“Time and place of the signing to be announced shortly,” Trump said, adding, “The Naval Blockade will remain in full force and effect until this Transaction is finalized.”

So far, Iran has not confirmed that an agreement has been reached, and a foreign ministry spokesman says he’s not aware that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has approved anything.

TRUMP CALLS OFF IMPENDING STRIKES ON IRAN

TRUMP: ‘I UNDERSTAND THE ANSWER IS YES’: At a White House event later in the afternoon, Trump was ebullient about the breakthrough.

“We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran. And we’re going to be subject to finalization of documents. We should get done over the next few days. Probably have a signing, maybe in Europe. And it’s a great thing. Stock market’s up a thousand points.”

Asked directly by a reporter, “Has the Supreme Leader approved this deal, sir?” Trump replied. “I understand the answer is yes.” 

“It’s a very strong memorandum of understanding. That is a little conceptual, but it’s something that’s going to get done,” Trump said, even as he hedged ever so slightly. “The documents are in pretty final shape. So we’ll see.”

“I can’t imagine that not happening, they want to sign it as much as I do or more,” Trump said, predicting a “fun” signing ceremony was imminent. “The Strait will officially open as soon as we sign, which could be soon, very soon, maybe over the weekend, in Europe. I won’t be able to be there, but J.D. will be there, the vice president, and some of the people. Steve Witkoff did a great job. Jared,” Trump said.

The memorandum of understanding is not a final deal, but rather an interim agreement to end hostilities while the key nuclear issues are ironed out over an initial 60-day period. But Trump expressed confidence that a final deal will be reached, with much better terms than those of the Obama-era JCPOA.

“Most importantly, we have a deal that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, which was the whole purpose of what we had to go through to get this,” Trump said. “We think it’s going to go pretty quickly. I don’t want to say a deadline because if I say a deadline, you’ll say, oh, he didn’t meet the deadline.”

TRUMP TEASES PEACE DEAL SIGNING IN EUROPE AFTER CALLING OFF IRAN STRIKES

‘I’LL BELIEVE IT WHEN I SEE IT’: Having pronounced no less than 40 times that peace was at hand, Trump’s declaration that the war with Iran was ending after 104 days was met with deep skepticism from Democrats.

“Obviously, I hope there is a successful end to this war,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) said on CNN. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“In the last few weeks, he’s announced we were on the verge of a peace deal once, twice, three times, so I no longer believe President Trump when he says we are about to close a deal.” 

“My core questions, if there is a deal, will be how much money is being transferred to Iran out of its frozen assets? What sort of security are we getting that their nuclear enrichment program is genuinely under control?” Coons said. “And is the Strait of Hormuz permanently open with no control by Iran, no right to charge tolls, no sovereignty recognized?”

“What is this so-called transaction that he’s talking about? It doesn’t sound like unconditional surrender to me, it’s far from it,” said Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), another frequent Trump critic. “What are we giving to them? How many billions of dollars in blood money are we essentially paying the Iranians to reopen the Strait? What are the conditions under which their nuclear program will be dismantled?”

Since no one has seen the test of the proposed MoU, even Trump supporters like Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA): “I want to read it. I listened to the president’s interpretation. I appreciate that. He’s there. I’m not,” Kennedy said on CNN. 

“I trust the leadership, the political leadership in Iran like I trust a rest stop bathroom,” Kennedy said. “They all think they’re on a mission from God. They learn to lie before they learn to talk.”

“Do I believe even if they put it in writing, that they will never attempt to develop a nuclear warhead? No. So the balances and the checks in this document are going to matter,” he said. “I also want to know how much money we’re releasing to Iran.”

“How can I put this? I play poker every now and then with my friends. But they’re all my friends, but I cut the cards every single time. I want to read this document,” Kennedy said. 

“Every time the President talks about how eager Iran is for a deal, it’s basically a reveal, that he’s talking about his own eagerness for a deal,” said Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), another Trump antagonist. “All I can say is I hope that he has more to show for it than an Iranian promise not to develop a bomb. That is something that we could never rely on in the past. It’s not something we can rely on in the present.”

“And I fear, what may come out of it is some face-saving announcement to agree at a later date by the President,” Schiff said on CNN. “That would be a terrible strategic loss for the country.”

TRUMP AND HEGSETH TRIAL NEW COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY WITH IRAN

Good Friday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. 

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HAPPENING TODAY: The Senate Armed Services Committee meets behind closed doors at 9 a.m. to markup the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2027.

ALSO TODAY: FISA SHOWDOWN CONTINUES: In the face of strong bipartisan pushback following his appointment of Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to be acting director of national intelligence, there was an audible sigh of relief in Washington when Trump announced on Truth Social that he is nominating Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, to fill the post of a permanent basis.

But it has not ended the Democrats’ efforts to block reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA. Section 702 is the provision that allows the government to collect phone calls, text messages, and emails of foreigners outside the United States and is considered a vital tool for protecting U.S. national security.

Democrats say they won’t support an extension of the provision, which expires at midnight, if Pulte spends even one day in the acting position, given his total lack of qualifications and record of using mortgage records to go after Trump’s political adversaries. 

“I’ve never been a big fan of Tulsi Gabbard, but if Tulsi Gabbard would stay in place until Mr. Clayton was confirmed, we’d have a path out,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee, told reporters yesterday. “Bill Pulte is a national security threat.”

Gabbard is scheduled to formally step down a week from today, and Republicans are scrambling to see if they can get Clayton confirmed before Pulte would take over. Trump has not agreed to pull his appointment. “Bill will run it for a short while,” Trump said yesterday. ”He’s done a great job. He’s a smart guy.”

“We will move quickly,” Majority Leader Sen. John Thune (R-SD) told reporters. The Senate Intelligence Committee plans to hold a confirmation hearing for Clayton on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.

Clayton has the endorsement of the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), who said, “His intelligence, temperament, and deep commitment to public service will make him a terrific DNI.”

IN THE POST-9/11 ERA, HAS THE OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE LOST ITS RELEVANCE?

TRUMP’S EMPTY KHARG ISLAND THREAT: Of all the things Trump threatened yesterday, his suggestion that he would order the capture of Iran’s Kharg island, a transshipment point for most of Iran’s oil exports — a mission that would require U.S. ground troops — raises the most alarm among critics.

“At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets, much like we have with Venezuela,” Trump said in his Truth Social post. 

“Talking about seizing Kharg Island in particular would put that mission at risk. It would certainly increase the possibility of casualties and give the Iranians a chance to prepare for that,” said former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall on CNN. “So, it’s unheard of to talk about an operation ahead of time for that very specific reason.”

But in an interview on Fox News, Trump conceded that an assault on the island that is just off the coast of Iran would make his highly unpopular war even more unpopular.

“Look, my preference has always been to take Kharg Island,” Trump told Fox News host Brian Kilmeade. “I don’t know that America has the stomach for it, to be honest with you, to make a fortune. But I don’t know that America has the stomach. I think they’d like to see us come home.”

Trump was envisioning a repeat of the Venezuela mission, where a weak, compliant leader would just hand over the keys to the oil resources.

“Venezuela has worked out great for everybody. We’ve taken millions and millions of barrels of oil out of Venezuela. We brought them to Houston and various other places, Louisiana, where, you know, refineries that we have that are incredible. They’re going 24 hours a day, making a fortune.”

Even House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) seemed to acknowledge Trump was bluffing. “I think he’s communicating directly with our adversaries over there,” Johnson told reporters. “I would not put too much stock in the details of it.”

THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY OUT OF CONGRESS’S FISA QUAGMIRE

THE RUNDOWN: 

Washington Examiner: Trump calls off impending strikes on Iran

Washington Examiner: Trump teases peace deal signing in Europe after calling off Iran strikes

Washington Examiner: Trump and Hegseth trial new communications strategy with Iran

Washington Examiner: Iran conflict could prompt US military to evaluate its vulnerabilities in the Middle East

Washington Examiner: Trump nominates Jay Clayton as next intelligence chief amid FISA gridlock

Washington Examiner: In the post-9/11 era, has the Office of the Director of National Intelligence lost its relevance?

Washington Examiner: UK Defense Secretary John Healey resigns over concerns funding pitfalls

Washington Examiner: Border Patrol arrests in Florida quietly surge

Washington Examiner: US ‘should not be surprised’ if there’s a domestic drone attack: Charles Q. Brown 

Washington Examiner: Appeals court allows Trump to collect 10% global tariffs for now

Washington Examiner: Rubio announces US sanctions on Cuban state-owned oil company

Washington Examiner: Iran war inflation drives European Central Bank to become first to raise interest rates

Washington Examiner: OPEC cuts oil demand forecast again as Strait of Hormuz closure continues

Washington Examiner: Lawmakers Eye Four-Star Command for Unmanned, Autonomous Systems

Washington Examiner: Pentagon evacuated over false-alarm ‘air quality issue’ with hazmat team deployed

Reuters: Iran fights to keep Lebanon as leverage in high-stakes US deal

AP: Ukraine hits fuel supplies to Crimea, sparking a fuel crisis on the Russian-held peninsula

The Hill: Senate GOP balks at Trump demand to boost defense funding in third reconciliation bill

Washington Post: GOP Lawmakers Move to Officially Rename Department of Defense as Department of War

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Lawmakers Eye Four-Star Command for Unmanned, Autonomous Systems

SpaceNews: Vandenberg Offers New Launch Site for Small and Medium Rockets

Defense One: Mystery GPS Outages Traced to Russian Satellite

Air & Space Forces Magazine: GAO Report: Just Over One in Four F-35As Fully Mission Capable

The War Zone: Boeing ‘Encouraged’ by C-17 Production Restart Discussions

Breaking Defense: After FCAS’s Fall, Airbus and ‘Team Gen 6’ Line Up for New Future Fighter

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Lawmakers Pave the Way for Space Force to Dissolve SDA, Space RCO

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Experts: Adversaries Can Exploit App Data to Track Troops, Families

THE CALENDAR: 

FRIDAY | JUNE 12

12 p.m. —Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion of a new report:”Solid Rocket Motors for Missile Defense: Challenges and Opportunities for Expanding the Industrial Base,” with Tom Karako, director, CSIS Missile Defense Project; Christine Michienzi, nonresident senior associate, CSIS Missile Defense Project; and Wes Rumbaugh, fellow, CSIS Missile Defense Project https://www.csis.org/events/report-rollout-solid-rocket-motors-missile-defense

4:30 p.m. 1400 L St. NW — Atlantic Council book discussion: “Privileged but Powerless: How North Korean Elite Grievances Reveal the Regime’s Greatest Weakness,” with author Jieun Baek, nonresident senior fellow, Atlantic Council Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Indo-Pacific Security Initiative; and Kelley Currie, nonresident senior fellow, Atlantic Council Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Indo-Pacific Security Initiative and the Atlantic Council’s Freedom and Prosperity Center https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/privileged-but-powerless

TUESDAY | JUNE 16

4:15 p.m. 222 Russell — Senate Armed Services Airland Subcommittee hearing: “Army force modernization in review of the Defense Authorization Request for FY2027 and the Future Years Defense Program” http://www.armed-services.senate.gov

TUESDAY | JUNE 23

6:30 a.m. 2425 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, Virginia — Association of the U.S. Army “Coffee Series,” with Gen. Ron Clark, commanding general, U.S. Army Pacific https://www.ausa.org/events/coffee-series/gen-clark

WEDNESDAY | JUNE 24

11 a.m. 2359 Rayburn — House Appropriations Committee markup of the FY2027 Defense bill. http://appropriations.house.gov

THURSDAY | JUNE 25

 7 a.m. — Association of the U.S. Army daylong “Hot Topic” on Army acquisition and contracting: “Accelerating Solutions for Today’s Fight,” with Maj. Gen. Douglas Lowrey, commanding general of U.S. Army Contracting Command https://www.ausa.org/events/hot-topic/army-acquisition-and-contracting