President Trump To Use Primetime Power To Address Nation

President Donald Trump has announced he will address the nation with a primetime update on the situation in Iran tonight. No other details have been given so far, but everyone seems to be wondering: Could this mean a ceasefire – or will it be more boots on the ground?

As reported by CBS News:

President Trump is planning to deliver a prime-time address Wednesday night to “provide an important update on Iran,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on X.

Leavitt did not give any other details on the address, which is set for 9 p.m. ET. But it comes at an important time in the monthlong conflict with Iran, as Mr. Trump publicly signals that he is looking to strike a deal with Iran and wrap the war up in a matter of weeks — and as he privately weighs whether to use ground forces, CBS News reported earlier this month.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier Tuesday that the “upcoming days will be decisive.” 

Mr. Trump told reporters Tuesday afternoon he expects the war with Iran to end in “two weeks, maybe three,” arguing that the U.S.’s core objective of degrading Iran’s military has largely been achieved. He has also said any countries that rely on Middle Eastern petroleum should be responsible for getting their oil through the Strait of Hormuz themselves, hinting that the U.S. may not take a leading role in reopening the key waterway, which Iran has effectively shut down.

The president told CBS News’ Weijia Jiang on Tuesday he isn’t prepared to withdraw U.S. forces from efforts to push Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz “quite yet,” but other countries “have to come in and take care of it.”

Mr. Trump has also expressed some optimism about the state of U.S.-Iran peace talks in recent days. Iran has denied that it is negotiating with the U.S., but confirmed that the two sides have exchanged messages through mediators.

Obviously, we don’t know any of the specifics of what the President will be saying tonight, but it’s fair to assume it will be very significant regarding the situation in Iran. When you give an address like this – which we are assuming will be delivered from the Oval Office – it tends to be major.

Today at the U.S. Supreme Court, the President attended to hear oral arguments regarding his Executive order to end birthright citizenship for children born to illegal immigrants.

My dad, ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, was monitoring the proceedings and joined us on the broadcast to offer his initial reactions:

Well, it’s interesting. The Justices pushed back on both sides aggressively. A lot of the commentators are thinking that, as it stands right now, it’s more likely the Court will not side with the [Trump] Administration. I think you have to start with what the actual text of the 14th Amendment says. . . .

You’ve got to start with the text of the Constitution, and here’s what it actually says: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

So, it says . . . you have to be born or naturalized in the United States. In other words, naturalization – through the process of naturalization – that we have, born in the United States. It doesn’t just say all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States. There’s a caveat, “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” and that is where the argument has come down, because the argument being that those here that are not here legally in the United States do not deem themselves to be subject to the jurisdiction thereof.

So that’s where this comes down, and the impacts are significant. The Administration is not asking . . . to be proactive. They’re asking this to be prospective, but that’s really what it comes down to. What does the text actually mean when it says subject to the jurisdiction thereof? And, it doesn’t simply say all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens. It has that caveat “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”

Very hard to predict where the Court’s going to be on this. My expectation is that the government, the Trump Administration, has an uphill battle, but there were hard questions posed on both sides. We’ll get a decision probably in June.

Today’s Sekulow broadcast included more discussion of tonight’s address from President Trump regarding Iran, and conjecture about what he will say and how it might affect the war, as well as our country here at home, as well as more analysis of the ongoing oral arguments at the Supreme Court.

Watch the full broadcast below: