Oil prices hovered near six-month highs on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran that “really bad things” will happen if there was no deal over its nuclear program.

International benchmark Brent crude futures with April delivery traded 0.2% lower at $71.53 per barrel at around 9:24 a.m. London time (4:24 a.m. ET), erasing earlier gains, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures with March delivery stood 0.2% lower at $66.30.

Both contracts notched their highest settle in six months in the previous session as energy market participants continue to monitor supply risks in the oil-rich Middle East.

The U.S. and Iran have held talks in Switzerland this week to try to resolve a standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program. Initial reports of progress, however, gave way to accusations from Washington that Iran had failed to address core U.S. demands.

Speaking at the first meeting of his Board of Peace in Washington on Thursday, the U.S. president said “bad things will happen” if Tehran doesn’t agree to a deal over its nuclear program.

Trump added that the world will likely find out over the next 10 days whether the U.S. will reach a deal with Iran or take military action. He later told reporters aboard Air Force One that he wanted an agreement within “10 to 15 days.”

His comments come after a significant buildup of U.S. military forces in the Middle East and amid reports the White House is considering fresh military action against Tehran as soon as this weekend.

Trump said Iran’s nuclear potential had been “totally decimated” by U.S. strikes on its facilities in June last year, before adding “we may have to take it a step further or we may not,” without providing further details.

Iran reportedly said in a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday that Tehran will respond “decisively” if subjected to military aggression.

The Islamic Republic has conducted military drills in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz in recent days, as well as joint naval drills with Russia in the Gulf of Oman, also known as the Sea of Oman.

“Everything is in place, or will be by Saturday night, for strikes to commence and so the window opens then,” Daniel Shapiro, former U.S. ambassador to Israel, told CNBC’s “Access Middle East” on Friday.

“Doesn’t mean that’s going to happen immediately. The president did indicate that he is waiting to hear from Iran whether they are prepared to make concessions on their nuclear program that he’s insisting on,” Shapiro said.

“I think it’s unlikely. We have never seen Iran open to those types of concessions, so I think it is unlikely they will agree to those, which means that in the days coming, the president will have to make that decision on military strikes,” he added.

The Trump administration has said it still hopes to reach a diplomatic resolution over Tehran’s nuclear program, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying on Wednesday that it would be “very wise” for Iran to make a deal.

Martijn Rats, chief commodity strategist at Morgan Stanley, said that, while the oil market is “very well supplied” on a global basis, there are three factors propping up prices.

“Worries about Iran, clearly. Also, an unusually large amount of buying by China, simply for stockpiling purposes. It makes you wonder what they are going to do with all these inventories and then also we have very high freight rates,” Rats told CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition” on Friday.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended President Donald Trump’s executive order spurring the domestic production of the weedkiller glyphosate, as his Make America Healthy Again movement reels from the president’s embrace of the chemical they despise.

Trump on Wednesday night signed an executive order invoking the Defense Production Act to compel the domestic production of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides. Glyphosate is the chemical in Bayer-Monsanto’s Roundup and is the most commonly used weedkiller for a slew of U.S. crops. Trump, in the order, said shortages of both phosphorus and glyphosate would pose a risk to national security.

Kennedy backed the president in a statement to CNBC Thursday morning.

“Donald Trump’s Executive Order puts America first where it matters most — our defense readiness and our food supply,” he said. “We must safeguard America’s national security first, because all of our priorities depend on it. When hostile actors control critical inputs, they weaken our security. By expanding domestic production, we close that gap and protect American families.”

But Kennedy’s MAHA coalition that supported Trump in the 2024 presidential election hates glyphosate, which has been alleged to cause cancer in myriad lawsuits. Now, the executive order threatens to unravel that coalition ahead of the 2026 midterm elections that could loosen the president’s grip on Washington.

“Just as the large MAHA base begins to consider what to do at midterms, the President issues an EO to expand domestic glyphosate production,” Kelly Ryerson, a prominent MAHA activist known as Glyphosate Girl, said in a post on X. “The very same carcinogenic pesticide that MAHA cares about most.”

Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, a watchdog that has pushed back against chemicals in food for years, said in a statement that he “can’t envision a bigger middle finger to every MAHA mom than this.”

“Elevating glyphosate to a national security priority is the exact opposite of what MAHA voters were promised,” Cook said. “If Secretary Kennedy remains at HHS after this, it will be impossible to argue that his past warnings about glyphosate were anything more than campaign rhetoric designed to win trust — and votes.”

Kennedy, a former environmental attorney, notably once won a nearly $290 million case against Monsanto for a man who claimed his cancer was caused by Roundup. The executive order came down one day after Bayer proposed paying $7.25 billion to settle a series of lawsuits claiming Roundup causes cancer.

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., knocked Trump for signing “an EO protecting cancer causing Glyphosate in our foods.”

Glyphosate is a critical chemical to American agriculture. It’s applied to many key cash crops, such as corn and soybeans, and has been defended by agricultural trade organizations. Phosphorus is a key input to the creation of glyphosate, which the White House argues is necessary to maintain food security. Elemental phosphorus is also used in the manufacture of some military materials.

“Thank you, President Trump, for acknowledging the importance of glyphosate-based herbicides in American agriculture,” the House Agriculture Committee said Wednesday night in an X post. “This is a vital step forward in ensuring a domestic supply of this critical crop input remains available for our producers.”

House Agriculture Chair Rep. G.T. Thompson, R-Pa., is trying to push a farm bill through Congress this year — a legislative package that covers federal farm support and nutrition subsidies. He’s also come under fire from MAHA recently for a provision in that bill that would block state and local pesticide regulations from differing from federal guidance.

The Trump administration has warned it would be “very wise” for Iran to make a deal, amid reports the White House is considering fresh military action against Tehran as soon as this weekend.

It comes shortly after Vice President JD Vance accused Iran of failing to address core U.S. demands during nuclear talks in Switzerland this week. Iran’s foreign minister previously reported progress in the talks, saying the two countries had reached an understanding over the “guiding principles” for the negotiations.

Speaking at a news briefing Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said there were “many reasons and arguments that once could make for a strike against Iran,” noting that the two countries remain “very far apart” on some issues.

The U.S. president had a “very successful” operation last June, Leavitt said, when U.S. stealth bombers struck three Iranian nuclear facilities as part of “Operation Midnight Hammer.”

“The president has always been very clear though with respect to Iran or any country around the world, diplomacy is always his first option. And Iran would be very wise to make a deal with President Trump and this administration,” Leavitt said.

The White House has said it still hopes to reach a diplomatic resolution over Tehran’s nuclear program, although U.S. media has reported that the military could be prepared to strike Iran as early as the weekend.

The U.S., for its part, has built up a significant presence of air and naval assets, while Iran has conducted military drills in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz and announced joint naval drills with Russia in the Sea of Oman.

Laura James, Middle East senior analyst at Oxford Analytica, described the current situation as “extremely dangerous,” with the U.S. and Iran “certainly closer” to an outright conflict than last week.

“The thing that is now a particular concern over the past 24 hours is the very rapid pace at which the United States is reinforcing its air power in the region. That, of course, can still be signalling and pressure for a particular diplomatic outcome,” James told CNBC’s “Access Middle East” on Thursday.

“But as more and more planes comes in and more and more equipment comes in, that signalling gets more and more expensive. And therefore, the payoff you want for it in diplomatic terms has to be larger — and there is simply no sign Tehran can offer the absolute minimum that Washington is likely to demand,” she added.

Oil prices

Energy market participants have been closely watching the outcome of the U.S.-Iran talks in Geneva, particularly as it relates to the Strait of Hormuz, a major international waterway that Iran partially closed on Tuesday citing “security precautions.”

Located in the gulf between Oman and Iran, the Strait of Hormuz is recognized as one of the world’s most important oil choke points.

About 13 million barrels per day of crude oil transited the Strait of Hormuz in 2025, accounting for roughly 31% of global seaborne crude flows, data provided by market intelligence firm Kpler showed.

Oil prices were higher on Thursday, extending gains after settling up more than 4% in the previous session.

International benchmark Brent crude futures with April delivery rose 1.5% to $71.41 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures with March delivery stood 1.7% higher at $66.27.

— CNBC’s Lee Ying Shan contributed to this report.

A congressional deposition of Leslie Wexner, one of Jeffrey Epstein’s closest known associates and top benefactors, kicked off behind closed doors in Ohio on Wednesday.

The deposition of the 88-year-old retail billionaire is occurring weeks after the Department of Justice released millions of additional Epstein-related files, which have revealed new links between the notorious sex offender and major figures in business and politics.

Wexner, the retired founder of Victoria’s Secret former parent company L Brands, has faced intense scrutiny for years over his personal and financial relationships with Epstein. The latest document dump raises new questions about the extent of that relationship and how long it lasted, despite Wexner’s claim that it was “completely severed” nearly two decades ago.

“I was naïve, foolish, and gullible to put any trust in Jeffrey Epstein,” Wexner said in a statement submitted to the House Oversight Committee ahead of the deposition.

“He was a con man. And while I was conned, I have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide,” Wexner said.

He went on to call Epstein a “master manipulator” who “lived a double life,” insisting that any criminal activities were “most carefully and fully hid from me.”

“Again, to be clear, I never saw or heard about Epstein being in the company of a minor girl,” Wexner said.

Decades earlier, Wexner had given Epstein, a high school math teacher turned well-connected money manager, power of attorney over his finances. Wexner had long been Epstein’s only publicly known client.

“The most important information for us is really about the money,” Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the Oversight Committee’s ranking Democrat, said on CNN earlier Wednesday.

“We know that Wexner was Jeffrey Epstein’s single largest benefactor,” Garcia said. “When you think about Epstein’s wealth, whether it was the plane, the island, the amount of money when had, his homes — much of that came directly from Wexner.”

“We’re not exactly sure why. It’s not clear,” he said. “When you talk to survivors, they’ll all share with you that Wexner was at the center of what Epstein was doing.”

Wexner has not been charged with any crime. After Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019 — and died by suicide in jail a month later — Wexner said he was embarrassed to have been “taken advantage of by someone who is … so depraved.”

The Oversight Committee had subpoenaed Wexner and other Epstein associates in January with bipartisan support.

In his prepared statement before Wednesday’s deposition, Wexner maintained that he “completely and irrevocably cut ties with Epstein nearly twenty years ago when I learned that he was an abuser, a crook, and a liar.”

“And, let me be crystal clear: I never witnessed nor had any knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activity. I was never a participant nor coconspirator in any of Epstein’s illegal activities. To my enormous embarrassment and regret I, like many others, was duped by a world-class con man. I cannot undo that part of my personal history even as I regret ever having met him,” Wexner’s statement said.

Wexner said he hired Epstein as a financial manager years after being introduced to him in the 1980s by insurance giant Aon’s former vice chairman Bob Meister. Wexner also said he consulted about Epstein with Ace Greenberg and Jimmy Cayne, of Epstein’s former employer Bear Stearns, and Elie de Rothschild of the Rothschild family banking dynasty, whom Epstein offered as a reference.

Epstein initially refused to take on Wexner as a client, instead offering occasional financial advice for free. “Little did I realize that, from the very start, Epstein was conniving to gain my trust,” Wexner’s statement read.

Wexner eventually succeeded in formally hiring Epstein. “Because my public company and other duties required my full attention, I provided Epstein with a power of attorney so he could execute transactions quickly, without constantly requiring my signature,” according to Wexner.

“The need for a power of attorney was clear to me, and I provided the same scope of authority to Epstein as I did to his successor, Dennis Hersch,” the statement said. “What I did not anticipate was Epstein misusing the trust I placed in him despite his fiduciary obligation to act in my best interest.”

As for the allegations that Epstein ran a widespread sex trafficking operation that exploited girls and young women, Wexner is adamant that he knew nothing about it.

“He knew that I never would have tolerated his horrible behavior. Not any of it. At no time did I ever witness the side of Epstein’s life for which he is now infamous,” Wexner’s statement said.

“To be clear, never once in 36 years have I been unfaithful to Abigail in any way, shape, or form. Never,” he said referring to his wife. “Any suggestion to the contrary is absolutely and entirely false.”

Wexner also said he never traveled on Epstein’s airplane and disputed the “rumor” that he gave Epstein a townhouse in New York. Epstein “purchased it from me for what I was told was the appraised value,” and Wexner never entered the house afterward, according to the statement.

Wexner admitted visiting Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, but said he did so only once, when his wife and young children “stopped for a few hours one morning while we were on a cruise on our boat.”

Wexner said he revoked Epstein’s power of attorney in September 2007, months before Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to a state charge of soliciting a minor for prostitution.

“In light of his eventual guilty plea and deception of our family, we completely severed our relationship with Epstein. Epstein was permanently and irrevocably out of my life,” Wexner wrote.

The Wexner Foundation told CNBC in a statement, “We hold in our hearts the survivors of Epstein’s horrific crimes and pray for their healing and strength.”

Stephen Colbert ripped CBS for barring him from airing on his late-night TV show an interview with Texas state Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate.

“You know who’s not one of my guests tonight? That’s Texas Representative James Talarico,” Colbert told his show’s studio audience for Monday night’s broadcast of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

“He was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast,” said Colbert, drawing boos from the crowd.

“Then I was told in some uncertain terms that not only could I not have him on, I could not mention me not having him on,” Colbert said.

“And because my network clearly doesn’t want us to talk about this, let’s talk about this,” Colbert said to laughs and applause.

Colbert suggested that CBS’s move was the result of concern that the network would draw the ire of the Federal Communications Commission.

Colbert’s comments are the latest escalation in tension between talk show hosts and the FCC, following the brief suspension by ABC of fellow late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s show last summer.

The FCC last month issued guidance to the three broadcast networks, reminding them of the 1934 law that requires networks to provide equal opportunity for coverage for political candidates if their opponents appear on air.

The guidance pointedly said there is no evidence that late-night and daytime talk show interviews would qualify for an exemption allowed under the law for “bona fide” news coverage.

Colbert, during Monday’s show, pointed to reports earlier this month that the FCC was investigating the ABC daytime talk show “The View” because of an appearance by Talarico on that program.

CBS, in a statement to CNBC, said, “The Late Show was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Talarico.”

“The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled,” CBS said.

“The Late Show decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on-air promotion on the broadcast rather than potentially providing the equal-time options.”

Talarico on Tuesday posted a link to his interview with Colbert, which was available online.

In a statement provided to CNBC by his Senate campaign, Talarico said, “I think [President] Donald Trump is worried we’re about to flip Texas. This is the party that ran against cancel culture.”

“Now they’re trying to control what we watch, what we say, and what we read,” Talarico said.

“This is the most dangerous kind of cancel culture, the kind that comes from the top. A threat to one of our First Amendment rights is a threat to all of our First Amendment rights.”

Talarico is in a close Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat against Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D- Texas, in which early voting began Tuesday. The winner will face off against the winner of the Republican primary between Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Democrats last won a statewide race in Texas in 1994.

The FCC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about whether CBS would have run afoul of agency guidance by airing Talarico’s interview.

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, in a statement, called CBS’s decision “yet another troubling example of corporate capitulation in the face of this Administration’s broader campaign to censor and control speech.”

“The FCC has no lawful authority to pressure broadcasters for political purposes or to create a climate that chills free expression,” Gomez said.

“CBS is fully protected under the First Amendment to determine what interviews it airs, which makes its decision to yield to political pressure all the more disappointing,” Gomez said.

“It is no secret that Paramount, CBS’s parent company, has regulatory matters before the government, but corporate interests cannot justify retreating from airing newsworthy content. The FCC is powerless to impose restrictions on protected speech, and any attempt to intimidate broadcasters into self-censorship undermines both press freedom and public trust.”

“I once again urge broadcasters and their parent companies to stand firm against these unlawful pressures and continue exercising their constitutional right to speak freely and without government interference,” Gomez said.

Paramount Skydance has launched a hostile tender bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, a deal that would require regulatory approval from the federal government if WBD shareholders accept the offer.

CBS in July said Colbert’s show would be cancelled in May.

That announcement came shortly after Colbert blasted the network for giving what he called a “big fat bribe” to Trump. Paramount Skydance, earlier agreed to pay $16 million for Trump’s future presidential library to settle a lawsuit over the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

A week after CBS said it was cancelling Colbert’s show, the FCC approved the $8 billion merger between Paramount and Skydance Media.

Colbert, in September, spoke up for Kimmel when ABC pulled Kimmel off the air following remarks by FCC Chair Brendan Carr that the network’s broadcast license was at risk because of comments Kimmel made about the alleged killer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Kimmel’s show returned to the air about a week later.

Congressional Democrats sent a counteroffer to the White House and Republicans in negotiations to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, a spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday night.

Schumer, D-N.Y., and other Democrats are locked in negotiations with President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans about imposing new restrictions on federal immigration agents in exchange for funding DHS. The agency shut down early Saturday morning after two weeks of stopgap funding ran out.

The negotiations over DHS funding are heightened after federal immigration agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens during an immigration surge in Minneapolis. Democrats demanded that DHS funding be stripped from a package appropriating money for a handful of other agencies in the wake of the shootings and forced negotiations on immigration enforcement.

The Trump administration has since said it would wind down the Minneapolis operation.

Democrat didn’t say what’s in their counteroffer. Schumer’s office didn’t respond to an email seeking comment on details of the proposal.

Democrats have pushed for a ban on agents masking their faces, mandatory body cameras, a requirement for judicial warrants for immigration arrests and an end to “roving patrols,” among other priorities. The White House and Republicans have pushed back on the mask ban and judicial warrant requirements.

The White House sent an initial counteroffer to a Democratic proposal last week. Democrats threw cold water on that, arguing it did not adequately address their concerns.

Democrats have less incentive to capitulate during this latest spending standoff, especially given the limited scope of the shutdown and recent polling showing that most Americans feel Trump’s immigration policy has gone too far.

“Built into this is the substantially changing politics of immigration. I think Republicans are still acting like they hold a straight flush on immigration, but they clearly are only holding a pair of threes,” Jared Leopold, a Democratic strategist who has worked on the Hill and for the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, said in an interview.

Many DHS employees are still working despite the shutdown, as much of the agency is deemed essential during a closure and parts of it are funded through last year’s massive tax and spending bill. But essential employees may be forced to work without pay if the shutdown drags on for a long time. That includes employees at DHS subagencies, including the Transportation Security Administration, Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Immigration enforcement operations at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol can largely proceed unaffected by the shutdown. Congressional Republicans injected hundreds of billions of dollars into the agency’s law enforcement apparatus as part of the party-line “One Big Beautiful Bill” law.

The rest of the government is funded through Sept. 30.