Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is dodging questions about his past donations to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a lobbying group that has come under heavy criticism from many liberal Democrats.
Why it matters: Pritzker is among several likely Democratic presidential candidates who've distanced themselves from AIPAC as the group has become a U.S. political surrogate for support of Israel's actions in Gaza.
President Trump said Sunday he will send ICE agents to U.S. airports starting Monday to assist TSA officers who have been working without pay for more than five weeks during a partial Homeland Security shutdown.
Why it matters: The move thrusts the very agency that sparked the shutdown with its conduct in Minnesota into the nation's airports to deal with the consequences.
President Trump on Saturday night gave Iran a 48-hour deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or else the U.S. will start destroying Iranian power plants.
Why it matters: The threat marks a dramatic reversal from just a day earlier when Trump floated ending the war without reopening the strait, signaling the Hormuz crisis has become the issue he can't walk away from, even as he looks for an exit.
After three weeks of war, the Trump administration has begun initial discussions on the next phase and what peace talks with Iran might look like, according to a U.S. official and a source with knowledge.
Why it matters: President Trump said Friday that he was considering "winding down" the war, though U.S. officials said the expectation was there would still be two to three additional weeks of fighting. In the meantime, Trump's advisers want to start laying groundwork for diplomacy.
Why it matters: Any swift ceasefire or arrangement allowing safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz won't undo supply shocks that could linger for months — and in some cases, years.
The CIA, Mossad and other intelligence agencies around the world were watching during Nowruz on Friday to see whether Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei would follow his father's tradition and give a new year's address.
The intrigue: When the holiday passed with only a written statement from Mojtaba, the mystery around his physical condition, whereabouts and role in Iran's war effort deepened.
