“Poll after poll shows a majority of voters don’t approve of how President Donald Trump has handled the war, think the United States is losing and blame the conflict for rising prices,” the Washington Post reports.

“That is why it was shocking when Trump told reporters Saturday morning that he rejected an Iranian plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the key shipping corridor whose disruption has upended the global economy.”

Bloomberg: Trump rejects Iran’s Hormuz offer as U.S. borrowing costs, oil rise.

“Peace negotiators are pressing Iran to make a concession on its nuclear program to revive ceasefire talks with the U.S. after President Trump rejected Tehran’s truce proposal, in a race to stop the conflict from escalating back into all-out war,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Mediators involved in the talks said it is a long-shot bid to get Iran to placate Trump on the issue he cares about most.”

“Iran’s beleaguered economy will soon have ‘nothing to trade’ in about two weeks after it makes its final oil deliveries, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed,” the New York Post reports.

Said Bessent: “I am confident, given that there’s only 15 million more barrels of Iranian oil on the water, that Iran will have nothing left to trade for anything.”

“President Donald Trump asked Chinese leader Xi Jinping if he would like to buy American weapons during the communist politician’s three day trip to the States last week, according to U.S. Ambassador to China David Purdue,” Mediaite reports.

Said Purdue: “President Trump continues to say, ‘Hey, we sell arms to other people around the world.’ He actually asked President Xi if he would like to buy some, at one point.”

One day after he rejected an Iranian proposal to end the war, President Trump told Axios in a phone interview that he expects U.S. negotiators to engage in more talks with the country this week.

“Iran said it’s awaiting a definitive U.S. response to a seven-day proposal for reopening the crucial Strait of Hormuz but won’t soften its conditions, after President Donald Trump voiced his rejection,” Bloomberg reports.

“The Islamic Republic is aware of Trump’s remarks though has yet to receive anything from mediators Qatar and Pakistan, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was cited as saying by state-run broadcaster IRIB late Saturday.”

Said Araghchi: “The U.S. president has made some good remarks as well as many contradictory ones, which unfortunately we hear from him frequently.”

“Trump officials say Iran is miscalculating if it believes rising prices and the midterm elections will weaken President Donald Trump’s hand in negotiations to end the nearly seven-month conflict,” Fox News reports.

“The administration is projecting confidence that mounting economic pressure will push Tehran toward a deal, even after three hours of talks this week ended without an announced breakthrough.”

Said State Department principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott: “The president holds all of the cards here.”