The Latest: Trump launches a new effort to reopen the Strait of Hormuz

Summary

U.S. forces on Monday launched an effort to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, where hundreds have been stuck since the Iran war began. Two American-flagged merchant ships have “successfully transited” through the critical waterway, the U.S. military said. Separately, the U.S. military denied Iran’s claims that it struck an American Navy vessel southeast of the strait. Iran handed over its latest proposal for negotiations with the U.S. to mediators in Pakistan, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported Friday. Trump subsequently said he’s “not satisfied” with it, but did not elaborate on the proposal’s apparent shortcomings. The shaky ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran has lasted for three weeks. Here's the latest: Cargo ship on fire off the coast of the UAE as the nation warned of incoming attacks from Iran The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center announced the fire on the ship, saying it was in the vessel’s engine room. It said the ship’s crew was accounted for. UAE’s eastern emirate of Fujairah says an Iranian drone sparked a fire at an oil facility Fujairah is the terminus of a pipeline the United Arab Emirates has used to avoid shipping some of its oil through the Strait of Hormuz in the Iran war. The UAE on Monday issued its first three missile alerts since a ceasefire took hold. Iran’s military command says ships passing through the strait must coordinate with them “We warn that any foreign military force — especially the aggressive U.S. military — that intends to approach or enter the Strait of Hormuz will be targeted,” Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi told state broadcaster IRIB on Monday. UAE issues another missile alert as tensions rise over the Strait of Hormuz The United Arab Emirates issued the alert without saying what prompted it. It was the second such alert Monday, after there had been none in recent weeks following the Iran ceasefire. Authorities haven’t provided further details on either alert. An all-clear signal was issued minutes after the first alert. There were no immediate reports of casualties. ▶ Read more Judge in dispute over Washington golf course tells Trump officials not to cut trees without notice The federal judge told the U.S. government Monday not to cut down more than 10 trees without first providing notice amid a legal dispute at a historic Washington golf course President Trump plans to renovate. U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes said during a remote hearing that she wasn’t going to issue a temporary restraining order just yet in the case brought by the DC Preservation League. She also told the National Park Service that it should first discuss any plans with government lawyers if it was going to cut down more than 10 trees. Monday’s hearing came after the plaintiff’s emergency petition seeking to stop work at the course, citing news reports that major renovations were to begin Monday. Kevin Griess, the superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks for the Park Service, said during the hearing there was no plan to begin such work Monday but added that a safety assessment was underway. ▶ Read more Supreme Court restores access to the abortion pill mifepristone The Supreme Court’s order Monday blocks a ruling that had threatened to upend one of the main ways abortion is provided across the nation. The order signed by Justice Samuel Alito temporarily allows women seeking abortions to obtain the pill at pharmacies or through the mail, without an in-person visit to a doctor. Those rules had been in effect for several years until a federal appeals court imposed new restrictions last week. The majority of abortions in the U.S. are obtained through medications, usually a combination of mifepristone and a second drug, misoprostol. Their availability has blunted the impact of abortion bans that most Republican-led states have started enforcing since a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed for state bans. Louisiana sued to restrict access to mifepristone, asserting that its availability undermined the ban there. ▶ Read more Sen. Steve Daines travels to China, ahead of planned state visit by Trump He announced Monday that he’ll lead a bipartisan congressional delegation on a visit to China this week, when the group of five senators will be visiting tech businesses in Shanghai and Beijing and meeting Chinese officials. The trip will come just about a week before President Trump is scheduled to visit China for the first time since he took office. It also will be the first state visit by a U.S. president since 2017. Traveling with Daines are fellow Republican Sens. Deb Fischer, Mike Lee and Jerry Moran as well as Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell. Trump’s vision: DIY defense in Europe As part of its National Defense Strategy announced in January — a sweeping document laying out a vision on everything from deterring China to defending against cyberattacks to disrupting Iran’s nuclear ambitions — the Trump administration said Europe must do more for its own defense. While “we are and will remain engaged in Europe, we must — and will — prioritize defending the U.S. Homeland and deterring China,” it said. Among other things, the document noted that Europe’s economic power, while shrinking in relative terms globally, remains significant, and said Germany’s economy alone “dwarfs that of Russia.” “Fortunately, our NATO allies are substantially more powerful than Russia — it is not even close,” it said, noting a recent commitment among NATO allies to raise national defense spending to 5% of GDP in total, a push led by Trump. What to know about the US defense posture in Europe The U.S. European Command, created in 1947 and known as EUCOM, is one of 11 combat commands within the Defense Department, and covers some 50 countries and territories. In addition to more than 36,000 troops in Germany, Italy hosts more than 12,000 and there’s another 10,000 in the United Kingdom, according to Pentagon numbers from December. The Pentagon has offered few details about which troops or operations would be affected in the drawdown announced Friday. The U.S. increased its European deployment after Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine four years ago. NATO allies like Germany have expected for over a year that these troops would be the first to leave. ▶ Read more White House to hold a summit for small businesses The event in the East Room will bring together more than 130 small business owners as the president highlights his administration’s policies benefiting them. “Our nation’s 36 million small businesses now have the confidence to hire, reinvest and expand, unleashing an historic era of sustained growth,” Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler said ahead of the event. “America is open for business again.” The gathering is meant to mark this year’s National Small Business Week and the owners represent manufacturing, food production, defense, energy and retail businesses, among other areas, according to the White House. European leaders see Trump’s troop drawdown from Germany as new proof they must go it alone European leaders on Monday said President Trump’s snap decision to pull thousands of U.S. troops out of Germany came as a surprise but is a fresh sign that Europe must take care of its own security. The Pentagon announced last week that it would pull some 5,000 troops out of Germany, but Trump told reporters Saturday that “we’re going to cut way down. And we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000.” He offered no reason for the move, which blindsided NATO, but his decision came amid an escalating dispute with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, and Trump’s anger over European allies’ reluctance to get involved in the conflict in the Middle East. ▶ Read more Wall Street hesitates and oil prices climb with uncertainty about the Strait of Hormuz The U.S. stock market is holding tentatively near its record heights Monday, while oil prices climb with uncertainty about when oil tankers can resume crossing the Strait of Hormuz and restore the world’s flow of crude. Dueling claims about a possible Iranian strike on a U.S. Navy vessel in the strait heightened the tensions. The S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, coming off its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 216 points, or 0.4%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.1%. The action was stronger in the oil market, where the price for a barrel of Brent crude climbed 2% to $110.37 and briefly topped $114 during the morning. Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to its war with the United States has kept oil tankers pent up in the Persian Gulf and away from customers worldwide. That in turn has sent the price of Brent soaring from roughly $70 per barrel before the war. ▶ Read more US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to visit the Vatican this week as Trump-Pope tensions rise Rubio will travel to Rome and Vatican City this week in a bid to ease rising tensions between the Trump administration and Pope Leo over U.S. policies, particularly with Iran. The State Department said Monday that Rubio, a devout Catholic who’s visited Rome and the Vatican at least three times since becoming Trump’s top diplomat, would be in Italy on Thursday and Friday. “Secretary Rubio will meet with Holy See leadership to discuss the situation in the Middle East and mutual interests in the Western Hemisphere” the department said. “Meetings with Italian counterparts will be focused on shared security interests and strategic alignment.” The trip comes as Trump has criticized Pope Leo, the first American pontiff, for his stances on the Middle East and elsewhere and posting social media images likening Trump to Jesus Christ. Iran stands firm on its grip of the strait The disruption of the waterway has squeezed countries in Europe and Asia that depend on Persian Gulf oil and gas, raising prices far beyond the region. Trump has promised to bring down gas prices as he faces midterm elections this year. The U.S. has warned shipping companies they could face sanctions for paying Iran for transit of the strait. It has enacted a naval blockade on Iranian ports since April 13, telling 49 commercial ships to turn back, U.S. Central Command said Sunday. The blockade has deprived Tehran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy. U.S. officials have expressed hope the blockade forces Iran back to the negotiation table. US claims progress in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, saying two merchant ships have transited The U.S. military said Monday that two American-flagged merchant ships had successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz and Navy guided-missile destroyers in the Persian Gulf were helping to restore shipping traffic. It separately denied Iran’s claims to have struck an American Navy vessel. The announcement came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a new initiative to help guide ships through the critical waterway for global energy. Iran has effectively closed the strait since the U.S. and Israel started the war Feb. 28, rattling the global economy. The U.S.-led Joint Maritime Information Center has advised ships to cross the strait in Oman’s waters, saying it set up an “enhanced security area.” U.S. Central Command didn’t say when the Navy ships arrived or when the merchant vessels departed. It was unclear whether shipping companies, and their insurers, will feel comfortable taking the risk given that Iran has fired on ships in the waterway and vowed to keep doing so. ▶ Read more