Hi there. Welcome to Meet the Press Now. I'm Ryan Nobles in Washington, and we start today with breaking news from the White House.

Sources telling NBC news that President Trump is dropping the Justice Department's so-called anti-weaponization fund

amid the backlash he was facing from members of his own party and after a federal judge blocked the administration from distributing any money from the fund.

We'll have more on this breaking news in a moment. But it also comes as the high-stakes peace negotiations between the

U.S. and Iran, which President Trump last week said were close to producing a deal,

maybe on life support. Today, state media reporting that Iranian negotiators say they're

suspending talks with the U.S. citing Israel's expanding offensive into Lebanon against

Iran's proxy Hezbollah. It comes after the U.S.

and Iran also exchanged fire overnight. Tehran now threatening to once again close the straight-of-Hormuz

that turmoil sending oil prices back above $90 a barrel. In a phone call this morning with NBC's

Garrett Haik, the president says he was not

informed of the latest decision by Iran to suspend the talks, but going on to say, quote,

I think it's fine if they're done talking. I would be very happy with that. I think it's okay.

That's a good thing for them to say because they're good negotiators, but I don't really care.

I really don't care.

The president also saying, quote, it doesn't mean we're going to go and start dropping bombs

all over there. We'll just go silent. We'll keep the blockade. Now, that stands in stark

contrast to what the president and the Secretary of Defense said just a few days ago. Take a listen. They are starting to give us the things that they have to give us. And if they do, that's great. And if they won't, then the man on my left is going to finish him off. I know he means it when he looks in the camera in the cabinet room and said, they can either do this now through a deal. And we think we're in a good place to make that deal,

or they can deal with the War Department.

And we are prepared.

We're postured even stronger today than we were on day one to address it that way if we have to, but he'd prefer not to.

So Iran knows very, very clearly what our expectations are.

...