August 26, 2026

Trump World

Israel has ‘no interest’ in joining US-Iran war: finance minister www.lifesitenews.com
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(LifeSiteNews) — Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated Tuesday that Israel has “no interest” entering the ongoing U.S.-Iran confrontation, describing the current circumstances as optimal for the country.

Speaking at a conference commemorating the 2005 Gaza settlement withdrawal — where he and fellow officials advocate for illegally reestablishing Jewish colonies on these internationally recognized Palestinian territories — Smotrich explained, “The State of Israel has no interest in joining the contained confrontation between Iran and the United States. The current situation is the best one for us.”

His remarks followed Pentagon acknowledgements of the deaths of four U.S. soldiers in the conflict. According to U.S. reports, three were killed in an Iranian strike on a base in Jordan and the fourth died during a controlled detonation of an unexploded Iranian drone.

Iran War Live Updates: Iran Digs In After Latest Trump Threat on Civilian Targets www.nytimes.com
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Early Thursday in the Middle East, the U.S. Central Command said it was carrying out a new wave strikes on Iran, a 12th consecutive day of attacks. Iranian state media said the province that is home to Iran’s only operating nuclear power plant had been hit in a missile strike.

Thousands of idle ships trapped near the Strait of Hormuz could become floating nurseries for invasive marine species and spread them worldwide when trade resumes | timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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Having escalated into open hostilities on February 28, 2026, the current United States and Iran war has been going on for nearly five months. In this period, the Strait of Hormuz, the only open-ocean exit for major producers like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and the UAE has been in chokehold. The strait is the world’s most critical maritime energy chokepoint, facilitating the passage of roughly 600 billion worth of energy trade annually. According to estimates, about 1,500 vessels are stuck in the Persian Gulf, and several hundred more are stuck in the adjacent Gulf of Oman.Now according to new research, something growing on the hulls of these ships could spread worldwide when the trade resumes. The study published in Biological Invasions, was led by an international team of 24 marine scientists, led by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES), and including the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).The team cautioned that thousands of commercial vessels stranded for months in the Persian/Arabian Gulf following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz could unintentionally trigger a massive marine invasive species event. The study titled, “Closure of the Strait of Hormuz May Trigger a Bioinvasion Super-Spreader Event,” highlighted how prolonged periods at anchor allow ship hulls to accumulate dense communities of marine organisms including algae, barnacles, mussels and other invertebrates which can be transported across the globe when trade resumes.

Trump Issues Order to Protect Defense Supply Chains Amid Iran War › American Greatness amgreatness.com
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Good Tuesday morning.

Here is whats on President Trump’s agenda today:

8:00 AM THE PRESIDENT participates in Executive Time

10:00 AM THE PRESIDENT greets Denison University Student Athletes

11:00 AM THE PRESIDENT greets the President of the Republic of Lebanon

11:15 AM THE PRESIDENT participates in a Bilateral Meeting with the President of the Republic of Lebanon

4:00 PM THE PRESIDENT participates in a Policy Meeting

5:00 PM THE PRESIDENT greets House GOP Members

Houthis say they attacked Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, threatening new chokepoint in Iran war www.channelnewsasia.com
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Before the Red Sea flare-up, Trump vowed on Wednesday to destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant every time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s joint military command in turn warned that if Trump’s threat against infrastructure was carried out, Iranian forces would target regional oil, gas, electricity and economic infrastructure and prevent the export of “even a single drop of oil”, Iranian state media reported.

Hours later, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards reported an explosion in what it called a mined route south of the Strait of Hormuz, saying one of three oil tankers had caught fire while the other two turned back. The Guards said the strait was under their control and “completely closed”, warning that no tanker would be allowed to enter or leave without coordination with Iran.

In 12 straight days of attacks since a June ceasefire fell apart, American strikes have widened from the south to western and central areas of Iran. The US military’s Central Command said it would continue to “further degrade” Iran’s ability to threaten ship traffic.

US Central Command Completes Twelfth Consecutive Night of Iran Strikes * The Gateway Pundit * by Jordan Conradson www.thegatewaypundit.com
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Video footage of U.S. Central Command completing precision strikes further degrading Iranian military capabilities, released July 22, 2026. (U.S. Central Command video)

US Central Command announced on Wednesday that US forces completed a twelfth consecutive night of attacks to degrade Iranian military capabilities.

In footage released by CENTCOM, Iranian military vehicles and boats are seen being blown up in airstrikes.

WATCH:

CENTCOM said in a statement,

At 10:30 p.m. ET on July 22, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces completed another round of strikes against Iran for the 12th consecutive night.

U.S. forces struck Iranian military targets including maritime capabilities, missile and drone storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites, and air defense assets. The strikes further degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels.

This month, American forces have targeted dozens of Iranian military sites on land while resuming a blockade against Iran at sea. As of today, CENTCOM has redirected nine commercial vessels and disabled one to prevent ships from entering or departing Iranian ports.

President Donald Trump has announced an historic multi-billion-dollar deal with Saudi Arabia. The deal will result in U.S. firms being contracted to help the Saudis build a nuclear power plant. Critics warn the Saudis will develop a nuclear arms program through the civil program the U.S. will help it build.

Trump Seals Saudi Nuclear Pact, Handing Russia and China a Defeat › American Greatness amgreatness.com
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President Donald Trump has signed off on a sweeping 30-year civil nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia, a deal administration officials say will lock American companies into the kingdom’s energy future and keep Moscow and Beijing on the sidelines.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright is expected to formally sign the accord alongside Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, capping months of negotiations that began during Wright’s first foreign trip to the region in April 2025. The pact, valued at tens of billions of dollars, still must clear a congressional review period before taking effect.

Under the agreement, U.S. firms, led by Westinghouse Electric and its AP1000 reactor capable of powering a midsize city or a large artificial-intelligence data center, would build out Saudi Arabia’s nuclear infrastructure. A joint two-year study will examine whether the kingdom should eventually host its own uranium-enrichment facility, built and operated by American companies under a tightly controlled “black box” structure meant to keep sensitive technology out of Saudi hands. If Washington decides against enrichment, Riyadh would be barred from pursuing it alone or with another country for a decade.

Trump’s Saudi nuclear deal risks destabilizing the Middle East www.washingtonexaminer.com
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The United States has reached a historic agreement that will support Saudi Arabia’s ability to enrich uranium on its own soil without the stringent safeguards traditionally required under U.S. nuclear cooperation agreements. The deal was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Under the terms of the agreement, Washington will seek to ensure the program remains focused on civilian purposes by retaining influence over key aspects of Riyadh’s nuclear infrastructure.

What makes the deal truly significant is Trump’s decision to decouple it from Saudi-Israeli normalization efforts. The Biden administration had tied any prospective nuclear agreement to Riyadh joining the Abraham Accords, before Oct. 7, 2023, derailed those efforts. Today, however, the regional security environment has fundamentally changed. The war between the United States and Iran has demonstrated that Gulf states are no longer bystanders but potential targets of Iranian retaliation. But this comes with added risk of regional escalation.

Should Riyadh eventually pursue a military nuclear capability, for example, Israel’s strategic position in the region would be significantly weakened. As the Middle East’s only nuclear power, Israel enjoys a unique deterrent advantage, providing it with considerable leverage over regional adversaries. Preserving that advantage was one of the principal reasons previous U.S. administrations linked Saudi nuclear cooperation to normalization with Israel.

Trump Vows to Bomb One Iranian Bridge or Power Plant for Every Ship Targeted in Strait of Hormuz › American Greatness amgreatness.com
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President Donald Trump on Wednesday vowed to attack critical Iranian infrastructure ‌every time Tehran targets ​a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

“From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran,” Trump declared on Truth Social.

Trump has previously refrained from targeting civilian infrastructure in Iran, though he did warn in April that the “whole civilization” would die if the regime refused to agree to a cease-fire.

Iran recently declared the Strait of Hormuz closed “until further notice” after stopping a vessel it accused of using an unauthorized route.

Since then, the IRCG has reportedly attacked two commercial vessels transiting the waterway, including a Cyprus-flagged ship.

Earlier this month, Trump floated the idea of the United States taking control of the strait, which normally sees around one-fifth of the world’s oil supplies flow through it.

Oil prices jump 4% as Rubio says Iran ‘not serious’ about peace talks www.cnbc.com
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Oil prices were about 4% higher on Wednesday morning following the eleventh consecutive round of U.S. strikes against Iran overnight, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Strait of Hormuz remains a sticking point between the two sides.

Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, traded about 4% higher at $94.76. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 3.9% to trade at $87.61.

Following Iran’s provocation, the Houthis of Yemen have pledged they will shut the Red Sea down. The hope is that shutting down two major shipping lanes, the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, will cripple the global economy.

Iran-Backed Houthi Terrorists Announce Blockade of the Red Sea gellerreport.com
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The Houthis is another Islamic terror arm of Tehran. They must be confronted accordingly. Iran’s terror regime is a scourge upon humanity, and its reign must be brought to an end.

Washington Times: The Houthis, a Yemen-based rebel faction backed by Iran, announced a new blockade of the Red Sea on Monday, potentially opening a new front in the U.S.-Iran war even as Pakistani and Qatari mediators work to broker a ceasefire. Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said in a video statement that the group would immediately impose a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia, which borders the Red Sea. Houthi-affiliated media confirmed the blockade would take effect immediately, saying it was in response to what the group called Saudi Arabia’s illegal “blockade on Yemenis for over 10 years.”

Bessent Drops the Financial Hammer on Iran, With a Personal Message to the Ayatollah – RedState redstate.com
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Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent is at it again, tracking down Iranian regime’s cash and grabbing or freezing it with Operation Economic Fury, the financial side of the actions against the regime.

Bessent explained how they’ve been tracking accounts all over the world, and now they’ve frozen a crypto wallet containing about $130 million linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

U.S. Soldier Killed In Iraq While Conducting Controlled Detonation Of Iranian Drone Identified wltreport.com
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The third U.S. Service member who was killed in the Middle East last week has been identified.

Last week U.S. CENTCOM announced two U.S. Service members were killed in Jordan after Iran struck a base in Jordan where U.S. troops were stationed.

U.S. CENTCOM further revealed a third soldier was MIA but later revealed an unidentiefd body discovered in the aftermath of the attack is believed to be the third service member.

Around the same time a U.S. soldier was killed in Iraq while conducting a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone.

The soldier who was killed during the controlled detonation has now been identify as 30-year-old Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton.

CBS News provided further details on the death of the U.S. soldier and provided remarks from Secretary of State Marco Rubio:

A 30-year-old U.S. soldier was killed over the weekend in Iraq during what the U.S. military said was a controlled explosion to destroy an attack drone.

Iran War Risk Pushes African Central Banks to Hold Rates Higher financialpost.com
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“It is very unlikely that the CBN would restart monetary easing as long as inflation expectations remain elevated,” said Gergely Ürmössy, emerging markets strategist at Societe Generale SA. “In the CBN’s latest inflation survey, over half of respondents expected inflation to accelerate over the next six months; in March, before domestic fuel and energy prices spiked, roughly 60% expected inflation to hold steady or decelerate.”

Pentagon concealing true casualty numbers in Iran war – NYT — RT World News www.rt.com
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Dozens of soldiers were injured in previously unreported strikes last week, the New York Times says

The Pentagon has withheld information about dozens of service members injured during the war with Iran, The New York Times reported on Monday, citing US officials.

On Friday, Iran struck a US military site in Jordan, killing two soldiers, wounding four, and leaving one missing. According to the Times, however, dozens of service members were injured throughout the week in three other strikes against US forces in the country. Several helicopters were also reportedly damaged in the attacks.

An official told CNN that “it can take several days or even weeks” for an injury to be logged into the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS), an official database. A total of 427 service members have been injured in the war with Iran, the Times said, citing official figures.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell argued that “providing real-time information on non-fatal casualties to the media is the same as providing that information directly to our adversaries.”

Iran warns of Hormuz ‘red line,’ retaliation to Trump’s strike threats www.cnbc.com
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Iran warned Thursday that it would “crush” key targets in the Middle East if U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to target the country’s infrastructure in the coming days are carried out.

Trump said in a Tuesday evening interview with Fox News that U.S. forces would target key Iranian infrastructure next week if a diplomatic breakthrough is not achieved.

“Next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants,” he said. “Next week comes the bridges. We’re going to knock out all their power plants. We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.”

In a statement published on Telegram on Thursday morning, a spokesperson for Iran’s top military command said that if Trump’s threats were implemented “everything that is still intact … that is, all the infrastructure in the region – will be crushed under the steel blows of the powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran; so that no trace of them remains and it is as if they never existed in the first place.”

US launches new strikes as Iran says civilian infrastructure hit www.bbc.co.uk
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The US launched a wave of strikes against Iran for the sixth night in a row, its military said, as the two sides battled over control of the Strait of Hormuz.

US Central Command (Centcom) said the attacks were intended to “further degrade Iranian military capabilities”, before saying it had boarded a vessel as part of its blockade of Iranian ports.

State media and provincial authorities reported that the US had hit civilian infrastructure, including bridges, a train station and an airport. BBC Verify has confirmed an attack on one bridge to the west of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan province.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) says it has retaliated by striking US maritime surveillance radar sites in Oman as well as targets in Kuwait and Bahrain. They also claim to have attacked a US special operations command centre in Syria.

The IRGC said the surprise attack at al-Tanf in Syria, near the border with Jordan, was in retaliation for the killing of Iranian soldiers two days ago. Neither Syria nor the US have commented on the claim.

Trump says Iran released ‘wrongfully detained’ American citizen www.france24.com
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US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that arch foe Iran has freed an American citizen detained since December 2024 and allowed her to leave the country.

“She is now safely outside of Iran, and in good condition,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, adding: “The United States of America appreciates this gesture of goodwill by Iran!”

Trump – who in recent days has ordered a resumption of strikes against Iran and reimposed a naval blockade of its ports – did not name the woman or describe why she had been held, other than to say she had been “wrongfully detained.”

But a lawyer responded to Trump‘s post late Wednesday to say the released woman was his client.

“I am beyond excited to report that my client Dena Karari, a US-Iranian citizen, who has been trapped in Iran on bogus charges of collaboration with a hostile state and espionage, is now safely out of Iran and on her way back to the United States,” attorney Jared Genser said in a statement.