Calls to remove Trump grow amid Iran conflict as services slow and Secret Service probes gunfire near White House
Pressure on President Donald Trump intensified as the Iran conflict stretched on, with Democrats invoking impeachment and the 25th Amendment to the Constitution following his threats toward Tehran, while Republicans remained divided on the escalating political crisis.
Inside the administration, concerns grew that Trump may have been receiving an overly optimistic picture of the Iran conflict, with officials worried about messaging from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Former CIA Director John Brennan also called for Trump’s impeachment, saying the 25th Amendment — which addresses involuntary removal from office — was “written with Donald Trump in mind.” On the battlefield, a U.S.
special forces team carried out a mission to rescue a downed F-15E airman deep inside Iran amid rising tensions around the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran drew parallels to the failed U.S. Operation Eagle Claw of 1980, reviving historical comparisons as both sides disputed the mission’s outcome.
Economic warning lights flashed at home. U.S. services sector growth slowed in March even as input costs surged to multi-year highs. With inflation described as sticky at 3 percent and energy-driven price pressures rising amid the Iran war, the outlook grew more uncertain.
Security anxieties also flared in Washington. The U.S. Secret Service said it was investigating gunfire heard near the White House early Sunday morning, after officers responded to reports around Lafayette Park just after midnight. Immigration enforcement accelerated in the Mid-Atlantic.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents made nearly 20,000 arrests in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia since President Trump returned to the White House. In New York, a Pakistani man charged with plotting to attack a Jewish center pleaded guilty on Wednesday, calling it a “morally reprehensible” idea to support the Islamic State group.
The political and cultural crosscurrents continued to swirl. First Lady Melania Trump told reporters on Thursday that she “never had a relationship” with Jeffrey Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell. Meanwhile, Hunter Biden’s challenge to Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump for a cage fight drew attention to why prominent figures are gravitating to MMA-style showdowns, a trend seen as blending political branding and media spectacle.
An Indian-origin conservative influencer, Priya Patel, faced online backlash after a viral video on immigration and assimilation sparked a wider debate. Beyond U.S. borders, the Brazilian government signed a security agreement with Washington to tackle criminal networks, nearly a month after declining to participate in the U.S.-led “Shield of Americas” summit in Florida.
As U.S. military action against Iran entered its fifth week, two of Trump’s closest lieutenants — JD Vance and Marco Rubio — were thrust into the center of a political drama. With constitutional limits barring Trump from seeking a third term, the President has privately been asking allies, “JD or Marco?”