Late Tuesday night, the Associated Press first reported that the Trump administration had certified that Iran has so far been compliant in the nuclear deal forged by the Obama administration. The deal had been sharply criticized by Republicans and even a few Democrats, and its undoing was one of Trump’s top campaign promises.
But Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in a letter to House speaker Paul Ryan, said Tuesday that Iran has been “compliant through April 18th with its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action”—that is, the Iran nuclear deal. Tillerson noted that Iran’s continued sponsorship of terrorism is reason for concern and that an “interagency review” of the sanctions relief provided by the deal is needed.
That may be the view from the State Department, but some in the White House are grumbling the decision amounts to a recertification of the Iran deal, driven almost entirely by Foggy Bottom and despite evidence Iran is taking advantage of sanctions relief to do exactly what the deal required it to do: stop pursuing nuclear weapons capability.
A leading nuclear expert told my colleague Jenna Lifhits that boasts from the regime in Tehran itself suggest Iran is closer than ever to achieving a nuclear bomb:
Trump-Centric Special Election in Georgia Goes to Runoff
It was another House special-election nail-biter, but it seems that Democrat Jon Ossoff fell just below 50 percent (and so will be pushed to a runoff) in Tuesday’s race to fill the seat of Republican Tom Price.
In the June runoff, Handel will battle Ossoff, the only credible Democrat in the race, who amassed more than $8 million in donations after national Democrats targeted the special election as a possible win. A 30-year-old former Capitol Hill staffer, Ossoff has cast himself as an anti-Trump moderate willing to work across the aisles, but his election has become a cause for Hollywood liberals and Atlanta-area Democrats alike—a chance to win something, for once.
What does this have to do with Donald Trump? Depends on your perspective. The close call in an otherwise reliably Republican district suggests Trump can be a strong motivator for deflated liberals to get themselves to the poor. That, combined with a close special election last week in Kansas, suggests Democrats could be in a good position in next year’s midterm election if their focus is on Trump.
But for some Republicans, no doubt including the president himself, Trump’s last-minute involvement (he sent out a few tweets and recorded a robocall against Ossoff in the final days before Tuesday) signals his prowess within the GOP. Either way, Handel and the Republicans have a chance to capitalize on the unfulfilled hype of the Ossoff campaign over the next two months. Can they close the enthusiasm gap enough to rely on regular Republican voters to put Handel over the top? Can Democrats repeat Ossoff-mania in their base in June?
Oh, and will President Trump be campaigning directly for Karen Handel?
South Korea Papers Love Trump’s North Korea Policy
My colleague Ethan Epstein reports that despite a consensus among many foreign policy elites here and around the world that the Trump administration policy toward North Korea, one group of editorial pages have good words to say about the new American regime: those of the South Korean newspapers.
Here’s Epstein:
Patriots Day at the White House
The New England Patriots, who defeated (my beloved) Atlanta Falcons at the Super Bowl in February, will visit the White House Wednesday and meet with President Trump in recognition of their victory.
The Patriots are a favorite of our New Yorker president. Quarterback Tom Brady has been friends with Trump for years, and Patriots head coach Bob Belichick and owner Bob Kraft are also friends and supporters of Trump.
Song of the Day
“I Don’t Care Anymore,” Phil Collins.
