President Trump Notes Iran Violated Ceasefire Terms During Faith Council Meeting

US conducts strikes on Iran after attack on cargo ship

US Central Command says it has struck missile and drone storage facilities and coastal radar positions.

U.S. strikes Iranian targets near strait after Iran fires at ships

The U.S. military conducted strikes against Iranian targets around the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command said in a statement. Why it matters: These are the first U.S. strikes against Iranian targets since the signing last week of the memorandum of understanding (MOU), which declared an end to the war.Vice President Vance posted Friday evening: "Iran signed a ceasefire agreement. We have honored it. If they have disagreements about how the MOU is being applied, they can pick up the phone. But violence will be met with violence."Driving the news: The U.S. strikes came after Iran on Thursday launched drones against several commercial ships that crossed through the Strait of Hormuz.One drone hit a Singapore-flagged cargo ship, Ever Lovely, while it was exiting the strait along the Omani coast, CENTCOM said, describing the U.S. attacks as a "powerful response."The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Friday evening: "A few hours ago the treaty-breaking American regime violated its obligations as always and launched an airstrike on the coasts of the Islamic Republic of Iran under various pretexts."The IRGC said its Navy responded by striking "locations of the U.S. terrorist army in the region." It warned "in the event of repeated aggression, our response will be more extensive than this."President Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier Friday that the Iranian drone strikes were "a foolish violation of our Ceasefire Agreement."According to CENTCOM, U.S. military aircraft struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites around the strait.What they're saying: "CENTCOM forces continue to provide safe passage coordination and support to commercial vessels transiting the strait. The U.S. military remains present and vigilant to ensure all aspects of the agreement with Iran are adhered to, obeyed, and in full force and effect," CENTCOM said in a statement.What to watch: Whether Iran decides to respond militarily.This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

Speaker Johnson vows to protect the president sinking him: opinion

MS NOW analyst Steve Benen says House Speaker Mike Johnson dropped an unexpectedly corruption-friendly reason for protecting the House’s GOP majority against its near inevitable collapse in the November midterms.“If we lose the midterms, these Democrats will turn every committee of Congress into an investigative body, and they'll go after the president's family, the cabinet, his donors, friends, half of you in this room will be targeted,” Johnson said — and then added out loud that “I run the protection program. We’ll take care of you.”In the final two years of Joe Biden’s presidency, there was a Republican Congress and a Democratic president, said Benen, and Republicans “put aside any legislative ambitions and spent 2023 and 2024 … investigating all sorts of perceived controversies related to the Democratic administration.”But after President Donald Trump returned to the White House, the GOP-led Congress completely switched gears and clanked the Congressional vehicle into protection mode.“This time, lawmakers also abandoned their oversight responsibilities to an almost cartoonish degree, pretending not to notice any of the incumbent president’s many abuses and scandals,” said Benen.In fact, Congressional Republicans have done so little oversight, The Washington Post reported last month, that the White House Counsel’s Office, expecting Democrats to reclaim a majority in at least one chamber, recently began “giving private briefings to the administration’s political appointees on how to best prepare for congressional oversight,” said Benen.That same article added that the roughly 30-minute briefings have included “a PowerPoint presentation about how congressional oversight works and best practices for handling it.”Regarding his statement, Benen notes the GOP leader did not appear to be reading from a prepared text. He was just shocking shooting GOP intent from the hip before a live audience.“What was on his mind was a near future in which a possible House Republican majority spends 2027 and 2028 shielding the president, his team and their allies from the kind of scrutiny that Congress has a responsibility to do as a matter of course,” said Benen. “This isn’t altogether surprising,” he added, “given everything we’ve seen from Capitol Hill over the past year and a half, but it was nevertheless remarkable to hear a sitting House speaker declare, out loud and in public, that he wants and expects to run a ‘protection program’ — a phrase more commonly associated with organized crime — on behalf of the White House.”Republicans have already been using their majority to shield the president from the fallout of the Epstein files, with Kentucky Republican and House Oversight Chair James Comer being accused of using "a new strategy" to "contain" the ability of lawmakers to issue subpoenas against "high-profile figures in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation."Before that, Republicans used their majority to stall the passage of a new law making the Trump administration’s release of the files legally mandatory. And after failing in that effort, Trump himself targeted Republicans who favored the release for ousting in GOP primaries.The GOP’s labor to protect Trump from incrimination is well noted, but Benen said “usually, GOP leaders are a bit more subtle about their anti-oversight posturing.”Johnson’s protective oath sounds odd considering how hard Trump appears to be working to get the Republican majority removed from Congress, however. Trump’s polling is at historic lows, and his recent effort to blowup a hugely popular housing bill in the Senate is souring voters to both the administration and his party.

Iran's Regime Fires at Vessels Again, and Israel Moves to Recognize Armenian Genocide

Democrats hoping to blame Trump for World Cup failures forced to change strategy after great success: Politico

The fantastic success of the World Cup in the U.S. has soured many Democrats who were hoping it would be a black eye for President Donald Trump, according to a Politico report.The report found that many believed the complex logistics of organizing the global event might be too much for American officials but that that hope has been dashed so far.'What an absolute crock of an article.'"I think that there was a little bit of like liberal wishcasting that this would maybe be a disaster to sort of stick it to Trump,” said Democratic strategist Rob Flaherty. "It hasn’t yet been."It went on to say that Democrats have pivoted from criticizing the tournament in anticipation of its failure to praising local officials rather than crediting the Trump administration.The Politico report was unwelcome on social media, where many on the left expressed their outrage."This is the most hilarious stretch I've ever read," replied A.J. Delgado, who identifies as anti-Trump. "Yes, nothing makes Dems more uncomfortable than Dem-mayor Boston; Dem-mayor Atlanta; Dem-mayor Miami and more doing a great job hosting. This is like saying Dems are struggling with the Knicks' success.""Why would Democrats grapple with it being that it’s democratic cities that benefited from it? Pretty stupid headline," responded Leslie Marshall."What an absolute crock of an article," said another X user."Truly stupid claim. Conservatives make everything political & divisive. The media was so much better when it simply reported events," said another critic."Article is trash. Dems arent uncomfortable with #WorldCup success," replied one detractor. "You can enjoy games, events and Europeans amazement of American culture while also thinking Trump is POS. Cup just showed Europeans think Trump is POS but still love USA."RELATED: Atlanta stadium accused of promoting Islam at World Cup match White House spokesperson Davis Ingle responded to the report by praising Trump's role."Thanks to President Trump’s bold leadership, the FIFA World Cup 2026 will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest and most historic sporting events in history," he said on social media."Another win for the American people and the world," he added.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

What to Know About Problems at the Reflecting Pool and Trump’s Claims of Vandalism

The administration has provided little evidence to back up some of his assertions about the Lincoln Memorial pool. Experts say other factors could have caused the major problems that have plagued it.

BREAKING: U.S. Strikes Iran After More Ceasefire Violations

Trump blames Iran for drone strike on cargo ship in strait of Hormuz

US president calls it ‘foolish violation’ of ceasefire agreement after drone damaged ship’s upper deckUS politics live – latest updatesDonald Trump on Friday blamed Iran for carrying out a drone strike on a cargo ship in the strait of Hormuz, calling it a “foolish violation” of the ceasefire agreement with the US.One drone damaged the upper deck of the ship but the ship was able to proceed, the US president said. The US shot down three other drones aimed at the ship, he said. Continue reading...