Iran is “trying to choke off the entire world’s economy” as the regime escalates attacks on global shipping and infrastructure, according to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, who declared Sunday that Tehran has “shown its true colors.”
Waltz spoke to “Fox News Sunday,” accusing Iran of aggressively targeting international waterways and threatening critical global systems to gain leverage in its nuclear standoff.
“We cannot and the world should not tolerate an Iranian regime that is trying to choke off the entire world's economy, hold everyone hostage because of a dispute over its nuclear program,” Waltz said.
He warned that Iran’s actions go beyond conventional military posturing, pointing to reports of sea mines being deployed and attacks on commercial shipping routes.
“It cannot start just throwing sea mines indiscriminately out into the ocean, attacking shipping,” he said.
Waltz also raised alarms about new threats discussed on Iranian state television, including potential attacks on undersea infrastructure.
“They've even now started talking about… taking the undersea cables that move financial data, cloud information and all kinds of important economic information in and out of the gulf,” he said.
Waltz said Iran’s recent actions have shifted perceptions in the region, pointing to growing international alignment against Tehran, including stronger cooperation among Gulf nations and Israel.
“Iran has now showed its true colors,” he said.
Despite the rising tensions, Waltz said President Donald Trump is still pursuing a diplomatic path, one that he noted is backed by military strength.
“President Trump has been clear. They will never have a nuclear weapon, and they cannot hold the world's economies hostage,” Waltz said.
CBS "Face the Nation" host Margaret Brennan challenged Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu on the party's midterm election messaging, saying Democrats "lost" the fight over the record-setting Department of Homeland Security shutdown.
“Okay, so you still believe that Democrats can retake the House?” Brennan asked Lieu, who represents California's 36th Congressional District. “What is your main message?”
“The American people voted in Donald Trump because they wanted lower costs and he lied to them,” Lieu replied. “We have surging inflation, skyrocketing gas prices. The Trump tariffs have raised costs across many products across America. People are drowning in debt and in bills, and Democrats are going to reduce health care costs, lower costs across the board, reduce your energy costs. That's the message we're—"
“How are you going to do that?” Brennan interjected. “Democrats shut down the government to have an argument over health care, and they didn't get any policy concessions, and premiums went up. You lost that fight.”
Lieu responded that the House passed an extension of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits for three years and urged the Senate to also pass that legislation.
Lieu added that “when we get control, we're going to reverse the massive Medicaid cuts, the Medicare cuts and the cuts to ACA that Trump and Republicans put in last year.”
The DHS shutdown began Feb. 14. On April 30, President Donald Trump signed a bill funding much of the agency, ending a record-setting 75-day funding lapse.
Notably, however, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will remain unfunded under the current legislation.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts may take his place alongside the justice who authored the infamous Dred Scott decision after the high court struck down a key provision in the Voting Rights Act, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., said Sunday.
Clyburn made the remarks during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” when asked for his reaction to the Supreme Court’s move.
“I never thought I would see the day that the United States Supreme Court would be so openly partisan with what it's been doing,” Clyburn said. “And I really believe if you look at all of these decisions and you look at the history of the country, I think that Justice Roberts is gonna take his place alongside some other infamous justices, like [Roger] Taney, who gave us the Dred Scott decision.”
In 1857, the court ruled in Dred Scott v. Sandford that Black people were not U.S. citizens under the U.S. Constitution.
Multiple GOP-controlled Southern states pushed last week to redraw their congressional maps in the aftermath of an April 29 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a Louisiana congressional district drawn to have a Black majority of constituents.
The ruling was seen as a blow to a provision of the Voting Rights Act that requires political maps to include districts where minority populations' preferred candidates can win elections.
South Carolina's GOP-dominated legislature met Friday to discuss a proposal to create a new map that gives the party a shot at winning all seven of the state's House seats. But some worried that breaking up the one Democratic-controlled district could make some other districts vulnerable to Democratic election wins.
As President Donald Trump and the Republicans appear to have gained the leverage in the redistricting fight, Clyburn said that he doesn’t believe most American voters agree with them.
“All I'm going to say to that is be very careful what you pray for,” the lawmaker said of the GOP’s push to redraw district lines. “Because what I do believe is that when they finish with the redistricting, there will be the possibilities of at least three Democrats getting elected here in South Carolina to the United States Congress.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
{{#rendered}}President Donald Trump's standing is “terribly weakened” ahead of his visit to Beijing to meet with China’s President Xi Jinping, according to one Democratic senator.
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told “Fox News Sunday” the impact of the Iran conflict on the U.S. has left America in a poor position on the global stage, especially economically.
“President Trump is going into this meeting terribly weakened,” Reed said. “He has involved ourselves in a conflict with Iran. There's a stalemate now. The Iranians are holding 20% of the world's oil at risk. They've stopped it.
“China, as you pointed out, is doing quite well because of their alternate energy investments, because of the coal supplies, because of their huge stockpile,” Reed continued. “The president is going to XI in his position of weakness not strength.”
Reed said that increases in gas and grocery prices for everyday Americans have also raised concerns at home about the war with Iran.
“That's not a strong position to be in when you're talking to an economic and a geopolitical rival,” Reed said.
Trump may meet with Xi again following his visit to Beijing this week, with plans to host China’s president at the White House.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday that the Trump administration was open to any measures to lower gas prices, including a suspension of the federal gas tax.
"We're open to all ideas," Wright told "Meet the Press" host Kristen Welker, when asked if President Donald Trump would support that particular measure. "Everything has tradeoffs. All ideas to lower prices for American consumers and American businesses."
Wright was pressed by Welker repeatedly on high gas prices amid the Iran war, which has spiked energy costs. Asked whether he believed prices would go below $3 a gallon this year, or if Americans should be prepared to pay as high as $5 a gallon nationwide, Wright replied he couldn't make predictions.
"I can say that when we start to get free flow of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, energy prices will come down," he said.
Coverage for this event has ended.