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The number of U.S. troops killed or wounded in the war with Iran has risen to 774 after the Pentagon added dozens of injured service members to its casualty count in recent days. The number listed as wounded climbed from 697 on Wednesday to 756 on Thursday, an increase of 59, according to the War Department's Defense Casualty Analysis System on Friday. The number of American military deaths remained at 18. The Pentagon did not immediately explain the sharp increase, including when or where the newly recorded injuries occurred. The War Department has divided the casualties into two categories following...

President Donald Trump proclaimed on Tuesday that talks with Iran were not happening, a direct contradiction to his own son-in-law and top negotiator Jared Kushner, who said a day earlier that the negotiations were ongoing. “There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the president posted to Truth Social on Tuesday. “The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” But Trump’s post may have been news to Kushner,...

President Donald Trump shared a striking social media post on Tuesday declaring the Strait of Hormuz to be American territory. The post featured a graphic image of the strait labeled "New United States Territory," a move that raises significant legal and diplomatic questions. The declaration comes amid ongoing tensions with Iran and American efforts to control the strategic shipping lane through which approximately 20 percent of the world's oil flows. While Trump has previously claimed the United States maintains "absolute control" over the strait, this latest statement represents a notable escalation in both language and policy positioning. That being said,...

President Donald Trump's war against Iran is stretching the limits of U.S. aircraft carriers and leaving the western Pacific without one of the key American warships as China shows more signs of aggression. The USS George Washington is departing the Pacific and expected to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East amid growing concerns about mental health and supply issues aboard the long-deployed carrier. *** .*** The administration says that the Pacific is supposed to be the most important behind the Western Hemisphere,” said Greg Poling, director of the Southeast Asia Program***. Instead, the U.S. is "doing the...

Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the top US priority in the Iran war was keeping oil and gasoline prices low for Americans, with preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon ranking second.The remarks contrasted with President Donald Trump's repeated framing of the fight: that entering the war had the sole objective of preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, even if that meant short-term economic sacrifices for Americans.Vance's comments also underscored the growing reality that the war now centers on control of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has forced to the top of the negotiating agenda. "I...

President Donald Trump on Wednesday boasted the U.S. has “total control” of the Strait of Hormuz, despite what the “FAKE NEWS” may report to the contrary, before praising Allah for the nation’s stranglehold on the critical shipping passage. “I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Our Naval Blockade is being called, by everyone, ‘A WALL OF STEEL,’ and there is nothing Iran can do about it.” The president repeated claims that Iran’s military had been decimated: "They have no Navy, they have no Air Force, their remaining soldiers are unpaid, the IRGC is decimated and fleeing,...

President Trump claimed Wednesday that the US has complete control of the Strait of Hormuz, one day after Energy Secretary Chris Wright confirmed increasing oil exports from the crucial waterway as Iran’s economy continues to free fall. “The U.S.A. has total control over the Strait of Hormuz. I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!” Trump proclaimed on Truth Social. “Our Naval Blockade is being called, by everyone, ‘A WALL OF STEEL,’ and there is nothing Iran can do about it,” he added. ***“On Sunday alone, over 20 million barrels left the Arabian gulf region, which is above the pre-conflict average.” Only...

President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice threw in the towel in its attempt to prosecute David Hearn for allegedly vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, but the White House is now asking them to try again, according to a new report by The Wall Street Journal. White House officials are now asking the DOJ to “consider a new prosecution” of Hearn, citing sources “familiar with the discussions,” the Journal reported. Any attempt to bring new charges “would be highly unusual,” the article noted, because the U.S. Attorney Office for the District of Columbia, headed by Jeanine Pirro, already admitted it...

Oil prices jumped about 5% Monday as doubt grew that the U.S. and Iran will reach a deal to increase ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures climbed about 5% to close at $82.13 per barrel. Brent crude , the international benchmark, also settled around 5% higher at $87.72 a barrel. President Donald Trump told Axios on Sunday that the U.S. is “only semi-negotiating” with Iran, after he insisted last week that Washington and Tehran were in fact holding talks. Trump indicated that he would rely on the U.S. naval blockade to pressure Tehran rather...

President Trump signaled on Sunday that he's prepared to allow economic pressure on Iran to mount — as opposed to ordering a new military offensive — even as the country continues to defy the U.S. Why it matters: Only a week ago, Trump was on the verge of ordering a return to major combat operations. But in an interview with Axios, he did not make any new military threats. Trump also didn't express any anger or frustration about the fact that Iran has been holding up an announcement on a deal with Oman to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. On...

Billionaire heiress Elizabeth Simons is pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into the Democratic Party’s campaign to retake the House — even as she bankrolls the socialist causes and candidates that have Democrats’ establishment leaders increasingly on edge.Simons, who previously cut a $250,000 check to a super PAC backing Mayor Zohran Mamdani, has donated $354,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — the party’s chief House campaign arm — and thousands more to individual House candidates this election cycle. The donations, ironically, put Simons behind the same Democratic leadership forces trying to prevent the party’s increasingly powerful progressive wing from...

Non-college voters, the base of the MAGA movement, are abandoning the GOP. MAGA's net favorability is -22 pts (down 28 pts) with them. Trump's now at -19 pt net approval with them. Dems actually lead in the race for Congress with them. This is what blue waves are built on. ...

President Trump on Monday accused US Attorney Jeanine Pirro of folding “like an umbrella” for dismissing charges against former Olympian David Hearn — rather than standing by the case that alleged the canoeist vandalized the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall.“The judge was extremely unfriendly to Jeanine and frankly, I think she choked,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday. “The judge was really vicious. Instead of going after the people that did it, the judge went after her and went after her department, and I guess she choked.” “I was disappointed in Jeanine Pirro. Really disappointed in...

President Trump on Monday blasted Iran’s leadership as “unbelievably duplicitous,” accusing Tehran of privately pursuing peace talks with the US while publicly denying any negotiations were taking place days after he called off a massive military campaign planned for the weekend.In a Truth Social post, Trump claimed Iranian officials had sought a meeting with the US before turning around and insisting they were only in talks with Oman over plans for the Strait of Hormuz. “They ask for a meeting, some would say ‘beg,’ talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that...

The Iranian government flat-out rejected President Trump’s claim that new negotiations were due to get underway later Monday, with officials stating that no talks were taking place or scheduled.Trump, 80, told reporters en route to Washington Sunday night that he had called off a planned “massive attack” on Iran at the request of US partners in the region — including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.“They thought that a deal is imminent,” said the president, later adding: “Now what we’re doing is talking to them [Iran], in the form of a ​negotiation. It begins tomorrow afternoon.” Iran Foreign...

Former Republican Majorie Taylor Greene posted a photo this weekend of herself, Tucker Carlson and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., along with the statement that "the movement has come." Last month, Carlson said he was planning to create a new political party, the Columbia Journalism Review reported. Greene's photo, posted on X on Saturday, featured the three, who have been sidelined over their opposition to President Trump's agenda and suggests discussions on a third party are continuing. "We said no more foreign wars and we meant it and supported Donald Trump because he made that promise. But he’s betrayed us all....

Hours after Trump canceled a planned strike and said the outlines of a deal had been reached, a regime-linked Iranian outlet said the strategic waterway would remain closed as long as US ‘hostile actions’ continue. Iran on Sunday denied that it had reached any agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, directly contradicting U.S. President Donald Trump hours after he canceled a planned strike and announced that the outlines of a deal had been reached. “There is no agreement on reopening the Strait of Hormuz,” Iran’s regime-linked Fars news agency reported. “As long as the United States continues its hostile...

President Trump halted new US strikes on Iran as he weighs whether Tehran is ready to cut a deal — while a wider regional war appears to be spreading into another critical shipping corridor. After 13 consecutive days of attacks, Trump instructed the US military to pause any additional strikes against Iran Friday, Axios reported Saturday, which cited two people familiar with the decision. But the president has made clear that the temporary halt does not mean Washington is backing down. In a brief phone interview with France’s LCI news, Trump said he was still prepared to restart a major...

A week after Iran killed American troops in Jordan, crossing President Donald Trump's red line for restarting all-out war, the U.S. military didn't launch airstrikes on the regime.Friday came and went without an announcement from U.S. Central Command about a new attack, breaking a nearly two-week streak.Sources told Axios that Trump received plans from the military yesterday to conduct strikes in Iran but didn't give a green light and instead ordered them to hold off.U.S. forces are still preparing for major combat operations to potentially resume, but Trump hasn't issued orders to move in that direction, the report added.The White...

ISTANBUL—The conflict between the U.S. and Iran is escalating just as the two warring parties are running up against the limits of what they can achieve through military force.The conflict widened this week after Iranian-allied militants in Yemen began striking ships transiting a key Red Sea chokepoint, helping drive oil prices above $100 a barrel for the first time in two months on Thursday.The U.S., meanwhile, has escalated its bombing campaign in Iran in recent days, striking throughout the country during the most intense period of fighting since President Trump and Israel began bombing Iran in late February.Trump and other...