Cody Godwin

We'll be back Monday morning with another episode of USA Today's The Excerpt.

That was President Donald Trump's threat on Monday morning.

By Tuesday, the rhetoric had escalated.

On Truth Social, Trump posted, quote, end quote.

But then as the deadline approached, Trump tried a different tack and announced a two-week ceasefire.

Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt.

I'm Cody Godwin in for Dana Taylor.

Today is Thursday, April 9th, 2026.

Many questions are swirling in the wake of Trump's whipsaw strategy with Iran.

Here to help us take a step back and take stock of what may be next, I'm now joined by USA Today White House correspondent Zach Anderson.

Zach, it's great to have you back on the excerpt.

There's a lot to dig into here.

Let's start with some of the broad strokes.

These are complicated negotiations.

So who are the players here and what do we know about them so far?

Has the ceasefire, in fact, been verified?

You mentioned Israel.

Have they also agreed to join the ceasefire?

Allowing the free flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz is one very big condition of the United States.

What do we know about that?