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<\/figure>\n\nAfter days of keeping it under wraps, a senior U.S. official yesterday read out the draft text of the memorandum of understanding with Iran to cease hostilities. You can read it for yourself here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Some highlights:<\/p>\n So what was this all for?<\/p>\n That question is already dividing some Republicans and foreign policy hawks. The memorandum ends the fighting, reopens the Strait of Hormuz and gives Trump a chance to claim he prevented a broader economic crisis. But many of its core terms appear to return the U.S. and Iran to roughly where they were before the conflict: with Iran\u2019s government still in power and its long-term nuclear commitments still unresolved.<\/p>\n Before the war, the Strait of Hormuz saw the free flow of shipping, including roughly a fifth of the world\u2019s oil traffic. Reopening the water way essentially restores the status quo.<\/p>\n Iran and the U.S. had also already engaged in negotiations \u2014 albeit brokenly \u2014 on a framework over Iran\u2019s nuclear program in exchange for lifting U.S. sanctions. The negotiations were in pursuit of a deal to replace the 2015 Iran nuclear deal negotiated under President Barack Obama<\/b>, which Trump vehemently criticized and left during his first term.<\/p>\n The terms of the MOU diverge substantially from Trump\u2019s initial threats to obliterate Iran unless it agreed to \u201cUNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER\u201d back in March. And it diverged from long-standing conservative criticisms of Obama\u2019s deal that lifted sanctions on Iran.<\/p>\n To be sure, the roughly four-month conflict did substantial damage to the Iranian military, including critical harm to its navy and air force. Much of Iran\u2019s top brass was killed in the war, including the country\u2019s aging supreme leader Ali Khamenei<\/b>.<\/p>\n But several Republican Iran hawks were still furious at the terms of this week\u2019s MOU for ending hostilities without first securing future substantive gains aside from further negotiations. Iran hawks doubt the Iranians will negotiate in good faith and could stretch out the talks while rebuilding their military capabilities.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a shell game, and my favorite part of this is the parallel language that\u2019s being used by JD Vance<\/b> and his allies to the language that was used to promote the JCPOA,\u201d Danielle Pletka<\/b>, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told our colleagues<\/a> Natalie Allison<\/b>, Michael Birnbaum<\/b> and Theodoric Meyer<\/b>.<\/p>\n Sen. Bill Cassidy<\/b> (R-Louisiana) said all the conflict did was prove to Iran that shutting down the Strait of Hormuz was a successful tool to coerce the U.S.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore the war, the strait was open, Iran was being crushed by sanctions, and 13 service members were still alive. Now, 13 Americans are dead, families have paid billions at the pump, sanctions will be lifted, and the bombing has stopped,\u201d Cassidy wrote on X. \u201cThis is the worst foreign policy blunder in decades.\u201d<\/p>\n Susan Rice<\/b>, who served as national security adviser to Obama, called<\/a> the MOU a \u201cjaw-dropping, horrific surrender document complete with hundreds of billions in reparations.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump and his backers defended the agreement<\/a> as necessary to stave off economic catastrophe from a prolonged conflict. And he denied the U.S. had given up its cards. Eliminating any possibility of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons remains a top priority, and he hasn\u2019t ruled out resuming hostilities.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I don\u2019t like it, if they don\u2019t behave, we\u2019ll go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their heads,\u201d Trump said from the G-7 summit in France.<\/p>\n Vance was a major proponent of the MOU, Natalie, Michael and Theodoric report, despite some more hawkish members of the administration questioning a pause in hostilities, such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio<\/b>. Vance has long expressed skepticism about getting involved in foreign conflicts, dating back to his time as a marine serving in Iraq.<\/p>\n Vance will attend a signing ceremony for the MOU tomorrow in Switzerland. Trump said he signed the MOU during a visit to Versailles with French President Emmanuel Macron<\/b>.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it works out, I\u2019m going to take the credit. If it doesn\u2019t work out, I\u2019m blaming JD,\u201d Trump said. \u201cYou\u2019d better be careful, JD.\u201d<\/p> Read more Trump will host Knicks at White House, owner says<\/a><\/p>\n The Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., is green.<\/p>\n This wouldn\u2019t often be news. It\u2019s been green with algae, well, forever.<\/p>\n But, oddly, it is news because Trump has spent millions of dollars and taken a considerable interest in rehabilitating the monumental body of water, only for it to return to its chartreuse hue within days<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Trump administration began repainting the bottom of the Reflecting Pool \u201cAmerican flag blue\u201d in late April, as part of the president\u2019s desire to make the city sparkle ahead of the nation\u2019s 250th anniversary. Once completed, the administration began refilling the body of water, which sits between the World War II and Lincoln memorials in Washington\u2019s monumental core. Within days, the body, as it has in the past, filled with algae, turning what had been a blue bottom into a more verdant appearance.<\/p>\n The president had a clear interest in this project, to the point that he drove his motorcade across the bottom of the drained pool<\/a> to inspect the work.<\/p>\n There are clear challenges to this project \u2014 the pool is larger than 10 Olympic-size pools, the water that feeds it comes from the often unclean Tidal Basin, and, as you would expect with a massive outdoor body of water, it\u2019s a popular spot in the waterfowl community.<\/p>\n So what does this matter? It\u2019s a larger symbol of Trump\u2019s act-fast, evaluate-later approach to remaking the nation\u2019s capital. We have seen this with the Kennedy Center, which no longer bears Trump\u2019s name<\/a>; the ballroom on the White House grounds, which we recently learned, thanks to Washington Post reporting, will cost upward of $600 million, with more than half coming from taxpayers<\/a>; and his triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery.<\/a><\/p>\n The Trump administration is not throwing in the (pool) towel, yet. Earlier this week, workers were seen using chemicals and ozone nanobubbles to combat the algae. Ironically, it is relatively similar to how past administrations have tried to clean the pool before the president renovated it.<\/p>\n See how algae spread across the Reflecting Pool in days here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Minnesota Star Tribune:<\/b> Gov. Tim Walz<\/b>\u2019s approval ratings plummeted over the past year, driven largely by a fraud scandal in his state. Democrats are figuring out if they can run away from the scandal<\/a> now that he is no longer running for office or if it will continue to plague the party brand.<\/p>\n Houston Chronicle<\/b>: A tropical storm, named Arthur, has formed in the Gulf of Mexico, threatening a large part of the Gulf Coast<\/a> from Texas to Louisiana.<\/p>\n Bowling Green Daily News<\/b> (Ohio)<\/b>: We have highlighted several successful efforts to stop data centers from being built nationwide. But not all attempts are successful. Officials in Bowling Green rejected a six-month moratorium on data centers<\/a> despite lengthy debate and protests in favor of the moratorium.<\/p>\n We asked whether it was right to stop foreign investment in Iran in the wake of a war that may soon be ending. In past conflicts between the U.S. and foreign adversaries, foreign investment has been seen as a tool to bind nations together, thereby preventing future conflicts.<\/p>\n But the president said days after that the U.S. would not be investing in Iran.<\/p>\n We received some interesting responses.<\/p>\n Those who oppose Trump were blunt: Just \u201cdo the opposite of his recommendations,\u201d wrote Edward Lyons<\/b>.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Trump knew what he was doing there would not have been a war with Iran,\u201d wrote Rick Prescott<\/b>. \u201cYou don\u2019t destroy economies and expect nothing bad happens.\u201d<\/p>\n And Don Atwell <\/b>added: \u201cI do think it would be wise for the US to invest; history tells us that it is a successful strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n Our colleagues Rachel Roubein <\/b>and Lena H. Sun <\/b>published a remarkable story on Wednesday<\/a> about the push to keep Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2019s<\/b> vaccine agenda alive inside the Department of Health and Human Services. \u201cThe public effort to revamp U.S. vaccine policy has quieted. Behind the scenes is a different story,\u201d they wrote. So we wanted to ask you: How do you feel about vaccines? Have you had any experience with vaccine denialism among friends and family? And what do you think about how \u201ca small circle of Kennedy\u2019s allies has kept working to reshape the federal apparatus that guides vaccines\u201d? Let us and your fellow Early Brief readers know at earlytips@washpost.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Thanks for reading. You can follow Dan and Matthew on X: @merica<\/a> and @matthewichoi<\/a>.<\/p>