PARIS (AP) — Lobster, caviar — and a surprise signature.
At a glitzy dinner in Versailles hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, U.S. President Donald Trump seized the opportunity to sign an initial deal with Iran.
Guests at Wednesday's late-night dinner were gobsmacked. White House officials had considered a formal signing ceremony on Friday in Switzerland instead.
One of the attendees, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure, described the scene, which capped three days of intense diplomatic talks at a G7 summit.
“The president of the United States thanked everyone for the G7 and for the dinner, and in his speech, said, ‘And by the way, I have a good agreement with Iran, and I’m going to sign it,'” Lescure said on RTL radio.
“We literally saw (U.S. Secretary of State) Marco Rubio leave — I don’t know if he had already printed the memorandum of agreement or went to print it — and come back,” Lescure added. “We cleared the plates.”
Another French official said Rubio received a message about the deal during dinner, at around 11 p.m.
Rubio and French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noël Barrot left the room to review the memorandum of understanding before bringing the document, in English and Farsi, to Trump for signing, the official said. The official was not authorized to discuss the details with the media, and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“In any case, for us, ministers of the French government, it was a surprise,” Lescure said.
In videos posted on X by Macron and a White House aide, Trump was seen seated at a table signing a paper copy of the agreement. He then handed the document and pen to Rubio as the dinner host, sitting next to him, told him: “Good job. Bravo.”
Officials and guests applauded.
As the U.S. and French leaders left the palace, Trump casually announced to reporters as he was getting into his car: “We signed in Versailles.”
U.S. President Donald Trump is greeted by French President Emmanuel Macron and first lady Brigitte Macron as he arrives at the Palace of Versailles, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in Versailles, France. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
U.S. President Donald Trump departs after the dinner at the Palace of Versailles, early Thursday, June 18, 2026, in Versailles, France. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool)
U.S. President Donald Trump, left, receives a tour of Chateau de Versailles from President Emmanuel Macron ahead of a dinner on Wednesday, June 17, 2026 in Versailles, France, after the G7 summit in Evian, France. (Anna Moneymaker/Pool Photo via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump has nominated a Justice Department official to an open seat on a key civil rights agency, signaling his administration's determination to forge ahead with efforts to dismantle diversity policies it claims discriminate against white workers and others.
The White House announced late Monday that it has tapped Matt Zandi to fill a seat previously held by Jocelyn Samuels, one of two Democratic commissioners fired by Trump before the end of their terms in an unprecedented move to seize control of the EEOC, a bipartisan agency created by Congress through the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Zandi currently serves as chief of staff for the Justice Department’s civil rights division, which saw the mass departure of career lawyers as it shifted to investigating employers and schools for what it considers unlawful diversity and transgender policies.
If confirmed, Zandi would serve a five-year term ending July 1, 2031.
Zandi's confirmation would further shift the balance of power at the EEOC to the right. Currently, there are two Republican commissioners — Andrea Lucas, who is the chair, and Brittany Panuccio — and one Democrat — Kalpana Kotagal, whose term expires next year.
Under Lucas, the EEOC has steadfastly enforced Trump's civil rights priorities, often in tight cooperation with the Department of Justice.
The Trump administration has yet to nominate anyone to fill a fifth seat, left open by the firing of Democrat Charlotte Burrows.
The impending Democratic takeover of the Senate majority in January raises the possibility that the EEOC won't have five commissioners for the remainder of Trump's term. Leading Democratic senators have vowed not to confirm any of Trump's nominees to the EEOC in protest of his firing of the Democratic commissioners, which they say stripped the agency of its historic independence and bipartisanship.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat, criticized Zandi's nomination as further politicizing the EEOC, which enforces the country's employment anti-discrimination laws.
“For a bipartisan commission, the custom is to pair nominees from the two parties. This would be the third Republican commissioner in a row without a pairing, an overtly partisan decision of the administration,” Baldwin said Tuesday, speaking during a Senate committee hearing on the confirmation of Catherine Eschbach to be EEOC general counsel.
However, Trump's approach to the EEOC received a major vindication after the Supreme Court upheld his decision to fire the heads of several independent agencies, significantly expanding presidential power. The ruling prompted Samuels to drop a lawsuit challenging her dismissal from the EEOC.
Zandi and Eschbach are likely to be confirmed while Republicans control the Senate.
Senate Republicans have mostly praised Trump's approach to civil rights enforcement, and Lucas and Panuccio sailed through their confirmations despite unanimous opposition from Democrats.
“Under this administration, EEOC has sharpened its focus on even-handed enforcement of employment discrimination laws,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, said during the hearing on Eschbach, whom he praised.
The EEOC had no comment. The Department of Justice and Zandi didn’t reply to a request for comment.
FILE - The emblem of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is displayed on a podium in Denver on Feb. 16, 2016. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
