Trump on Iran:

We're going to let them keep talking.

US strikes will take place against Iran in response to the surprise attack overnight against US forces in Jordan.

Source: Fox News

Trump on the recent Iranian attack on Jordan:

It was a surprise attack. U.S. forces had just minutes to shoot down Iranian missiles.

Source: Fox News

Next Up on BJP's Target List: Muslim-Founded University Faces Closure

Under BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, authorities ordered demolition buildings at Mohammad Ali Jauhar University threatening the future of roughly 2,400 students.

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Trump:

Many more people died of Covid under the Biden Administration than under the Trump Administration. “Operation Warp Speed” was a SPECTACULAR SUCCESS, in fact, many say, one of the most successful things ever done by an American President.

I overrode Fauci on this. His ideas were CRAZY! Also, I said from the beginning that the Virus came from the Wuhan Laboratory in China. Fauci strongly disagreed, always trying to protect China.

I Inherited Fauci, who was there since the 1980’s, but with each passing day, relied less and less on him. He made too many bad calls, like on MASKS.

Remember at the beginning he was an anti-masker. He then switched to a super-masker. In any event I didn’t let him shut the Country down, although he wanted to. I went the Federalist way, and let the governors decide.

The Republican governors did a much better job than the Dumocrats. Fauci was largely taken out of play, and then along came Sleepy Joe Biden, who made Fauci a “King!” I called Biden to tell him Fauci was no good, either didn’t have a clue, or was dishonest. The call was well received, but sadly, not acted on.

Biden went on to give Fauci vast destructive power. The rest is history!

Cuba's Diaz-Canel Accuses US of 'Genocide'

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel accused the US of "genocide" and seeking to seize Cuba, citing a crippling US oil embargo causing 20-hour blackouts.

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Netanyahu declined to meet Zelensky during their overlapping visits to Washington.

A Ukrainian source said Netanyahu's office initially proposed the meeting, but later canceled it, citing scheduling constraints.

Another source said Zelenskyy's office had first requested the meeting and never received a response.

Both leaders met separately with Trump and attended Sen. Lindsey Graham's funeral, where they were seen speaking briefly.

Source: Haaretz

Netanyahu will meet today with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Senator Ted Cruz:

Putin is a billionaire.

The leaders of communist regimes are always rich.

Brent crude jumped nearly 7% and briefly pushed past $90 a barrel, with WTI up over 6% to around $84.

The rally was triggered by Iran's IRGC firing missiles at a US base in Jordan and Trump's blunt vow to hit back.

Oil had been dropping into the high $70s on de-escalation hopes just days ago, but the market is once again pricing in disruption risk to Gulf and Strait of Hormuz flows.

Iranian media report that four IRGC members from Kashan were killed in the joint US-Saudi strikes that hit PMF sites across Iraq overnight.

They were named as Ali-Asghar Astaneh, Abolfazl Motaghi, Morteza Akbari, and Amir Abbas Daram-Forush.

The reports were first published by Tehran-linked outlet Didban, then deleted.

A U.S. startup's $240,000 autonomous sea drone got close enough to film a Chinese Type 052D destroyer in Philippine waters.

The footage highlights how cheap unmanned vessels can surveil—and potentially threaten—much more expensive warships.

Source: Reuters

Pentagon Weighs Seizing Troop Cellphones

US Central Command warns that soldiers' social media videos provide real-time targeting data to Iran, leading officials to consider seizing cellphones from troops deployed across the Middle East.

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Iraq's Islamic Resistance said it will delay its retaliation for recent U.S. attacks until after the Arbaeen pilgrimage to avoid disrupting security for millions of pilgrims.

The group warned that strikes against U.S. forces are inevitable and said Saudi Arabia could also be targeted if necessary.

Netanyahu met with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at Blair House in Washington.

Senior Israeli official:

Mojtaba Khamenei is definitely alive. Iran currently possesses approximately 1,500 ballistic missiles.

Senior Israeli official:

The Iranians have moved centrifuges to Pickaxe, but Israel is not aware of any uranium enrichment taking place there.

Houthis Prepare to Impose Fees for Red Sea Transit

Yemen's Houthi rebels are developing plans to impose transit fees on commercial vessels navigating the strategic Bab el-Mandeb strait, formulated alongside Iranian advisers.

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CENTCOM:

The Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway. The IRGC has no authority to dictate routes for free and open traffic flow.

Commercial vessels continue to use the strait with U.S. military support.

Since early May, CENTCOM forces have helped approximately 1,000 vessels and 500 million barrels of crude oil pass through the narrow waterway.

Sweden is creating a new civilian foreign intelligence agency, UND, modeled on Britain's MI6 after its military intelligence misjudged Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The new agency will focus on political and strategic intelligence, reflecting a broader European push to strengthen independent intelligence capabilities amid growing security threats and uncertainty over U.S. support.

Source: The Economist

BREAKING: A US-owned LNG floating storage facility with a Marshall Islands flag was hit by at least one drone in Damietta, Egypt.

Source: Ambrey

CSIS estimates the US has burned through so much of its air defense stockpile in the Iran war that Patriot inventories are now under 1,000 interceptors and THAAD is down to about 250.

Pre-war baselines were roughly 2,330 Patriots and 360 THAADs, meaning more than half of each has been used up.

On top of that, more than 1,000 Tomahawks and 1,100 JASSMs have been fired, along with heavy drawdowns of SM-3, SM-6, and PrSM missiles.

Rebuild timelines are brutal.

Tomahawk, THAAD, and Patriot need 3+ years to return to pre-war levels, with major FY27 Patriot buys not delivering until May 2029.

It leaves a multi-year vulnerability window for any Western Pacific fight with China.

It also constrains transfers to Ukraine and Gulf allies.