President Donald Trump insists a peace deal is close on this 88th day of the Iran war, but Iran on Tuesday denounced U.S. airstrikes as a sign of "bad faith and unreliability" as negotiations continue. Meanwhile, state media in Lebanon reports that Israel has killed 12 more people in another strike. Iran has demanded that any deal must include an end to hostilities in Lebanon and Gaza.
In Washington, the president has a medical checkup on his schedule, and the redistricting war also continues — the Congressional Black Caucus is urging corporate America to get involved to save voting rights, ending a collective retreat during Trump's second presidency. in Texas, the Trump-backed, scandal-plagued Ken Paxton is favored over Sen. John Cornyn in Tuesday's GOP primary runoff election.
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Alabama will appeal voter discrimination ruling to US Supreme Court
The federal judges’ ruling says Republicans “intentionally discriminated based on race” by redrawing the state’s House map to remove a Black-majority district.
“Ultimately, we cannot see our way clear to requiring Alabamians to cast their votes in the 2026 elections under a districting plan tainted by intentional race-based discrimination,” the judges wrote.
Attorney General Steve Marshall, a Republican, described the GOP-drawn map as “blandly unobjectionable” and said Alabama will immediately appeal.
“Know this — in my mind, it is not a matter of whether we win this case, only when,” Marshall said.
Republicans in several Southern states, including Alabama, have sought to reshape voting districts with large minority populations that have elected Democrats following the Supreme Court's ruling that struck down a Black-majority district in Louisiana and weakened the federal Voting Rights Act.
Rubio says Iran deal talks will take several more days
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says talks with Iran on extending a ceasefire and re-opening the Strait of Hormuz will take several more days.
Speaking to reporters before leaving India on Tuesday after the U.S. launched new strikes against Iran in the south despite the ceasefire, Rubio said there is “a lot of talking back and forth going on about specific language in the initial document.”
“So, it’ll take a few days,” he said. He added that Trump would not accept a bad deal and said the critical point at the moment is reopening the Strait of Hormuz without Iran being allowed to charge a toll for ships to pass through the crucial waterway.
“The straits need to be open, unimpeded, without tolls,” he said.
FCC’s sole Democrat warns media companies against yielding to Trump
Anna Gomez wakes up every morning and checks her phone to see if Trump has fired her yet.
The sole Democrat on the Federal Communications Commission is urging urge media companies fight back against efforts to silence free speech. In an extraordinary four-page letter to Josh D'Amaro, the CEO of Disney, which is the parent company to ABC, Gomez described the FCC's "sustained, coordinated campaign of censorship and control" against the company under Chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump ally.
She noted probes touching on diversity practices, ABC's moderation of a 2024 presidential debate, guest bookings on "The View" and calls for late-night host Jimmy Kimmel to be fired. She said the FCC's move for early reviews of ABC's local broadcast licenses is "the most egregious assault on the First Amendment this FCC has taken to date."
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Iranian World Cup team will play in US but sleep in Mexico
The Iranians will return each night to a base in Tijuana, Mexico, after their U.S. group stage matches, President Claudia Sheinbaum has confirmed.
Sheinbaum said at a news conference Monday that she was told by a FIFA representative that the U.S. was reluctant to have the Iranian soccer team spend time in the U.S. outside the stadiums while the war launched by the U.S. and Israel continues.
“The United States doesn’t want the Iranian national team to stay overnight in the United States,” Sheinbaum said. A FIFA representative then asked, “Can they stay overnight in Mexico?” “And we said, ‘Yes, no problem. We have no issue with that’,” she said.
A U.S. State Department statement Monday said Trump made it clear the Iranian team is welcome to participate. The statement did not address where the team might stay, or Sheinbaum's comments.
Lebanon hopes for an agreement that sees Israeli withdrawal
Israel's military clashed with Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants Tuesday along the strategic Litani River in Lebanon as Israeli troops tried to push farther north, just three days before Lebanese and Israeli military delegations are set to meet for direct talks in Washington.
A previously reached ceasefire appears more nominal by the day, complicating efforts at a broader peace in the Iran war, as Tehran wants an end to the fighting to include Lebanon. Israel says it will not withdraw until Hezbollah no longer poses a threat to residents of its northern towns. Hezbollah has vowed to continue fighting until Israel stops its daily airstrikes and withdraws its troops from Lebanon.
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Trump turns 80 next month as more Americans express concerns about his age
A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll in April found that less than half of U.S. adults think Trump has the mental sharpness or physical health to serve effectively.
“I think concern for the president’s physical health is probably at an all-time high, and I think advanced physical age is the No. 1 concern,” said Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, who served as a White House physician under Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Kuhlman said a complete physical would include advanced heart testing, screening for common cancers and a cognitive assessment. The White House has not disclosed what Trump's checkups will entail.
“President Trump is the sharpest and most accessible President in American history who is working nonstop to solve problems and deliver on his promises, and he remains in excellent health,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement.
US consumer confidence is dented as gas prices remain high
U.S. consumer confidence declined slightly as gas prices remained at or above a national average of $4.50 a gallon in May and inflation remained elevated, a sharp contrast to soaring stock prices that have neared record levels.
The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index slipped 0.7 points to 93.1 in May, the first decline after three months of gains.
The index follows a separate gauge of consumer sentiment compiled by the University of Michigan, which fell to a record low this month. Spikes in gas prices as well as higher food costs have worsened inflation, which has outpaced the growth in average paychecks in recent months, reducing most Americans' purchasing power. Polls show Americans have soured on Trump's economic policies, which could harm Republicans in this year's elections.
Iran denounces US strikes as a sign of bad faith, with impact on peace talks unclear
Iran on Tuesday denounced U.S. strikes a day earlier as a sign of "bad faith and unreliability" as negotiations continue toward a possible deal to end the war.
The U.S. military said it acted with restraint in defensively targeting missile launch sites and boats placing mines. Iran’s foreign ministry called the strikes a ceasefire violation and warned that “The Islamic Republic of Iran will leave no act of aggression unanswered.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Tuesday said it had shot down and deterred drones and a fighter jet that entered its airspace, according to Iran’s official Mizan news agency, which did not say when this happened.
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf went to Qatar as part of the talks. The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Center said an explosion was reported Tuesday morning aboard a tanker in the Gulf of Oman. No one was injured and there was no immediate information on the cause.
Federal court blocks Alabama’s plan for new US House map
The new congressional map would give Republicans an advantage in a key House race this November. But the preliminary injunction issued by a three-judge panel requires the state, at least for now, to instead use the same court-ordered districts under which congressional representatives were elected in 2024.
Lawyers representing Black voters argued that Alabama’s map intentionally discriminates against Black voters and that trying to change lines in the middle of an election year creates chaos.
The state could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Republicans want to use a new map that will give the GOP a chance to reclaim the seat now held by Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures.
US stocks rise, oil falls after Trump said Iran talks are ‘proceeding nicely’
The price for a barrel of U.S crude oil fell 3.8% to $92.99 on Tuesday after resuming trading following the Memorial Day holiday, and U.S. stocks were catching up to others around the world that climbed after Trump said Iran talks were "proceeding nicely."
The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq composite all rose Tuesday to near their all-time highs even though fighting continued in the Mideast and the U.S. military said it struck Iranian missile launch sites and boats placing mines on Monday. Markets have rallied in the past on hopes for a coming end to the war with Iran, only to see the conflict drag on, causing painful inflation around the world.
Congressional Black Caucus presses US corporations to oppose Republican redistricting push
The Congressional Black Caucus is calling on major U.S. corporations to oppose Republican-led redistricting efforts that seek to eliminate majority-Black U.S. House districts.
Their letter sent Tuesday urges more than 250 companies to condemn "coordinated efforts to silence Black voices at the ballot box." Some had cosigned their own message to Congress five years ago urging lawmakers to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, a Democratic proposal to restore and update the Voting Rights Act.
That 2021 coalition, Business for Voting Rights, included Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Tesla, Salesforce, Target, PayPal, Intel and Starbucks.
"Corporations that have profited from Black consumers, relied on Black workers, and amassed wealth in part from Black communities cannot look away while Black political power is dismantled in plain sight," the caucus chair, Rep. Yvette Clarke, said in an interview.
Trump arrives at Walter Reed military hospital for his latest physical
The White House said Trump would participate in a greeting with service members and hospital staff before he spends hours being examined by a team of doctors.
It is the Republican president’s fourth publicly disclosed medical exam since he returned to office in January 2025, and it comes as the nearly 80-year-old Trump tries to project strength going into November elections that will test his sway with voters.
The White House says the visit is an annual preventive medical and dental checkup. Trump was last at Walter Reed in October and also had a physical there in April 2025.
Last July, the White House said he'd been diagnosed with a condition common in older adults that causes blood to pool in his veins, causing the swollen ankles seen in some photos of Trump.
The White House also has blamed handshaking for visible bruising on Trump’s hands.
Presidents aren’t required to disclose health information
There’s no law requiring these disclosures and the degree of transparency varies.
Presidents for decades have released medical test results to try to reassure the public that they are up to the high-pressure job.
But the president signs off on what is released, which raises questions about what isn’t being shared.
Trump’s past medical reports have been criticized for offering scant detail and including statistics that some medical experts eyed with skepticism.
It will be several hours before the White House releases any information about Tuesday’s exam.
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