President Donald Trump on Wednesday abruptly canceled the confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton, his nominee to lead the U.S. intelligence community, blindsiding Senate Republicans who had expected a straightforward confirmation, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Clayton, a top federal prosecutor, was seen as a consensus pick capable of clearing the Senate easily — a relief for national security-minded Republicans after Trump’s previous choice, Bill Pulte, faced sharp opposition in Congress. But Trump’s social-media post declaring the hearing canceled caught even the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, off guard. Cotton initially told reporters the hearing would proceed, then called it off minutes later.
Later Wednesday, at the G-7 summit in France, Trump addressed the war in Iran, telling reporters an interim deal was needed to prevent “economic catastrophe.” He acknowledged there were “a lot of loose ends” and said he could always resume bombing, or, he joked, blame Vice President JD Vance. “If it works out, I’m going to take the credit. If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD,” Trump said.
The developments are unfolding against a backdrop of other tensions for the White House and congressional Republicans. The Federal Reserve, after Kevin Warsh’s first meeting as chairman, signaled that the next move on interest rates may be an increase rather than a cut, a shift that officials said underscored how sharply the inflation outlook has turned.
On Capitol Hill, Trump’s frustration with Senate GOP Leader John Thune is growing as Thune repeatedly blocks a voter-ID bill that Trump says is essential to the party’s midterm election prospects. The standoff is one of several disputes that have increased pressure on Thune months before the elections.
At the G-7, Trump also said talks with Anthropic over restoring access to the company’s latest AI models were “going fine,” following an administration ban on foreign use of two Anthropic models last week. Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said negotiations are continuing.
The G-7 meeting itself, held on the gentle waters of Lake Geneva, was comparatively smooth — a relief to U.S. allies who had braced for a more turbulent summit, WSJ reported. An interim deal with Iran and a friendly meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to have subdued the gathering.