Ben White, Chief Economic Correspondent for Politico, offers his analysis on today's big stories in US Politics:
Is the US-Iran crisis over?
I would say no, it's not over. It certainly de-escalated with some help from the Swiss as intermediaries. But Iran could still look to strike back really at any moment, on US oil interests, through cyberattacks. The nuclear deal is still nowhere. So, de-escalated, not over.
What's the deal with impeachment?
Well, President Trump has given wildly different signals on what kind of trial he wants. One minute, an extensive one. The other, just a quick dismissal. It's not going to be a dismissal. Speaker Pelosi will send over articles of impeachment possibly as soon as Wednesday, which would start the trial. But it's not clear at all at this point how long it will last or how extensive it will be before the inevitable vote to acquit President Trump.
Are Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Trump getting different intelligence reports?
It certainly seems so, given that President Trump has said he saw evidence that Iran was about to bomb four US Embassies. Esper said he saw no such intelligence, but then Esper backed up Trump on his claims. But it made for a very, very awkward moment between the two.