Trump announces Iran deal signing Sunday as Kennedy Center name comes down

Neutral summary

Two dramatic developments broke simultaneously on Saturday. By predawn, a crew in Washington had removed Donald Trump's name from the Kennedy Center's facade, completing a court-ordered erasure after an appeals court rejected the administration's last-minute attempt to block it. The nameplate had been up for only months, installed after Trump's $500,000 donation to the performing arts venue; a federal judge ruled that the Trump-appointed board never had the authority to rename a congressionally chartered institution in the first place. The removal happened in the dark, rescheduled from Friday night because of thunderstorms, and Rep. Joyce Beatty, who had sued Trump over the renaming in December, watched it come down in person at 2:30 AM. Hours later, Trump posted on Truth Social that a deal with Iran would be signed Sunday, predicting the Strait of Hormuz would reopen to international shipping immediately afterward. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said finalization was likely within 24 hours, and a senior U.S. Official confirmed the tentative agreement includes provisions for removing and destroying Iran's nuclear material. Tehran struck a cooler note, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi warning that nuclear talks won't advance unless any interim deal is implemented first, and Iranian officials suggested Sunday's timeline was optimistic. The memorandum of understanding, electronically brokered by Pakistan and Qatar, would extend the current truce by 60 days. The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly a third of the world's seaborne oil, making its reopening a prize with immediate global economic implications. A separate federal judge simultaneously blocked the Trump administration from removing climate-related and other exhibits at national parks, calling the directive unlawful censorship.