Iran doubles down on control of Strait of Hormuz after weekend of violence — as shipping traffic plummets

Supreme Court quietly doubling its police force — and 'loathes' acknowledging it: report

With “little fanfare,” the Supreme Court is quietly working to double its own police force, Politico’s Josh Gerstein reported on Sunday, a push that justices and court officials apparently “loathe” discussing.“The push for a rapid security buildout stems from the substantial threats to the justices at a moment of growing political violence in the U.S. and the sense that the system has just not been up to the task of keeping them safe,” Gerstein wrote. “That’s a belief that appears to be shared by at least some of the justices themselves.”While a Supreme Court spokesperson declined to respond to Gerstein’s request for comment, an “in-depth review” of budget documents and interviews with “court insiders” revealed that the Supreme Court Police Department, which for years had less than 200 officers, may soon double its ranks amid the court’s plummeting favorability among Americans.“It’s often said that the Supreme Court has no army,” Gerstein wrote. “Yet, with little fanfare, the size of the Supreme Court’s police force has begun mushrooming.”The growing taxpayer expense from the Supreme Court’s ballooning security budget has even roiled some lawmakers, including Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the leading Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.“We provide money for the Supreme Court,” DeLauro said back in April. “I’ve been here a long time – they’ve never come up and tell us what they’re doing with the money that we appropriate. I want to give them all the security they need, but the court has to come up here [and] tell us what [they’re] doing.”

U.S. and Iran exchange strikes, as violence escalates between Israel and Hezbollah

Tehran launched drone and missile attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait Sunday, threatening to halt negotiations with the U.S. entirely. Meanwhile, violence between Israel and Hezbollah has escalated.

Trump's war backfires as Iran now declares it must 'obtain the atomic bomb': MAGA expert

Iranian state media has reportedly declared that the country now has "no choice but to obtain the atomic bomb," according to a post circulating online — a statement that, if accurate, would mark a dramatic escalation amid the ongoing exchange of strikes between the U.S. and Iran.The claim was relayed by the account The Hormuz Letter, which posted what it described as a breaking statement from Iranian state media. According to that post, Iranian state media argued the country must "absolutely reach nuclear deterrence" before current negotiations can be conducted, framing the pursuit of a weapon as necessary to remove what it called "the military option for the occupation and partitioning of Iran" from the table.The reported statement seized the attention of David Pyne, an America First conservative who posts under @AmericaFirstCon and who has been sharply critical of the administration's handling of Iran. Pyne argued the development vindicated his earlier warnings about the consequences of President Donald Trump's approach."Iran is responding to Trump's continued nuclear threats against it by building more nuclear missiles just as I predicted they would do," Pyne wrote. He contended that "Trump's war on Iran hasn't reduced Iran's nuclear threat in any way" but had instead "served to greatly magnify and expand Iran's nuclear threat against the US and Israel."Pyne went further, delivering a stinging assessment of the president's broader record."Trump's disastrous foreign policy and endless unwinnable wars make Jimmy Carter look like a veritable foreign policy genius by comparison," he wrote.The reported statement also caught the attention of Michael McFaul, the former U.S. ambassador to Russia, who reacted with unease. "Ugh. Hope it's just bluster; fear it is not," McFaul wrote, sharing the same post.The reported declaration comes against the backdrop of a rapidly deteriorating ceasefire, with the U.S. carrying out repeated strikes on Iranian targets in recent days and Trump himself warning that "the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist" if forced to "militarily complete the job." Trump has also continued to insist that "Iran will never have a Nuclear Weapon."The Iranian framing — that only a nuclear deterrent can forestall foreign intervention — runs directly counter to the administration's stated goal of ending Tehran's weapons ambitions, and underscores the risk that the military campaign could harden rather than halt Iran's nuclear drive.

Trump's weekend golf outing draws jabs from his critics: 'Costing taxpayers millions'

President Donald Trump's trip to his Virginia golf course on Saturday generated a wave of online commentary, with critics seizing on everything from the cost of his travel to the device in his hand.Several accounts documented the president's return to the White House after lunch at the club. Freelance photographer Andrew Leyden, posting under the handle @PenguinSix, shared a series of photos of Trump in a white "USA" cap waving as he arrived back, writing simply that the president "has returned to the White House following a lunch at his golf course."Others used the outing to make sharper points. The account PatriotTakes, @patriottakes, posted video of Trump at the club and turned it into a critique of the costs, writing that the trips "add up costing taxpayers millions." The account pressed the political contrast directly: "Why don't Republicans cut these trips instead of food assistance for poor families?"PatriotTakes also flagged what it framed as an inconsistency in the president's choice of phone. In another post, the account zeroed in on the device Trump was carrying, asking why he was "holding an iPhone 17 Pro Max" rather than "using the Trump Mobile T1 phone" — a reference to the smartphone marketed under the Trump brand.The account Molly Ploofkins, a political commentator, drew attention to one of the president's aides accompanying him. The post described aide Natalie Harp entering ahead of Trump and characterized what she was carrying in mocking terms. The post was amplified by commentator Cheri Jacobus.PatriotTakes returned to Harp in a later post, describing her as a "devoted aide" known for leaving the president personal messages and noting she was present as guests applauded Trump entering the club's dining room.The reaction captured a now-familiar split screen: supporters cheering the president inside the club, captured in fan video hailing "the GOAT," and online critics outside the bubble using the same footage to needle him over spending, staff, and the gap between his branding and his behavior.

US Ambassador Slams Iran: No More Free Shipping Attacks

Iran must develop nuclear bomb to protect ‘peace and calm,’ IRGC media says — despite pledge to Trump

Iran has "no choice" but to develop a nuclear bomb, a media outlet linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said — the latest threat to the US-organized peace deal.

Iran Might Be The Unluckiest Sports Team Ever

After two late goals in another game sealed Iran’s fate, Team Melli was left to rue one of the most brutal exits in World Cup history.

Trump threatens Iran’s existence amid fragile ceasefire

President Trump late Saturday threatened Iran’s existence as the renewed strikes between the Islamic regime and the U.S. threaten a shaky ceasefire. “United States aircraft just struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites, for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It is very possible that they…