The U.S. and Iran are back to bombing every day in a bid to control the Strait of Hormuz. And neither is backing down, showing the limitations of President Donald Trump's reliance on escalating airstrikes to bend Tehran to his will.
While the Trump administration says it is open to diplomacy, Iran so far has refused to loosen its grip over the crucial oil shipping corridor in the Persian Gulf. It is raising questions about the strategy for the conflict's next phase. The intensifying attacks have collapsed an interim ceasefire deal, killed more American troops and sent U.S. gasoline prices back up, posing more problems for Republicans hoping to get reelected.
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Hegseth’s remarks repeatedly interrupted by anti-war protestors
One after another, protestors interrupted the defense secretary’s opening remarks and were quickly removed by Capitol Police. The secretary paused four times for protestors to be removed from the room.
“Stop bombing our children, stop bombing Palestine, this is illegal,” yelled one protestor who was escorted from the room.
“We will have order in the hearing room,” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told the room after a third protestor interrupted Hegseth’s remarks.
Collins added after a fourth protester interrupted proceedings: “I would ask that the Capitol Police, whose professionalism I admire, remove those who are seeking to disrupt the hearing.”
Senators criticize Iran war’s costs and Hegseth’s leadership as hearing begins
Senators opened Tuesday’s hearing on the Iran war’s costs with ample criticism for the conflict as well as the stalled careers of Black and female military officers under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth is set to testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee as Republicans push a $95 billion budget package to fund the military.
Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican and committee chair, cited news reports that women and people of color are disproportionately fired or sidelined under Hegseth’s leadership, arguing that it’s “likely to discourage well qualified women and individuals of color from joining our armed forces.”
Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat, noted the war’s lack of popular support and impact on the economy as gas prices rise and economic growth slows.
Trump adds Thomas Jefferson statue to Rose Garden patio
The statue of a seated Jefferson currently faces the White House with its back toward the Oval Office.
The White House says it’s positioned that way because groundskeepers need to reinforce the foundation at the location where Trump wants to put the statue. After that happens, plans call for the statue of a founding father who was the third U.S. president to face the Rose Garden and the Oval Office.
The White House says it was a gift from George Lundeen, a Colorado-based bronze sculptor.
The Jefferson statue replaces one of George Washington, which was moved to another location in the Rose Garden.
Judge weighs bid to block Trump administration policy to reject visas for natives of 75 countries
Lawyers for dozens of immigrants have asked a federal judge to block the Trump administration from enforcing a policy directing the State Department to reject visa applications by citizens of 75 countries based on their nationality.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden in Washington, D.C., didn’t rule from the bench on Tuesday after hearing arguments from attorneys for the government and roughly four dozen immigrants from the countries singled out by the January 2026 policy.
McFadden, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, appeared to be skeptical that the lawsuit’s plaintiffs have legal standing to challenge the policy. But the judge also said he sees some legal precedent to support arguments by plaintiffs’ lawyers.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys said it’s illegal for the State Department to enforce a blanket prohibition on issuing immigrant visas to nationals of the 75 designated countries.
Government lawyers say the plaintiffs haven’t shown how they’re irreparably harmed by the policy.
UN chief warns military escalation puts pressure on trade, transport, fuel and commodities prices
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls attacks on civilian infrastructure in Iran and the region, including a desalination plant and nuclear power plant under construction, “unacceptable” and a violation of international law, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday.
Attacks on vital infrastructure for civilians including hospitals and water supplies must stop immediately, the secretary-general’s spokesman said.
The secretary-general and his personal envoy, Jean Arnault, call the current situation “teetering,” and don’t want to see a return to full-scale conflict, he said.
Guterres reiterates that there is no military solution to the conflict and calls for the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and intensified efforts toward a peaceful settlement, Dujarric said.
Trump appears to try to shift blame for US soldiers’ deaths
The president told reporters he would go to Dover for the dignified transfer of U.S. soldiers killed in the Middle East over the weekend.
“They did slip something through in Jordan,” he said, appearing to refer to the deadly Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks there. “If we had other operators, you know, it would have not happened, unfortunately.”
He went on: “We’ve stopped almost everything, but when you let other people do your job with the United States — we let other people do the job — and sometimes it doesn’t work out so well.”
Trump did not elaborate on his comments, and it was not immediately clear who Trump was saying was responsible for protecting U.S. forces in Jordan. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
Trump says US will strike Pickaxe Mountain ‘very soon’
Discussing plans to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, Trump said the United States will soon target the area near Pickaxe Mountain — a fortified underground site near one of Iran’s primary nuclear enrichment facilities.
“We’ll be hitting that area pretty soon, and very heavily,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday.
The president made the comment after being asked whether he believes Iran has moved nuclear centrifuges to the site. He said it “doesn’t mean anything” unless Iran has uranium to enrich.
“We follow the material,” he said. “That’s where the action is.”
Trump says he’ll pay his respects to fallen service members at Dover
The president is expected to attend the dignified transfer on Wednesday. It’s a ritual considered to be one of the most somber duties of the commander-in-chief.
“I’ll be going to Dover for something that I feel is — it’s a great honor for me to do it,” Trump told reporters.
Two soldiers killed in Iranian missile and drone attacks in Jordan will be returned during the dignified transfer, according to an administration official speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.
The remains of another soldier killed in Iraq during a detonation of an Iranian drone will also be returned, the official said, as well as a fourth service member whose remains have not yet been identified but who is believed to be a soldier missing after the Jordan attacks.
—- Collin Binkley
Biden disagrees with the decision to expose his private discussions
Biden spokesperson T.J. Ducklo said the former president disagrees with the ruling but “respects the courts and the vital role an independent judiciary plays in a healthy democracy.”
“President Biden’s conversations for a book a decade ago that discussed his late son are private, and were provided to the Department of Justice on the express condition they stay that way,” Ducklo said in a statement. “Reversing course and making them public is just the latest example of this administration weaponizing the (Justice Department) for political retribution.”
Trump says US will ‘take care of business’ if Houthis impose blockade
Asked about his level of concern about a blockade of the Red Sea by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, Trump suggested it wasn’t an immediate problem.
“So far, it hasn’t happened,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I think that if there is something like that, we’ll just have to take care of business.”
The Houthi-run SABA news agency said six ships were forced to reroute on Tuesday after being warned by the rebels, a day after they announced a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia.
But Trump said “we’ve had no problem with the Houthis” recently, and “they’ve had no problem with us for a long period of time, including during this conflict.”
Vance is in the Oval Office for Lebanon meeting days after son’s birth
Vice President JD Vance sat with other top administration officials for Trump’s meeting with Aoun.
Vance’s wife, second lady Usha Vance, gave birth on Sunday to the couple’s fourth child.
Alec Neel Vance is the first baby born to a sitting vice president in more than 150 years.
Trump says he’s looking at a tariff on Canada over wildfires
Days of smoke from wildfires in Canada drifting into the United States contributed to poor air quality in cities from Detroit to Washington, D.C.
“They’re not managing their forests properly. And the wind has a tendency to blow right over New York City,” said Trump, once a longtime resident of the city. “Michigan was really affected,” he added.
Asked about the issue during an Oval Office appearance with the president of Lebanon, Trump said Canada seems unable to manage the problem.
Trump says US has ‘no interest’ in Iran talks for now
Speaking in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump gave a dim view on possible talks with Iran to end the war.
“I will tell you, they want to desperately meet. And until they’re ready to meet in a meaningful way, we have no interest in meeting,” Trump told reporters.
He said that in dialogue behind the scenes, Iranian officials have said “they want to meet desperately to try and end it, because they’re getting decimated.”
Iran and the U.S. have escalated attacks recently as their interim deal to end the war falls apart.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels say their Red Sea blockade is working
The rebels have opened a new front against Saudi Arabia by declaring a naval blockade of the kingdom, threatening the flow of global oil supplies and trade through the Red Sea.
With the Strait of Hormuz blocked, Saudi Arabia has been relying on a pipeline to the Red Sea to get millions of barrels of oil to market.
Six ships in the Red Sea were forced to reroute on Tuesday after they received warnings from the rebels, according to the Houthi-run SABA news agency.
Separately, three Houthi officials told The Associated Press that the rebel group warned international shipping companies on Monday to avoid transiting in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the gateway to the Red Sea at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.
— By Jon Gambrell and Munir Ahmed
Report says Trump administration has harmed global efforts to prevent and treat HIV
The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, is credited with saving at least 26 million lives since its inception in 2003. But it's been impaired by the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development and cuts to thousands of global health grants.
These disruptions to the global AIDS relief program have forced organizations to close clinics, lay off staff and cut services, seriously impeding efforts to prevent and treat the disease in dozens of countries, according to a report released Tuesday by amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research.
Other research, published in the journal Nature Health in June, found a 10% decline in antiretroviral treatment — nearly two million fewer people living with HIV — getting the life-saving treatment through PEPFAR.
Trump administration pushes ahead with plans to reopen US embassy in Libya
The State Department has informed Congress that it plans to move ahead with the potential re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Libya. It’s proposing to allocate nearly $41 million to restore America’s formal diplomatic presence in the North African nation.
The effort comes amid new warnings of Iranian-related attacks against U.S. facilities and interests around the world, particularly in the Middle East.
The department told lawmakers that the money would cover “a range of security-related activities associated with plans for the potential phased resumption of embassy operations in Libya.” The embassy in Tripoli was shuttered in July 2014.
The Trump administration reopened the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela following the ouster of former President Nicolas Maduro in January and is also seeking to reopen the closed embassy in Damascus, Syria.
AI stocks keep rising, even as Brent oil’s price tops $90
More gains for makers of computer chips and other winners of the artificial-intelligence boom are carrying Wall Street higher on Tuesday after tumbling the week before.
After rocketing higher because of the boom in investment in AI chips and data centers, they've come under pressure in recent weeks on worries that they shot too high. Concerns are also weighing that AI investments may fall off if they don't produce as much profit and productivity as promised.
The gains came despite more climbs for oil prices, and Brent crude oil topped $90 per barrel because of continued attacks between the United States and Iran. It rose 2.2% to $91.17, up from less than $72 early this month.
The oil price hikes threaten a reacceleration of inflation, just as it was slowing more than economists expected. That in turn could push the Federal Reserve and other central banks to raise interest rates, which would slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and other investments.
Rubio will meet with Chinese counterpart in Manila
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday in Manila, the State Department said.
The top diplomats from the world’s two largest economies are attending annual talks of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this week in the Philippine capital.
The ASEAN summit comes amid unfolding crises led by renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran as well as a violent skirmish in the disputed South China Sea.
The Rubio-Wang meeting could help set up the next sitdown between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Rubio said ahead of the summit that he expects Xi to visit the U.S. in September and that “it’s incumbent on powerful, important countries like ours to continue to talk and have a relationship.”
Secret Service agent injured at White House correspondents’ dinner will be honored at make-up event
Secret Service Police Officer Victor Gonzales will be given a special award for exceptional service at a rescheduled White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, the association said Tuesday.
Gonzales was at a security checkpoint during the April dinner when it was interrupted by a gunman who prosecutors say was trying to assassinate Trump. The Secret Service said Gonzales was struck in his protective vest as he engaged the gunman, who was tackled outside the ballroom.
“His swift and decisive actions assisted in deterring the gunman from proceeding any further,” the Secret Service said.
A make-up event being held Friday at the Waldorf Astoria hotel at Trump's encouragement will also honor Washington Hilton hotel staff who helped guests in the aftermath.
Soldier’s widow says she’ll ‘never recover’
Swinton’s wife, Mia Gonzalez-Swinton, posted on social media that she was informed of his death on Sunday. The couple have a 6-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter.
“I will never recover from this, you should be home. We had so many plans for when you got back, I’m sick to my stomach,” she wrote in a Facebook post Monday.
US military identifies soldier killed while disarming a drone in Iraq
The military said it was investigating the death of Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton of Fayetteville, North Carolina, during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone on Sunday at an air base in Irbil.
Swinton, 30, will get a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge, and be promoted to staff sergeant, the military said in a statement.
He enlisted in the Army in 2017, and was assigned to the 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, out of Fort Bragg.
Two U.S. Army soldiers were killed in Jordan on Friday while defending against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks. They were the first U.S. troop deaths from direct Iranian fire since the opening days of the war.
Seeking calm for his country, Lebanon’s president will meet with Trump at the White House
The landmark meeting between Joseph Aoun and Trump comes as Lebanon and Israel continue to hold rare direct talks mediated by Washington in a bid to bring about long-term calm in Lebanon after months of war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group.
Lebanon hopes the talks will lead to Israeli troops withdrawing from large swaths of southern Lebanon, and for the Lebanese military to receive support to assert full control in areas where Hezbollah militants had held sway.
Lebanon and Israel announced a "framework agreement" on June 26, setting a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon as well as the disarmament of Hezbollah.
Aoun is scheduled to arrive at the White House at 11 a.m.
Trump’s Justice seeking phone records of reporters’ mother and spouses
Subpoenas for phone records of New York Times reporters now include the mother of one journalist and the spouses of two others as the Justice Department seeks to unmask the confidential sources of reporters who wrote about Trump's Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet.
The Times’ lawyers have moved to quash the subpoenas, noting that the mother in question is a mental health professional with confidential client relationships and that one of the two spouses is the general counsel of a law firm.
The Justice Department has previously said that the reporters are not the targets of the investigation and asserted in a new legal filing Tuesday that it had followed its own protocols in issuing the subpoenas.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian is scheduled to hear arguments Thursday.
Appeals court rejects Biden’s bid to withhold recordings and transcripts of ghostwriter interviews
The appellate panel's 2-1 ruling late Monday found "substantial" public interest in disclosing what former President Joe Biden wants to keep under wraps. Redactions to the recordings would help protect Biden's privacy, the majority noted.
The judges suspended their decision until Aug. 3 to allow more time for Biden to consider another appeal.
Mark Zwonitzer, who worked with Biden on his two memoirs, interviewed the Democrat at his home in 2016 and 2017, before his presidency. Biden’s lawyers say the conversations were candid, personal and intended to remain private.
The recordings were obtained by special counsel Robert Hur, who investigated Biden's handling of classified documents from his time as a senator from Delaware and as vice president. Republicans demanded the material after Hur declined to file charges against the then-president.