U.S. President Donald Trump drew sharp criticism in a closed-door meeting with Republican lawmakers on Wednesday, just hours before his administration requested tens of billions of dollars from Congress to finance the Iran conflict.
Several Republicans in the room said Trump engaged in a heated exchange with Sen. Bill Cassidy, who questioned the administration’s handling of a recent framework deal with Iran that offers financial incentives but falls short of the war aims Trump outlined at the start of the conflict.
"The American people need to know more than we are being told,” Cassidy told reporters. "It does not appear, although I do not know for sure, that the course of this is going the way we were told.”
Later, in what appeared to be an effort to align with the White House, Senate Republican leaders scheduled a late-night vote aimed at blocking a resolution seeking to end hostilities with Iran.
The Senate voted 50-47, largely along party lines, to block a war powers resolution that had advanced on a procedural vote in May.
"This vote puts Iran on notice,” Trump said on social media after Wednesday’s late-night vote, although it did not affect the earlier procedural action.
Iran war weighs on Trump and Republicans
Wednesday’s high-volume exchange with a member of Trump’s own party underscored how the war is weighing on the president ahead of November elections that will determine control of Congress.
With Trump’s approval rating at its lowest since he returned to office last year, only one in four Americans believes the war was worth its costs, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.
The exchange came a day after the Senate voted to direct Trump to end the war in a separate resolution passed by the House of Representatives this month. Cassidy was one of four Republicans to support it, along with Democrats.
Trump did not mention the exchange with Cassidy, who was unseated by a Trump-backed challenger in a primary election this year. Later, he criticized the Senate.
"Iran sees that, they go, ‘What’s that all about?’ Now you know, it’s meaningless, right?” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Several hours later, the administration asked Congress for $70 billion to cover war costs, adding to the U.S. military budget of $867 billion.
In Wednesday’s late-night vote, Cassidy, who had voted for recent Iran war powers resolutions, voted no, while Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a Republican who also had supported such measures, voted present.
Two Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voted with every Democrat except one in favor of the resolution. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democratic no vote.
Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Michael Bennet of Colorado did not vote.
Cassidy received briefing
In a Wednesday evening post on X, Cassidy thanked Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff for a "thorough briefing this afternoon on Iran.”
"I appreciate the quick invitation to the White House to address many of my concerns,” Cassidy said.
Benchmark oil prices fell Thursday to their lowest level since before the war began, as an initial accord between the United States and Iran eased tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, allowing traffic to resume.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned vessels to stick to routes designated by Tehran through the Strait of Hormuz, rejecting newly announced shipping lanes not coordinated with Iran as unacceptable and dangerous.
The statement came a day after Oman announced temporary shipping lanes through the strait in coordination with the International Maritime Organization.
In a statement, the IRGC urged vessels to coordinate with its navy via maritime channel 16 and threatened action against those violating its requirements.
Before the waterway was disrupted in the war, it carried about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.
Conflicting accounts have emerged over elements of the framework deal, which has drawn criticism of Trump at home and abroad.
Financial incentives for Iran, inspections of its nuclear facilities, control of the strait and Israel’s parallel conflict in Lebanon have all been disputed.
The deal sets up 60 days of talks to address more complex issues, including Iran’s nuclear program.
Regional skepticism
The proposed agreement has sparked skepticism in the Middle East, where several states were targeted by Iran during the war and view the accord as too generous to Tehran, including a $300 billion fund and easing of some sanctions.
Washington’s Gulf allies fear the reconstruction fund could help Iran rebuild its military capabilities. The accord also does not address Iran’s ballistic missile program.
The deal requires Iran to allow shipping to flow freely through the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days, and Tehran has suggested it could impose tolls after that period.
Iran could propose environmental, navigation and security fees in upcoming talks with Gulf states, according to a diplomat briefed on the discussions. Washington and its Gulf allies oppose such fees.
"We’re not going to do anything that undermines the security of our allies, our longstanding allies in the region,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Kuwait City, where the U.S. embassy resumed operations after a wartime pause.
Israel, Lebanon meet in Washington
In Washington, Lebanon and Israel discussed a U.S.-backed proposal for Israeli forces to withdraw from some territory seized during the conflict, to be handed over to Lebanese army control.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would not withdraw troops.
Israel has been battling Hezbollah in Lebanon since the militant group attacked Israel on March 2 in support of Iran, and Tehran has made a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon central to its demands in any peace deal with the United States.
An Israeli drone strike on a car in southern Lebanon killed two people Wednesday, Lebanese sources told Reuters, while Israel said it struck two armed Hezbollah fighters. It was not immediately clear whether the reports referred to the same incident.