related to the Big Beautiful Bill.
Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer is expected to travel to Washington, D.C., this week to meet with U.S. counterparts to discuss a ceasefire deal, The Associated Press reported.
Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller and Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.