The more details emerge of the deal with Iran that President Trump wants to make, the more it looks like the Barack Obama deal that Trump killed in 2018. But to have this coming not from a radical leftist but from a president who is supposed to be a great friend of Israel makes it far more dangerous.

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Trump is fine with an Iranian nuclear program: “The president means what he says, which is, they cannot have a bomb,” envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News. What does that mean? That Iran must limit uranium enrichment to 3.67 percent—basically the same approach as Obama’s nuclear deal. That’s very different from the complete denuclearization of Iran the Trump administration was demanding even a week ago.

President Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign—threats of sanctions on Iran’s oil and drone networks, secondary tariffs on countries trading with Iran, deploying B-2 stealth bombers capable of targeting Iran’s underground nuclear facilities, repeated warnings of severe military consequences—had Israelis, and even Iranians who oppose their radical regime, hoping for a decisive resolution to the threat of a nuclear Iran.

It was a vain hope. The Trump administration apparently thinks that the terrorist-sponsoring Islamofascist Iranian regime can be held in check through verification that it will restrict its uranium enrichment to 3.67 percent. It looks like the pressure on the regime will slacken, the mullahs will live another day, and their quest for nuclear weapons will survive. Just as we have said, based on biblical prophecy.

Rumor: Might Iran give the U.S. its embassy back? This Iran International article points to interesting evidence that Iranian leaders may be preparing a concession to give Trump in these nuclear talks: handing back the American Embassy seized in the Iranian Revolution 46 years ago. The rumor came from an X post from a dissident lawyer, which authorities shut down immediately.

Some users suggested that a potential handover could pave the way for American investments in Iran, especially after President Masoud Pezeshkian commented recently that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had “no objection” to American investors entering the Iranian market.

Seems like a proposition President Trump would be drawn to.

Trump wants to be known as a peacemaker—but … his efforts to bring Vladimir Putin around on Ukraine have gone nowhere—Russia’s attacks have continued unabated. Three months after President Trump said Hamas would be finished if they didn’t release all the hostages, the captives are still captive, and Hamas survives. The “direct talks” with Iran at a “very big meeting” turned out to be indirect; Trump admits the Iranians are dragging their feet, but what will he do about it? As Melanie Phillips wrote today:

Trump is now perilously close to losing all credibility on the global stage by being portrayed as a bloviator, a busted flush who threatens but never carries through.

Stephen Flurry’s cover story for our new Trumpet issue gives the Bible’s perspective on these peace efforts.

And it’s not just Iran: The Trump administration is also reviving nuclear talks with Saudi Arabia, the New York Times reported Sunday. These talks started under the Biden administration. The Saudis, in exchange for receiving assistance with developing a nuclear program, reportedly pledged to normalize relations with Israel. But the U.S. dragged its feet because the Saudis won’t accept safeguards to stop them from weaponizing what is meant to be a civilian energy program.

Driving this process is fear of Iran. Saudi leaders saw how close Iran was to a nuclear weapon and wanted its own nuclear protection. As Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Fox News in 2023, “If they get [a nuclear weapon], we have to get one.”

Details are scarce, but it looks like Trump may be willing to give the Saudis what Biden wasn’t. Will he end up empowering two new nuclear powers in the Middle East?

Don’t forget about the trade war with China: The Trump administration seems to think America has the upper hand in this conflict over tariffs. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argued that China is “playing with a pair of twos” because “We export one fifth to them of what they export to us, so that is a losing hand for them.” But the fact that the U.S. relies far more on China for goods than the other way around actually strengthens China’s hand, it doesn’t weaken it.

Japan not threatened by U.S. tariffs: Japan’s prime minister announced that his nation would not make “big concessions” at U.S. trade talks planned for Thursday, our In Brief shows.

Asia uniting: China’s Xi Jinping visited Vietnam yesterday to sign several cooperation deals, our In Brief reports. This is the first destination for Xi on a whistle-stop tour to strengthen ties throughout Southeast Asia.

Nvidia Corp. plans to open three factories in the U.S. to manufacture parts for AI supercomputers, allowing it to avoid President Trump’s tariffs, Andrew Miiller reports.

Germany: ‘Our weapons are terrible!’: Our feature story this morning, by Josué Michels, focuses on Germany downplaying its weapons as deficient. Reports from field work in the Ukraine war, however, are providing invaluable feedback on where they can be improved, and Germany is using this information to enhance its weapons systems.

Judge pulls rank on Trump: Another district judge has decided she has authority over the U.S. president, blocking Trump’s deportation of over 500,000 migrants who were allowed to stay in the U.S. under Joe Biden, our In Brief reports.

Harvard plays the martyr: Harvard University rejected President Trump’s demands to fight anti-Semitism, dismantle diversity programs, and limit student protests. Instead it began preaching about the inviolable sanctity of academic freedom. So Trump decided to freeze $2.26 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts. Harvard President Alan Garber defiantly responded, “The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.”

President Trump’s Easter statement received praise from religious leaders in America for being “the most explicitly Christian statement” from the White House maybe ever. Trump wrote:

This Holy Week, Melania and I join in prayer with Christians celebrating the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ—the living Son of God who conquered death, freed us from sin, and unlocked the gates of heaven for all of humanity.

Beginning with Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and culminating in the Paschal Triduum, which begins on Holy Thursday with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, followed by Good Friday, and reaching its pinnacle in the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night. … During this sacred week, we acknowledge that the glory of Easter Sunday cannot come without the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the cross ….

There is even a push to make Easter a federal holiday.

The only problem is, Easter isn’t Christian. Its roots are well established to be pagan. Actually:

The fact that Easter is pagan is now a selling point: The UK charity English Heritage produced an Easter leaflet all about the holiday’s pagan origins. Not to discredit the practice—but to convince its woke target audience that Christians appropriating it shouldn’t drive them away from celebrating it. “Did you know Easter started as a celebration of spring?” they write. “Long ago, people welcomed warmer days and new life by honoring the goddess Eostre, who gave Easter its name! … Fun Fact: Some traditions for Eostre included dancing around bonfires and decorating homes with flowers.”

It’s true—you can look it up yourself. Read “Should I Celebrate Easter?”

Mostly peaceful child sacrifices: A dig in Guatemala investigated the little-known pre-Aztec Teotihuacan culture. It reveals how evil and barbaric these people were, like all these ancient civilizations—including child sacrifice. But when CBS reported on it, it somehow tried to make it fit the “America was peaceful, multicultural and tolerant before Columbus came along” narrative.

One man who leads part of the project said it shows the area “was a cosmopolitan center,” “a center of cultural convergence,” CBS explained. It also managed to find “an archaeologist who was not involved with the project” who said this discovery confirms “that there has been an interconnection between both cultures and what their relationships with their gods and celestial bodies was like.” CBS quoted this archaeologist as saying, “We see how the issue of sacrifice exists in both cultures. It was a practice; it’s not that they were violent, it was their way of connecting with the celestial bodies.”

Excuse me? This ancient people’s “way of connecting with the celestial bodies” was to carve out the hearts of children. “It’s not that they were violent”? What is wrong with CBS?