Trump Says He’ll Declare the Hormuz Strait a US Territory ‘Pretty Soon’
The president said the takeover of the vital waterway would happen once U.S. forces defeat Iran.
All of the press coverage about the shortage of US missile interceptors and long-range attack weapons has clearly hampered president Trump’s negotiating position with Iran. Iran, rather than take advantage of Trump’s unilateral ceasefire in order to gain some room to rebuild and recoup their losses, has decided to take full advantage of Trump’s military limitations and demand yet more concessions. To some extent, I can see Iran’s point of view. In prior negotiations, Trump has demanded “unconditional surrender” and that the Strait of Hormuz return to open shipping like before the war, without giving Iran anything, after having suffered the vast majority of damage and loss of life from the joint Israeli/American attack. According to “The Hormuz Letter on X,” “Trump has privately admitted defeat and told senior aides he is willing to end the Iran war without a nuclear deal if Iran fully reopens the Strait of Hormuz, a [partial] retreat from his initial ‘unconditional surrender’ demand, per WSJ... “Trump has been laying the groundwork to declare victory based solely on Hormuz reopening, walking away from his initial promises to ‘decimate’ Iran's nuclear program.” However, Iran has raised its price for reopening the Strait in the form of new demands, effectively turning what Trump hoped would be his exit into a full US surrender document.” Trump, of course, has rejected all of Iran’s demands so the stalemate continues, and economic hardship continues to loom. To receive a free, one-time sample of the Brief, along with option on how to subscribe, click on Request a sample on the left.
The president said the takeover of the vital waterway would happen once U.S. forces defeat Iran.
Trump and the Pentagon face mounting questions about the state of the military's arsenal, with the war now in its sixth month and a peace deal remaining elusive. Iran responded to reports of shrinking US supplies by saying its locally produced weapons gave it the ability to respond to "any threat".
Dozens of Patriot interceptors, (as well as thousands of 155mm rounds, 100+ Hellfires, 250+ GMLRS, plus Stingers, AIMs and grenade launchers) were halted on their way to Ukraine. Note the timing just before Trump goes to great lengths to say how much he knows Ukraine needs Patriots. This kind of cat and mouse game with the administration tormenting Ukraine over Patriots continues for the entire year. And then Trump’s War with Iran breaks out and Patriot deliveries practically stop. For all of 2026, according to Zelensky, deliveries of Patriots to Ukraine were running at a paltry one-third level of the reduced flow of 2025.
Russia used North Korean missiles in a Zaporizhzhia attack killing six, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed. Six more died in Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk, while Kyiv suffered fires from the attacks. Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed strikes on Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia, though it denied North Korean missile use.
Indiana Lt. Governor Micah Beckwith called for the firing of Fever coach Stephanie White after she defended DiJonai Carrington despite her Flagrant 2 foul on Sophie Cunningham. While WNBA journalists and reporters circled the wagons in support of Carrington after she clotheslined Cunningham during a layup, it was Fever coach Stephanie White who provided the most puzzling defense during the post-game press conference.
Moscow says it knows where Western commercial ships are sailing, as President Vladimir Putin threatens retaliation if Europe starts seizing Russian vessels.
President Donald Trump’s executive order calling for separating the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine into three single-disease vaccines administered at separate medical visits is a long-overdue step in the right direction, according to doctors, scientists and medical freedom advocates who spoke with The Defender. However, it could be years before separate vaccines become available.
Trump claims "total control" of Hormuz, signals strategy of continued economic pressure. Iran declares "victory" & says it can sustain the conflict & outlast. Iran shifts to a "survival economy" to withstand sanctions, Washington's economic warfare, naval blockade. Peace talks basically not happening, with Pakistan reporting "absolutely no progress." Tehran: Hormuz remains closed until Washington accepts all conditions.
On Wednesday a "massive" Ukrainian drone and missile strike was unleashed on Russia's port city of Novorossiysk, which badly damaged grain export terminals at what also constitutes the the last major Russian naval base on the Black Sea.
The fraud factories are highly successful and growing, and the United States is feeling the toll. In 2025 alone, Americans reported 72,000 cases of cryptocurrency investment fraud to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. More than $7.5 billion was lost.
Iran rejects peace push narrative: Tehran says Hormuz stays closed until the US accepts all its conditions. Hardliners take control: Iran reshuffles top military leadership, signaling a tougher stance. Pakistan pushes talks: Interior Minister arrives in Tehran for mediation efforts. US enforces blockade: American forces reportedly fired on a ship trying to breach the Iran blockade. Shipping attacks escalate in region: A Houthi attack reportedly killed three crew members, while another vessel was struck in the Gulf of Oman.
Gov. Healey erases final limits, joining states where viable babies have no protection
A Maryland woman has agreed to pay the U.S. government $160,000 to resolve civil allegations that she submitted false claims for payment, following her earlier criminal conviction for defrauding a nonprofit that received USAID funding.
China’s independent refiners are likely to return to buying higher volumes of Iran’s crude oil this month as stockpiles in Shandong, home to the independent Chinese refiners, have dropped to the lowest level this year after the biggest estimated monthly draw in a decade.
Trump demands Iran compensate the US and families of fallen soldiers, but issues no new military threats. US again pivots to economic warfare: Trump says Washington is "low-keying it" and betting Iran's economic weakness will force concessions. Iran digs in on Hormuz: Tehran says the Strait will not return to pre-war conditions without major concessions. Hardliners gain influence: Former IRGC commander Mohsen Rezaei is set to take Iran's top security post. Deal remains elusive: Tehran appears intent on prolonging talks and extracting maximum concessions from Washington.
The increase in executions has unfolded since the United States and Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran in late February.
The order recommended administering the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine in three separate shots.
UC Davis researchers tested 54 avocado oil-labeled products purchased from California supermarkets and online retailers in 2025 and 2026 and found that 48, or 89%, contained cheaper oils despite being labeled as containing premium avocado oil. The failure rate included 93% of chips, and beyond the snack aisle, 71% of mayonnaise products and 100% of salad dressings tested also failed.
AFP News, citing Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella, reports that the death toll from the magnitude-7.4 earthquake that struck western Colombia earlier today has climbed to 111, with at least 87 people injured.
... an OpenAI model broke out of a testing sandbox and used zero-day exploits to hack into Hugging Face, an open-source community for AI and machine learning, to crack a problem it was instructed to solve. “This is some of the clearest evidence yet that an AI model can run a complete cyberattack from start to finish without a human steering it,” Andrew Jones, cofounder and chief product officer at cybersecurity firm Adaptive Security, told The Epoch Times.
“It is up to the U.S. side to stop and make amends for its illegal and destructive actions,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said, referencing the U.S. military’s blockade of Iranian ports.
However, analysts - as well as social media users in Iran - were quick to identify the footage as old material from his past lectures in Qom. This has in turn resulted in accusations of a cover-up, and that Tehran is in damage control concerning his status.
The new orders came after the Supreme Court in June overturned a bid by Trump to restrict birthright citizenship on the grounds it violated the 14th Amendment.
Last weekend, the US military seemed poised to carry out Trump's threat to unleash “the biggest attack since World War II," but he called it off, at least in part because of profound concerns raised by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Iran had promised to wreak havoc up and down the Gulf. “The only ones in favor of the operation were elements of CENTCOM,” said one source, referring to the Pentagon's Central Command, which is responsible for action in the Middle East. The source also pointed out that Israel also wants escalation of the war.
Ukraine failed to intercept any of the 24 ballistic missiles and four Zircon cruise missiles Russia fired in the August 5 attack, underscoring the strain on its missile defenses. U.S. Patriot availability has become a significant constraint after extensive interceptor use during the Iran conflict. Kyiv is increasingly seeking European inventories, expanded production, and eventually licensed or joint Patriot manufacturing to secure its air defenses ahead of winter.
"He called for the United States to lift its naval blockade and sanctions on Iran, withdraw the U.S. military from around Iran, pay war reparations and release frozen Iranian assets, as well as end attacks on Iran's allies in the region and threats against the country,"
The UAE, which left OPEC on May 1, has found workarounds to the blockage at the Strait of Hormuz. It has been shuttling crude through the chokepoint to load it on larger vessels outside the Strait, maximizing the use of its onshore pipeline to ship crude from the west to the east of the country, bypassing Hormuz, and shipping tankers through the Strait in dark mode.
The department indicted the SPLC in April on 11 counts of wire fraud, making false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The organization was accused of defrauding donors by funneling millions of dollars to informants who infiltrated white supremacist and hate groups that it publicly opposed.
Despite the bluster from Iranian officials on social media, it should come as no surprise that the country is not doing well economically. From the beginning of the conflict to current day, Iran has been dealt an estimated $270 billion to $300 billion in total damage due to a steady barrage of strikes, including numerous infrastructure targets from bridges, highways, railways, airports, etc.
President Trump on Friday urged U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro “revisit” her decision to drop charges against an accused Reflecting Pool vandal after new photos shared on social media, showed clear signs of vandalism.