While President Donald Trump watched LIV golfers at his golf course outside Washington on Saturday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly met with Qatari officials in Miami to negotiate an end to the punishing war with Iran.
Trump sat in the presidential suite at Trump National Golf Course in Sterling, Virginia, with his son Eric Trump and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, among others. Late Saturday afternoon, the president posted to social media AI-generated images — one of himself appearing to be on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz and another featuring sunken Iranian warships.
Rubio and Witkoff, meanwhile, met with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani to try to hash out a peace deal, according to Axios.
Amid soaring gas prices, the U.S. awaited Iran’s response to the latest peace proposal, which the Qataris have been quietly helping to negotiate, according to Axios.
Trump administration has repeatedly downplayed the economic strain on Americans, arguing that higher fuel costs are a temporary consequence of confronting Iran. On Saturday, the national average of regular gas was $4.53, according to AAA, up about $1.38 from last year.
“We are seeing the national average for gasoline and diesel prices drift lower so far this weekend but we WILL jolt higher on Monday. This is the calm before the storm,” Patrick De Haan, Head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy, said in a post on X on Saturday.
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett acknowledged in an interview with Fox News Friday evening that gas prices have risen to levels that are “unacceptably high for people, but we think it’s a small price to pay, in the end, for ending this regime that has nuclear weapons pointed at the U.S. and our allies.”
Democrats have sharply criticized Trump and his administration for the pain Americans are feeling at the pump.
Gov. JB Pritzker, D-Ill., on Saturday blasted Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on social media, accusing the Trump administration of forcing Americans to absorb higher fuel costs while administration officials like Duffy travel at taxpayers’ expense.
“While you can’t afford a trip for your family this summer, you just paid for Sean Duffy’s 7-month road trip at $4.55 per gallon of gas,” Pritzker wrote.
Pritzker’s remarks referenced Duffy’s recently revealed seven-month road trip filmed for a reality-style travel series with his family while serving in the Cabinet. Duffy’s wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, has defended the trip, saying it was paid for by a nonprofit.
“Gas prices are skyrocketing. Inflation is surging. What are MAGA evangelical leaders focused on? WORSHIPPING A GOLDEN CALF,” Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., said in a post on X on Saturday.
Another day passed with no word from Iran to the one-page peace proposal reportedly sent to Iranian officials earlier this week. Trump and Rubio both said they expected a response would come on Friday, but that apparently never materialized. The president also told French TV outlet LCI on Saturday that “he expects to hear very soon” from Iran and that “they still very much want to make a deal.”
But long after midnight local time in Iran on Sunday, no response had been reported after a third day of silence.
The U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports currently remains in full effect, with the U.S. military having redirected or intercepted dozens of vessels operating around the Strait of Hormuz, the vital passageway for the world’s oil supply. Iran has said it will not negotiate a solution to end the war as long as the United States maintain its blockade.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei criticized the proposal in a social media post Friday, saying it was “a grotesque absurdity” for the U.S. to claim it seeks peace and wants to avoid a nuclear crisis, “yet their proposed solution is ‘one big glow.’”
Inzamam Rashid and Akayla Gardner contributed to this report.
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