Trump tells US Congress that ceasefire 'ends' Iran conflict, as wartime deadline looms
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US President Donald Trump has declared that the ceasefire “ends” the conflict with Iran, as he seeks to reinforce his argument that he does not need the approval of lawmakers to continue the conflict.
In a letter he wrote to congressional leaders on Friday, the deadline to come to the US Congress on the war, Trump said there has been no exchange on Iran since the ceasefire.
“The wars that started on February 28, 2026, are over,” he said.
Under the War Powers Act of 1973, the US president can only go to war for 60 days before ending it, asking Congress to authorize or seek a 30-day extension due to “inevitable military necessity for the security of the Armed Forces of the United States” while withdrawing forces.
On Friday, the Iranian news agency IRNA said Tehran had sent the latest proposal for talks with the US to Pakistani negotiators. Trump quickly refused.
US President Donald Trump is reportedly considering new military options in Iran ahead of Friday's deadline to seek congressional approval to extend the war beyond 60 days, with Iran's top leader warning that US efforts will fail.
The president officially notified Congress of the conflict 48 hours after the first airstrikes two months ago, starting a 60-day clock that ends on May 1.
As the date approaches, congressional aides and analysts say they expect the Republican president not to push back the deadline. A senior Trump administration official said Thursday that the administration's view was that the deadline for the war-power rules was invalid.
Trump said he considers the war powers law unconstitutional. Both Republican and Democratic presidents oppose the move as unconstitutional because it limits the president's powers as chief executive. Legal experts say the issue has not been decided by the courts.
“We put down the weapons, so that gives you more time,” Trump said before leaving Washington for Florida.
There is no way out of the war, said the Democratic Alliance senator
House Democrats, who have repeatedly tried to pass war powers legislation that would force Trump to end the war or come to Congress for approval, have rejected that interpretation, saying there is nothing in the 1973 law that allows for a ceasefire.
They also said that the continued deployment of American ships blocking Iranian oil exports is evidence of continued hostilities, not a ceasefire.
“After sixty days of conflict, President Trump still has no plan or way out of this badly organized war,” Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement calling the deadline “a legal limit” for Trump to act.
In a letter to Congress, Trump acknowledged that the dispute may not be resolved. He said Iran still poses a “significant” threat to the United States and its military.
The supreme leader of Iran said in a statement that the future of the Persian Gulf is one that does not include America, and American President Donald Trump wrote 'No more Mr. Nice Guy' on his Truth Social forum. Israel also ordered the evacuation of people outside the 'safe zone' in Lebanon, warning of strikes, as Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the drone attacks.
The party remains loyal as the election approaches
Trump's fellow Republicans, who hold minority positions in the Senate and House of Representatives and rarely split with Trump, voted almost unanimously to block all resolutions seeking to end the conflict.
The Iran war has killed thousands, caused billions of dollars in damage and disrupted global markets, disrupting energy exports and raising various consumer prices.
Polls show that war is unpopular with the American people, six months before the November election that will determine who controls Congress next year.
The US Constitution says that only Congress, not the president, can declare war, but that restriction does not apply to short-term operations or to combat an immediate threat.
On Thursday, Trump received a briefing on plans for new military strikes to force Iran to negotiate an end to the conflict.
If fighting starts again, Trump can tell lawmakers he has started a new 60-day clock. Presidents of both parties have done this repeatedly in their occasional battles since Congress passed the war powers act in response to the Vietnam War.
That conflict, deeply unpopular with the American people, was not authorized by Congress.
