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Trump Says He Wrote to Iran to Open Nuclear Talks

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Trump Says He Wrote to Iran to Open Nuclear Talks

President Trump said he had sent a letter to the Iranian government seeking to negotiate a deal to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

He said the letter was sent Wednesday and addressed to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader. The White House did not immediately respond to a request to provide the letter or further describe its contents. Iran’s mission to the United Nations said on Friday that Iran had received no such letter to date.

Speaking on Friday in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump suggested that Iran’s nuclear capabilities were reaching a critical point. “We’re down to final strokes with Iran,” he said, adding, “We can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.”

In an interview that aired earlier on Friday on Fox Business, Mr. Trump said: “There are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal. I would prefer to make a deal, because I’m not looking to hurt Iran. They’re great people.”

The move is a sharp pivot for Mr. Trump, who in 2018 withdrew the United States from a nuclear deal with Iran, unraveling a signature foreign policy achievement of his predecessor, Barack Obama.

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In the interview, with the Fox host Maria Bartiromo, Mr. Trump described his letter as saying, “I hope you’re going to negotiate because it’s going to be a lot better for Iran.”

“If we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing for them,” he said, adding: “The other alternative is we have to do something, because you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.”

On Thursday, Mr. Trump talked more broadly about his desire to see the world’s countries eliminate their nuclear weapons. He said he hoped to negotiate denuclearization efforts with China and Russia as well.

“It would great if everybody would get rid of their nuclear weapons,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.

In Iran, officials have vigorously debated whether to negotiate with Mr. Trump. Moderate and reformist factions, which hold the presidency, are in favor of talks, while hard-line conservatives oppose them. Iran’s economy is in shambles because of international sanctions and mismanagement, and President Masoud Pezeshkian was elected last year largely because of his pledges to improve the economy by negotiating directly with Washington.

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But in Iran’s political system, Ayatollah Khamenei has the last word in all key state matters. He rejected negotiations with the United States after Mr. Trump signed an executive order last month to enforce a maximum pressure policy on Iran, and he has repeatedly said Iran that cannot trust that the United States would honor its end of any bargain.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told Agence France-Presse on Friday that, “as long as the Trump administration keeps the maximum pressure policy, Iran will not negotiate with the United States about its nuclear program. Iran’s nuclear program cannot be destroyed with a military attack. We have achieved technical knowledge, and you cannot bombard knowledge stored in the brain.”

Mr. Pezeshkian has publicly distanced himself from Mr. Khamenei’s positions on the United States. On Sunday, he told the Parliament that he favored negotiations but that he had to abide by Mr. Khamenei’s ban on them. It was an unusually frank acknowledgment of the limits of the president’s power in Iran’s political system and an attempt to put the fallout of such a decision — more sanctions, worsening economy, military strikes on nuclear sites — on Mr. Khamenei.

“My position has been and will remain that I believe in negotiations, but now we have to follow the parameters set by the supreme leader,” Mr. Pezeshkian said.

Luke Broadwater reported from Washington and Farnaz Fassihi from New York.

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Republican House leader signals plan to begin contempt proceedings against Bill and Hillary Clinton

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Republican House leader signals plan to begin contempt proceedings against Bill and Hillary Clinton

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GOP House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said he plans to commence contempt of Congress proceedings against Bill and Hillary Clinton for ignoring the committee’s subpoenas related to its ongoing probe into the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. 

In July, a bipartisan House Oversight Subcommittee approved motions to subpoena Bill and Hillary Clinton and a slew of other high-profile political figures to aid its investigation looking into how the federal government handled Epstein’s sex trafficking case. 

The subpoenas were then sent out in early August, and the Clinton’s were scheduled to testify Dec. 17-18. 

“It has been more than four months since Bill and Hillary Clinton were subpoenaed to sit for depositions related to our investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s horrific crimes. Throughout that time, the former president and former secretary of state have delayed, obstructed, and largely ignored the committee staff’s efforts to schedule their testimony,” Comer said in a press release issued Friday evening.

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DOJ CLEARED TO RELEASE SECRET JEFFREY EPSTEIN CASE GRAND JURY MATERIALS

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton.  (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

“If the Clintons fail to appear for their depositions next week or schedule a date for early January, the Oversight Committee will begin contempt of Congress proceedings to hold them accountable.”

Comer’s threats come as Democrats from the House Oversight Committee released a new batch of photos obtained from Epstein’s estate, which included further images of the disgraced financier with powerful figures like President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton. Thousands of images were reportedly released, with potentially more to come.

Other high-profile figures subpoenaed by the Oversight Committee include James Comey, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, Merrick Garland, Robert Mueller, William Barr, Jeff Sessions and Alberto Gonzales.

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FEDERAL JUDGE APPROVES RELEASING GHISLAINE MAXWELL CASE GRAND JURY MATERIAL

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and Jeffrey Epstein. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Neil Rasmus/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

In addition to testimony from these individuals, Comer and the Oversight Committee issued subpoenas to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for all documents and communications pertaining to the case against Epstein.

In September, the committee released tens of thousands of pages of Epstein-related records in compliance with the subpoena, and the Oversight Committee indicated the DOJ would continue producing even more records as it works through needed redactions and other measures that must occur before they are released.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Jeffrey Epstein and President Donald Trump. (Getty Images)

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Kristi Noem grilled over L.A. Purple Heart Army vet who self-deported

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Kristi Noem grilled over L.A. Purple Heart Army vet who self-deported

The saga of a Los Angeles Army veteran who legally immigrated to the United States, was wounded in combat and self-deported to South Korea earlier this year, became a flashpoint during a testy congressional hearing about the Trump administration’s immigration policy.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was grilled Thursday on Capitol Hill about military veterans deported during the immigration crackdown launched earlier this year, including in Los Angeles.

“Sir, we have not deported U.S. citizens or military veterans,” Noem responded when questioned by Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.).

Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.) speaks during a hearing of the House Committee on Homeland Security on Thursday. He was joined on a video call by Sae Joon Park, a U.S. military veteran who self-deported to South Korea.

(Mark Schiefelbein / Associated Press)

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An aide then held up a tablet showing a Zoom connection with Purple Heart recipient Sae Joon Park in South Korea. The congressman argued that Park had “sacrificed more for this country than most people ever have” and asked Noem if she would investigate Park’s case, given her discretion as a Cabinet member. Noem pledged to “absolutely look at his case.”

Park, reached in Seoul on Thursday night, said he was skeptical that Noem would follow through on her promise, but said that he had “goosebumps” watching the congressional hearing.

“It was amazing. And then I’m getting tons of phone calls from all my friends back home and everywhere else. I’m so very grateful for everything that happened today,” Park, 56, said, noting that friends told him that a clip of his story appeared on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show Thursday night.

The late-night host featured footage of Park’s moment in the congressional hearing in his opening monologue.

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“Is anyone OK with this? Seriously, all kidding aside, we deported a veteran with a Purple Heart?” Kimmel said, adding that Republicans “claim to care so much about veterans, but they don’t at all.”

Park legally immigrated to the United States when he was 7, grew up in Koreatown and the San Fernando Valley, and joined the Army after graduating from Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks in 1988.

Sae Joon Park

Sae Joon Park received a Purple Heart while serving in the Army.

(From Sae Joon Park)

The green card holder was deployed to Panama in 1989 as the U.S. tried to depose the nation’s de facto leader, Gen. Manuel Noriega. Park was shot twice and honorably discharged. Suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, he self-medicated with illicit drugs, went to prison after jumping bail on drug possession charges, became sober and raised two children in Hawaii.

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Earlier this year, when Park checked in for his annual meeting with federal officials to verify his sobriety and employment, he was given the option of being immediately detained and deported, or wearing an ankle monitor for three weeks as he got his affairs in order before leaving the country for a decade.

At the time, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Park had an “extensive criminal history” and had been given a final removal order, with the option to self-deport.

Park chose to leave the country voluntarily. He initially struggled to acclimate in a nation he hasn’t lived in since he was a child, but said Thursday night that his mental state — and his Korean-language skills — have improved.

“It hasn’t been easy. Of course, I miss home like crazy,” he said. “I’m doing the best I can. I’m usually a very positive person, so I feel like everything happens for a reason, and I’m just trying to hang in there until hopefully I make it back home.”

Among Park’s top concerns when he left the United States in June was that his mother, who is 86 and struggling with dementia, would die while he couldn’t return to the county. But her lack of awareness about his situation has been somewhat of a strange blessing, Park said.

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“She really doesn’t know I’m even here. So every time I talk to her, she’s like, ‘Oh, where are you?’ And I tell her, and she’s like, ‘Oh, when are you coming home? Oh, why are you there?’” Park said. “In a weird way, it’s kind of good because she doesn’t have to worry about me all the time. But at the same time, I would love to be next to her while she’s going through this.”

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Video: Trump Signs A.I. Executive Order

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Video: Trump Signs A.I. Executive Order

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Trump Signs A.I. Executive Order

Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that would limit individual states in regulating the artificial intelligence industry.

“It’s a big part of the economy. There’s only going to be one winner here, and that’s probably going to be the U.S. or China. You have to have a central source of approval. When they need approvals on things, they have to come to one source. They can’t go to California, New York.” “We’re not going to push back on all of them. For example, kids’ safety — we’re going to protect. We’re not pushing back on that. But we’re going to push back on the most onerous examples of state regulations.”

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Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that would limit individual states in regulating the artificial intelligence industry.

By Shawn Paik

December 11, 2025

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