U.S. President Donald Trump faced pointed criticism over the Iran war in a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans on Wednesday, June 24, shortly before his administration asked Congress for tens of billions of dollars to pay for the conflict.
Several Republicans who attended said Trump engaged in a shouting match with Senator Bill Cassidy, who argued that the administration needed to explain a framework deal Trump signed last week that gives Iran financial incentives but falls short of the goals he outlined at the start of the war.
“The American people need to know more than we are being told,” Cassidy told reporters. “It does not appear, although I don’t know for sure, that the course of this is going the way that we were told.”
Later, in what appeared to be an effort to please the president, Senate Republican leaders scheduled a late-night vote to block a resolution calling for an end to hostilities with Iran.
The Senate subsequently voted 50 to 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 vote.
The heated lunchtime exchange with a member of Trump’s own party underscored how the war has weighed on the president ahead of the November elections that will determine control of Congress.
With Trump’s approval rating at its lowest point since he returned to office last year, only one in four Americans believes the war was worth its costs, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
The exchange came a day after the Senate voted to direct Trump to end the war through a separate resolution passed by the House of Representatives earlier this month. Cassidy was one of four Republicans who supported the measure alongside opposition Democrats.
Trump did not publicly address the exchange with Cassidy, who was unseated by a Trump-backed challenger in a primary election this year. However, he later criticised 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 the cost of the war, adding to the U.S. military budget of $867 billion.
In Wednesday’s late-night vote, Cassidy, who had previously voted in favour of recent Iran war powers resolutions, voted against the measure, while Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, another Republican who had supported similar resolutions, voted present.
Two Republicans, Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, joined all but one Democrat in voting in favour of the resolution. Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat to vote against it.
Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Democratic Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado did not vote.
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.
Meanwhile, benchmark oil prices fell on Thursday to their lowest level since before the war began, as the initial accord between the United States and Iran eased tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, allowing shipping traffic to resume.
However, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) warned vessels to use only routes designated by Tehran through the Strait of Hormuz, rejecting newly announced shipping routes that had not been coordinated with Iran as unacceptable and dangerous.
The warning 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 the Revolutionary Guards Navy via maritime Channel 16 and threatened action against those who failed to comply with its requirements.
Before the waterway was blockaded during the war, it carried nearly one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.
At the same time, conflicting accounts have emerged regarding elements of the framework deal, prompting criticism of Trump both domestically and internationally.
Financial incentives for Iran, inspections of its nuclear facilities, control of the strait, and Israel’s parallel war in Lebanon have all become points of contention.
The agreement establishes a 60-day negotiation period to address more complex issues, including Iran’s nuclear programme.
The proposed peace deal has generated scepticism across the Middle East, where several countries targeted by Iran during the war view the accord as overly generous to Tehran, particularly because it includes a $300 billion reconstruction fund and the waiver of certain sanctions.
Washington’s Gulf allies fear the reconstruction fund could help Iran rebuild its military capabilities. Critics have also noted that the accord does not address Tehran’s ballistic missile programme.
The agreement requires Iran to allow the free flow of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days, although Tehran has suggested it may impose tolls after that period.
According to a diplomat briefed on the discussions, Iran could propose environmental, navigation, and security fees during upcoming talks with Gulf states. Washington and its regional allies oppose such measures.
“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 recently resumed operations following a wartime suspension.
In Washington, officials from Lebanon and Israel discussed a U.S.-backed proposal under which Israeli forces would withdraw from some occupied territory and hand control back to the Lebanese army.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would not withdraw its troops.
Israel has been battling Hezbollah in Lebanon since the militant group attacked Israel on March 2 in support of Iran. Tehran has made a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon a central demand in any peace agreement with the United States.
Meanwhile, an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in southern Lebanon killed two people on Wednesday, Lebanese sources told Reuters. Israel said it had targeted two armed Hezbollah fighters. It was not immediately clear whether both reports referred to the same incident.
