Trump Maintains Pressure on Iran; King Charles Speaks to Congress

<p>Today's top stories, with context, in just 15 minutes.<br />On today's podcast:<br />1) The US signaled it would stick with a naval blockade of Iranian ports, as it tries to choke-off Tehran&rsquo;s oil exports and force it back to the negotiating table. US President Donald Trump claimed on Tuesday that Iran was in a &ldquo;state of collapse.&rdquo; His treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, later said Washington&rsquo;s &ldquo;maximum pressure campaign&rdquo; had caused Iran&rsquo;s inflation to accelerate and that the country was running out of oil storage. It would soon have to start cutting production, Bessent said.<br />2) King Charles III called on the US to maintain its leadership role in the world, and to support Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in a remarkably pointed speech for a monarch that urged Americans to resist the pull of isolationism.Charles used his remarks to a joint session of Congress &mdash; the first such address by a British monarch in more than three decades &mdash; to argue for preserving the alliance between the UK and US. The king appealed to the shared heritage between the two nations, sprinkling his remarks with references to culture, religion and principles behind America&rsquo;s decision to declare independence 250 years ago <br />3) With the Fed widely expected to keep rates on hold at the April 28-29 FOMC meeting, the more interesting revelation will concern Jerome Powell&rsquo;s future: Will he stay on or leave the Fed when his term as chair expires May 15? Regardless of his plans, we think Powell will offer only limited forward guidance on policy at his final news conference as chair, with Kevin Walsh on track to be confirmed as his successor.</p><p>See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.</p>