Iran War

We are watching this week as President Donald Trump arrives in Beijing for a highly anticipated set of meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi and Trump’s meeting is shaping Beijing's approach to the Iran conflict. This comes as Trump has recently pressured Beijing and other world leaders to use their military force to protect the Strait of Hormuz. LiveNOW’s Andy Mac is learning more about the upcoming talks with Scott Kennedy, a senior adviser and trustee chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). 

According to reports this week from The Associated Press, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have called on China to use its influence to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump recently said, "I don't think we need any help ​with Iran. We'll win it one way or the other, ​peacefully or otherwise." On Tuesday, before leaving for China, Trump said he will have a long talk ​with Chinese President Xi Jinping about the war in ‌Iran. LiveNOW’s Austin Westfall is speaking with Prof. Alon Burstein from the @Israel-Palestine-Report ahead of the high-stakes talks. 

LiveNOW’s Austin Westfall is speaking with economist Dr. Mike Walden as new data shows that energy costs, including gasoline, increased last month, as did the cost of food at a rate not seen since last December. This comes as inflation had been dropping more or less steadily before conflict in the Middle East began. Reports show that consumer prices were up 3.8% last month compared to April 2025. 

LiveNOW’s Mike Pache is speaking with Fox News’ Ashley Webster who is in Tel Aviv as the ongoing ceasefire between the United States and Iran is ‘on life support’ according to President Donald Trump. Trump’s recent warnings to Iran came after the United States rejected their latest peace proposal. This week, he reportedly called the deal a "piece of garbage," adding that he "didn’t even finish reading it." 

President Donald Trump has characterized Iran's reaction to the most recent United States proposal to resolve the nations' persistent conflict as "totally unacceptable." Trump’s rejection came shortly after the reply was delivered by Pakistani mediators. The American proposal had included measures to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. LiveNOW’s Andy Mac is speaking with national security reporter with Reuters, Phil Stewart, as Trump accuses Iran’s leaders of "playing games" with the United States for nearly 50 years. 

We are learning more this weekend as the ongoing ceasefire in the Middle East continues to hold even as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard threatened to launch a "heavy assault" on a U.S. base. The warning comes after a drone set a small fire on a ship off the coast of Qatar. We are also hearing reports this Sunday that Iran has sent its response to proposals from the United States to end the war. LiveNOW’s Andy Mac is speaking with Gram Slattery, who works as a White House correspondent for Reuters, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Qatar’s prime minister on Saturday.