Trump says he is choosing among wiping Iran out, letting it rot, or a deal.
Trump said Monday, Sept. 21 he was in a "deciding mode" on Iran, naming three options and warning the country to behave. Iran's Revolutionary Guard said a fresh American assault would change both the weapons and the geography of the war, now in its seventh month.
The Strait of Hormuz remains closed to most traffic, Houthi forces have bombed an east-west oil pipeline, and U.S. gasoline averaged $4.48 a gallon.
September 22, 2026 · Six stories, illustrated
- Wipe Iran out
the first option
- Let it rot economically
the second option
- Make a deal
the option markets priced Monday
“if and when do I blow the entire nation up? They better behave”— President Trump, to Fox News, Monday, Sept. 21
crude loaded inside the Gulf, March to August
Iranian crude stored outside the blockade, mid-July to mid-September
The three options Trump listed were wiping the country out, letting it rot economically, or making a deal. The war began Feb. 28 and is now in its seventh month. Brent was near $97 on Monday; U.S. gasoline averaged $4.48 a gallon. The IMF puts Iranian inflation near 69% this year, with a 5.4% contraction and a minimum monthly wage worth about $72.
What Tehran would want in return for reopening the Strait of Hormuz has not been made public.
Read the reporting
Three news outlets sue over a White House ban —
the television pool goes dark.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued on Monday, Sept. 21, asking a judge to declare the ban unconstitutional and restore access. Secret Service officers had taken their badges at the gate Saturday, Sept. 19, a day after Trump announced it on Truth Social.
All five networks in the White House television pool — ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC — suspended joint coverage. Judge Timothy Kelly hears the emergency request Wednesday, Sept. 23, 3:30 p.m. ET.
- CNN
- MS NOW
- Politico
The five-network television pool — ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, NBC — suspended its coverage on Monday, Sept. 21.
Emergency hearing on the outlets' request to block the ban, before Judge Timothy Kelly
“The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press... It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS”— Donald Trump, on Truth Social
- Acosta, 2018
pass restored 12 days after it was pulled, with no appeal
- AP, 2025
Judge McFadden's injunction came 46 days after filing
- Sherrill v. Knight, 1977
won reporters notice and written reasons, not a press pass
The lawsuit names four defendants — Trump, Wiles, Cheung and Curran — and three reporter plaintiffs. The White House called access a privilege, not a right; the three outlets' coverage is described as 92% negative. A 2023 credentialing change cut off more than 440 reporters.
Read the reporting
A draft order would let political appointees veto NIH grants —
two top senators reject it.
The White House is drafting an executive order to move NIH grant approval to a new board and give an outside panel veto power over research grants. Senators Susan Collins and Patty Murray say the move would put politics into science funding.
Collins calls it contrary to congressional intent; Murray warns one appointee could kill a cancer study with no scientific reason.
- Susan Collins (R-Maine)
Putting politics into grantmaking by order or guidance is 'contrary to congressional intent.'
- Patty Murray (D-Wash.)
One appointee could kill a cancer study. There would be no scientific reason for it.
a separate commission to review NIH awards, and an analysis says the administration has cut or frozen grants in every state
The draft executive order to move NIH grant approval to a new board would give an outside panel veto power over research grants, per Russ Vought's planning.
Read the reporting
Goolsbee says getting inflation to 2% will be painful —
the Fed chair disagrees.
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said beating inflation will mean pushing employment below target — the painful trade-off that oil shocks and tariffs impose. Chair Kevin Warsh says the Fed need not harm labor markets to reach 2%.
The Fed raised its rate to 3.75% to 4.00% last week. Inflation ran at 3.4% in August, with core at 2.4%; the 30-year mortgage rate hit 6.95%.
- Austan Goolsbee, Chicago Fed
Beating inflation will mean pushing employment below target — 'the painful trade-off' that stagflationary shocks impose.
- Kevin Warsh, Fed chair
'I don't believe that we need to do harm to the labor markets to achieve our objective.'
- 3.75% to 4.00%
new Fed funds rate after last week's quarter-point hike
- 3.4%
August inflation, annual rate
- 2.4%
core inflation in August
- 6.95%
average 30-year mortgage rate
Goolsbee says oil-price shocks from the Iran war and tariffs leave no painless path back to the Fed's 2% target; Warsh says the Fed need not harm labor markets to get there.
Read the reporting
The U.S. proposes an AI incident hotline with China —
China left it out of the readout.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent proposed the hotline to Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York, days before the Trump-Xi summit. Follow-up talks are set for Shenzhen in November. Beijing's account did not mention it.
The shared concerns include uncontrollable AI agents and non-state cyber and bioweapons actors; U.S. export controls on advanced chips are not on the table.
- Bessent proposes
a U.S.-China AI incident hotline in New York
- Shenzhen talks
set for November to operationalize the Board of Trade
- Xinhua readout
left the proposal out
- Shared dangers
uncontrollable agents and non-state cyber and bioweapons actors
- Not on the table
U.S. export controls on advanced chips
- Possible easing
lower tariffs on consumer and farm goods, energy and medical devices
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pitched the idea to Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York; follow-up talks are set for Shenzhen in November. The Xinhua readout left the proposal out.
Read the reporting
A UN rapporteur says 68 U.S. boat strikes were crimes against humanity —
the self-defense claim does not hold.
Ben Saul called the strikes serial extrajudicial killings and rejected Trump's self-defense claim to Congress, finding no armed attack on the U.S. that would trigger that right.
Saul counts 68 strikes and 223 dead since September 2025; a separate tally counts 234 killed in 66 attacks.
- 68U.S. boat strikes
223 dead since September 2025, per UN rapporteur Ben Saul
- 66attacks tallied
234 dead, per the Washington Office on Latin America
Saul found no armed attack on the U.S. to trigger self-defense; Southern Command says Saturday's target had 'confirmed intelligence' of narco-trafficking and called the four dead 'narco-terrorists.'
Operation Southern Spear began in early September 2025. The latest strike, Saturday in the Caribbean, killed four.