Vice President JD Vance on Monday said his lengthy talks with senior Iranian officials in Switzerland created a “good foundation for a successful final deal” as they seek a permanent end to the war that the U.S. and Israel began in late February.
Vance and U.S. officials claimed progress on multiple fronts, including the establishment of “mechanisms” to ensure the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global energy shipments, stays open and to address fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon, where a ceasefire appeared to be holding.
The vice president departed Switzerland as technical teams were still negotiating, and U.S. President Donald Trump talked up the efforts to keep the strait open to create “an oil gusher” as he stressed that the key to resolving the war was “respect” from Iran.
—The Associated Press
A peeling section of blue coating is seen in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Saturday, June 20, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Trump says repairs at Reflecting Pool will be ‘taken care of’ immediately
President Donald Trump said another round of repairs would begin “immediately” at the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool in Washington and cited vandals as prompting the need to address the resurgence of algae and peeling paint at the more than 2,000-foot-long landmark.
“Of the MANY Statues and Fountains that we rebuilt, renovated, cleaned, and fixed, the only one that was Vandalized was the Reflecting Pool, which is being taken care of, ASAP!” Trump added on social media Monday morning.
Talking to reporters Monday afternoon in the Oval Office, Trump claimed there is “a 350-foot slit from one end to the other” of the pool that was cut with a box cutter or knife “very violently. The same thing with the floor. They cut it, and then they lifted. They pulled it.”
—Spectrum News’ Christina Santucci and Susan Carpenter
Judge blocks use of federal database to check citizenship, saying it could wrongly purge voters
A federal judge on Monday ruled that a recently revamped version of a federal tool central to the Trump administration’s election integrity strategy is unlawful and can no longer be used.
U.S. District Court Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan sided with advocacy groups that argued the recent upgrades to the program, called Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, aggregated Americans’ sensitive personal data in a way that could result in voters being wrongly purged from voter rolls.
“All in all, the federal government has knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote,” Sooknanan said in an order explaining the decision. “This Court cannot stand idly by while that happens.”
—The Associated Press
Federal judge halts Trump administration effort to subpoena Walz in immigration enforcement probe
A federal judge has blocked an attempt by the Trump administration to subpoena Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and other state officials, calling it an effort to “harass and retaliate against them.”
In a ruling unsealed Monday, U.S. District Judge Patrick Schlitz found the “dominant purpose” of the subpoenas was to “coerce Minnesota officials into assisting the federal government with enforcing civil immigration law and to harass and retaliate against them for failing to do so.”
The subpoenas seeking records were served in January as part of an investigation into whether Walz and other officials obstructed or impeded law enforcement during a sweeping immigration operation in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. They were sent to the offices of Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and officials in Ramsey and Hennepin counties.
—The Associated Press
Economist Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006, is seen in his office in Washington, Friday, Oct. 18, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, file)
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan dies at 100
Alan Greenspan, the jazz-playing U.S. Federal Reserve chair who was celebrated for engineering a decade of prosperity but later shared the blame for a devastating financial crisis, died Monday. He was 100.
Greenspan died from complications of Parkinson’s disease, said his wife of 29 years, NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell.
“To me he was my husband, who shaped my life from our very first date in 1984,” Mitchell wrote. “He had ‘irrational exuberance’ for baseball, the Washington Commanders, tennis, golf, and music, especially jazz. He will be remembered for his brilliance and his kindness. Being his life partner was the joy of my life.”
—The Associated Press
More Monday reads
• China hits back at U.S. sanctions on tech giants, restricting its exports to American defense firms
• Judge says roommate of Charlie Kirk murder suspect won’t testify in person at preliminary hearing
• California sues EPA over reclassification of vehicle emissions waivers
• U.S. strike on alleged drug boat kills 2, leaves 6 survivors, in eastern Pacific Ocean