WASHINGTON (OSV News) — President Donald Trump said June 11 he canceled scheduled strikes on Iran, claiming a deal to end the conflict is imminent. However, Israeli and Iranian officials said no final deal has been reached.
The same week, pro-lifers urged lawmakers to use the budget reconciliation process to extend cuts in funding for Planned Parenthood, while critics and supporters of the Trump administration’s cuts to foreign aid debated the impact of those cuts in responding to the Ebola outbreak in central Africa.
— Trump says deal to end Iran war is imminent, as Israeli and Iranian officials say no final deal has been reached
In a post on his social media website Truth Social June 11, Trump said, “Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening.”
“Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved, including the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, and others. The Naval Blockade will remain in full force and effect until this Transaction is finalized — Time and place of the signing to be announced shortly,” the post said.
Trump also said in remarks the same day in the Oval Office that the signing may come “maybe this weekend.”
However, in comments reported by Iranian state media, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the country “has not yet reached a final conclusion on the agreement,” suggesting they would not budge on their nuclear program, which Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have identified as a red line.
Netanyahu’s office said in a post on X, “Israel is not a party to the memorandum of understanding,” but Netanyahu added in his own post on X, “As long as I am Prime Minister of Israel — Iran will not have nuclear weapons.”
“There is full agreement between me and President Trump on this issue,” he said.
Trump has previously signaled an end to the conflict was near; however, his initial estimates ranged from a few days to a few weeks. The conflict was in its 15th week when he made his comments on June 11.
Pope Leo XIV is among the world leaders who have criticized the conflict andcalled for peace in the region.
— Pro-lifers push extension of Planned Parenthood defunding ahead of July 4 deadline
Ahead of the July 4 expiration of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act provision that eliminated Medicaid funds to health providers who also perform abortions, a key national pro-life group urged lawmakers to pass “another reconciliation bill that stops abortion businesses from receiving American taxpayer dollars.”
In letters to members of the Senate and House, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, argued, “Budget reconciliation remains the only viable legislative path to continuing to defund Big Abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood.”
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which enacted key items from Trump’s legislative agenda on issues including taxes and immigration, also included a provision eliminating Medicaid funds to health providers who also perform abortions. However, that provision is scheduled to expire on July 4, and pro-life groups have pushed the Trump administration and congressional lawmakers to renew it in subsequent legislation.
In her June 10 letter to senators, Dannenfelser said, “Absent congressional action, that defunding provision will expire in just 24 days — on America’s 250th birthday — and Medicaid dollars will once again flow to these harmful entities.”
“In light of the completion of Reconciliation 2.0, it is essential that Congress direct its attention towards another reconciliation bill that stops abortion businesses from receiving American taxpayer dollars,” she wrote.
Although it was not named in the provision, Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, sued in response, arguing the parameters for ending these funds effectively singled it out. However, courts eventually allowed the provision to go into effect.
— Acting CDC director denies foreign aid cuts hurt fight against Ebola fight
The acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention denied a congressional report’s assertion that the Trump administration’s cuts to foreign aid and its closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development harmed the response to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Congo that is stretching into neighboring Uganda.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said June 10 during an interview on NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” that he has “seen no evidence at all” those cuts “impacted our ability to address these outbreaks.”
A report by Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee earlier in June argued that “the world is in a race against time to contain a deadly Ebola outbreak — a task severely hampered by USAID cuts.”
“The rapid spread of the virus is directly linked to a failure to test, track, isolate and treat sick patients, which was previously possible in a war-torn, economically volatile region thanks to USAID and humanitarian assistance programs that are no longer operational,” the report said.
Critics of the Trump administration’s cuts to foreign aid have said the absence of USAID slowed detection of the virus and led to a more disjointed response among aid agencies on the ground.
Other Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have also denied that the cuts impacted disease response preparedness. Rubio previously sparred with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., during a June 2 hearing over the senator’s argument that the U.S. is now less prepared to deal with disease outbreaks, saying, “I don’t agree with that assessment.”
Catholic Relief Services, the overseas relief and development arm of the Catholic Church in the U.S., is among the groups seeking to stop the spread of the highly fatal disease in the region.
Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.
