Donald Trump

July 17 (UPI) — Iran early Friday said it struck a U.S. special operations command center in southeastern Syria, escalating the war over the Strait of Hormuz, as the United States attacked bridges and other urban infrastructure in Iran.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps described the strike in a statement as a “surprise attack” conducted in retaliation for the seven soldiers killed early Wednesday in a U.S. attack on Bampur, near Iranshahr in southeastern Iran.

The elite military unit claimed to have destroyed a U.S. radar system and several special-operations helicopters. It claimed to have killed “a large number” of Americans.

State-run media reported Iran also attacked U.S. bases and assets in Kuwait and Bahrain in retaliation for the U.S. attacks hours earlier. Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting claimed the United States destroyed five bridges around Bandar Abbas near the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Central Command said it had completed a “major wave” of attacks on Iran at 9:40 p.m. EDT Thursday. It said it hit dozens of Iranian military targets, including coastal surveillance and air defense sites, military logistics infrastructure and maritime capabilities.

Though CENTCOM made no mention of civilian infrastructure, President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned that the U.S. military would be ramping up its attacks through the week and would include civilian targets, but explicitly stating, “Next week comes the bridges.”

While the war began in late February, with the Trump administration seeking to dismantle Iran’s nuclear weapons program and encourage regime change, this latest chapter is centered on the vital shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz.

The Trump administration is seeking to restore freedom of navigation through the chokepoint, while Iran is fighting to maintain the leverage afforded by its ability to restrict passage.

Early Friday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said a tanker had been struck by an unknown projectile, causing minor damage to its port side.

“All crew are safe and accounted for,” it said.

The strike is at least the eighth attack on a commercial ship to attack in the Strait of Hormuz in a little over a week.

United States President Donald Trump has delivered an extraordinary primetime speech, alleging government “cover-ups” and “vulnerability” in the nation’s electoral system.

But experts were quick to point out that Trump failed to present any conclusive evidence that past presidential elections had been swayed by malfeasance.

In many ways, Trump’s speech on Thursday revisited any themes familiar to the Republican leader.

He made broad accusations about a “deep state” conspiracy involving his Democratic predecessors, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and he lashed out at familiar foes, including the news media and China.

For years, Trump has spread baseless claims that his loss in the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” and “stolen”.

Trump stopped short of repeating his false claim that he had, in fact, won that race. But in his remarks, he sought to raise suspicion about the election’s outcome, pointing to declassified government documents.

Those files, however, painted a more nuanced picture than Trump portrayed, and they failed to substantiate his claims of a conspiracy.

After the speech, Democrats criticised Trump for attempting to mislead the public and reduce confidence in US electoral systems, with months to go until the November midterm election.

Here are the key takeaways from his address:

Trump claims China compromised election data

One of the biggest accusations of the night was levied against China, the US’s geopolitical rival.

“Starting during the 2020 election cycle, the People’s Republic of China carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history,” Trump said near the outset of his speech.

He claimed that Beijing, through “illicit” means, had acquired 220 million US voter files, including names, addresses and party preferences.

“Think of that: Tens of millions of voters’ data in 18 states have been bought, stolen or hacked by China,” Trump said.

A spokesperson for China’s embassy denied such claims, saying the country “has never and will never interfere in the presidential elections of the US”.

Trump, however, did not say that the information had been used to influence any election.

But critics pointed out that such voter information is already publicly available. Some states even sell that public data, for prices ranging from $0 to $37,000, as the US Election Assistance Commission explained in a 2020 report.

The documents declassified by the White House also appeared to indicate Beijing was, at least in part, drawing from publicly available data. It did, however, express curiosity at China’s increasing interest in such information.

“While the PRC [People’s Republic of China] government has historically demonstrated interest in US elections, this is a newly-identified interest for this individual actor,” a heavily redacted assessment said.

“The US voter registration information is available for public download, with 2021 voter registration information available for some states.”

Trump claims a ‘deep state’ cover-up, vows retribution

In Thursday’s speech, Trump returned to a conspiracy theory that helped define his first successful bid for public office in 2016: that so-called “deep state” actors had sought to undermine his presidency.

He claimed there was a “shadow government” with “rogue bureaucrats” who attempted to cover up Chinese efforts to influence the 2020 vote.

They even sought to suppress information from his daily presidential brief, Trump alleged.

“ These were briefings I would get almost every day. Everything was kept out that was of importance,” he said.

Experts, however, have noted that presidential briefs are usually heavily curated to contain intelligence perceived to be of high importance.

An intelligence community report compiled in January 2021 assessed with “high confidence” that China had considered launching an influence campaign in 2020 — but that it eventually decided against it.

The report was declassified in March 2021. It contained a minority opinion that indicated China “took at least some steps” to undermine Trump’s re-election chances “primarily through social media and official public statements and media”.

The publication of the report would appear to contradict Trump’s claims of a “cover-up”.

Still, in his speech, Trump said he had instructed his top law enforcement officials to “fire those involved in the cover-up and to file criminal charges, if appropriate, against these people”.

Trump says public ‘blatantly lied to’ about election security

Critics had warned that Trump could use Thursday’s speech to undermine confidence in US elections by spreading falsehoods.

Some television news outlets, including ABC, NBC and CNN, even opted not to air the speech in full on their main broadcast channels.

The timing of the speech is significant, as it comes less four months ahead of the midterm elections, which decide control of Congress.

Trump did indeed spend part of his speech voicing allegations that American voters had been deceived by the same “deep state” actors he accused of targeting him.

“For many years, Americans were blatantly lied to about the security of our election infrastructure, including voting machines and ballot counting systems,” Trump said.

“They’re vulnerable, and they’re easily compromised, and people within our government knew that.”

But the declassified documents released by the White House did not appear to contain any major revelations about such claims. Potential vulnerabilities have long been known, and local and federal officials have sought to address them.

The fact that elections are administered on the state and local level has also been cited as a barrier against any widespread tampering.

Given the decentralised nature of US election administration, the US intelligence community has long assessed that large-scale voting manipulation would be all but impossible.

After Trump’s speech, Democrats dismissed Trump’s remarks as distortions designed to disincentivise voters from participating in elections.

“President Donald Trump continues to lie, distort the truth to try to sow doubt and suppress the 2026 election,” US Representative Jason Crow said in a video statement. “He doesn’t want Americans to vote. He doesn’t want their voice to be heard.”

Trump rehashes Michigan investigation

Trump made a gesture at unity in Thursday’s speech, arguing that election security should not be a “partisan issue”.

“It should cause to unite us, not to divide us,” he said at one point.

But the Republican leader fired off dubious claims against targets big and small.

He called for broadcasters that did not air his speech to lose their licenses. He berated California as “worse than any third world country”. And he rehashed a incident in the swing state of Michigan that took place well before the 2020 election.

The case involved allegations of fake voter registration forms. But the forms were not processed and did not have any bearing on that year’s election; they were flagged months before the vote took place.

The state Attorney General’s Office probed the incident, as did the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Neither found evidence that fraud had been successfully committed. It is believed that the forms were not part of an election scam but rather an attempt to meet workplace quotas.

Still, Trump portrayed the incident as a significant breach in Thursday’s speech.

“It was pay, play, and cheat,” he alleged, proceeding to blame former President Biden for failing to pursue the case. “The Biden Department of Justice slow-walked the investigation and killed it.”

He added that he had instructed the FBI to re-open its investigation, although the declassified documents the White House released did not appear to provide new evidence in the case.

Speech sought to cast doubt, but contained few revelations

Trump’s speech had been hyped as a major moment in the president’s second term.

On Tuesday, when the primetime address was first announced, Trump said it would contain “really big news”. His press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, warned reporters earlier in the day that the speech would “shock”.

But Democrats and election experts have argued that the speech was underwhelming — and would mostly serve to fire up Trump’s Republican base.

Indeed, Trump opened his remarks on Thursday with a resume of his second-term accomplishments, from border security to efforts to combat crime.

And he closed his speech with an appeal to pass the SAVE America Act, a piece of legislation he has repeatedly championed to heighten voter requirements.

The bill would increase voter identification standards, requiring proof of citizenship in the form of documents like birth certificates and passports that some US citizens may not have.

Rights groups have argued the requirements could disenfranchise some citizens.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, political analyst Eric Ham said the speech was yet another push in Trump’s effort to bring elections under federal control.

“This is something that the president has had an ambition of doing for quite some time, and I think what we saw tonight was another shot across the bow at trying to fundamentally change elections,” Ham said.

Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, also decried the speech as a distraction from Trump’s political woes ahead of the midterms.

“Donald Trump is a feeble, unhinged conspiracy-peddling 80-year old failed President,” Jeffries wrote on social media. “The economy is a disaster under this guy and the American people know it.”

July 16 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Thursday made sweeping, largely unsupported claims of widespread problems with U.S. elections, many of which have been debunked or overstated, as he called on Congress to pass legislation he says would protect the electoral system but critics describe as voter suppression.

During his roughly 25-minute prime-time speech to the nation, Trump attempted to make his case for measures needed to address the alleged vulnerabilities, stating, “Our elections were left vulnerable to being rigged and stolen, and the trust of the American people was lost.”

“This cannot be allowed to continue,” he said.

The speech was delivered only months before November’s midterm elections, on which Trump has increasing focused, having repeatedly warned that if Republicans lose their slim majority in the House to Democrats, impeachment proceedings and investigations will follow.

Democrats and other critics have accused the president of attempting to sow confusion and distrust ahead of the midterms while pushing the election SAVE American Act, which would require photo identification to vote, documentary proof of citizenship to register and restrict mail voting to certain eligible groups. Opponents say those requirements would disproportionately burden Black and other minority voters and prevent some otherwise eligible citizens from voting.

This is a developing story.

It was a Capitol Hill mystery. For nearly a month, United States Senator Mitch McConnell was not seen or heard from in public.

Little was known about the 84-year-old’s condition, other than that he was hospitalised on June 14. Conspiracy theories began to bubble online. One prominent right-wing influencer, Laura Loomer, even spread rumours that the Republican leader was brain-dead.

But after weeks of silence, McConnell confirmed on Sunday that he was on the mend after suffering a fall.

Still, the Kentucky Republican has increasingly appeared frail on Capitol Hill, freezing in front of cameras and walking unsteadily when not in a wheelchair.

Members of Congress are typically on the older side. The average age for a US senator is around 65.

McConnell’s poor health — and the sudden passing of his Senate colleague Lindsey Graham, 71, on Sunday — have reignited the question: What would happen if McConnell were unable to serve the remainder of his term?

The answer is the subject of intense scrutiny, as Republicans seek to preserve their majority in the Senate.

Who is Mitch McConnell?

A seven-term senator from Kentucky, McConnell is the longest-serving party leader in the history of the Senate.

He first entered the Senate in 1985, and in 2007, he became the head of the Republican Party in the chamber, a position he held until 2025.

He continues to serve as a senator, though he is not seeking re-election in November’s midterm elections. His term ends in January.

What is wrong with McConnell’s health?

On Sunday, McConnell said in a statement that a fall on June 14 rendered him “briefly unconscious” and landed him in the hospital. The senator also said he had dealt with a mild case of pneumonia.

But McConnell has long struggled with health and mobility challenges. As a toddler, he survived a severe bout of polio, though it left one of his legs partially paralysed.

McConnell indicated his condition was improving, but that he would not return to the Senate yet.

“With signs of continued progress, I’ve been able to move from hospital care to a rehabilitation center where I’ll keep regaining my strength,” he wrote.

His statement was accompanied by a smiling photo of the senator in a hospital bed, with what appeared to be a copy of Sunday’s Washington Post newspaper.

Has McConnell been hospitalised before?

This is not the first time the senior senator’s health has been a source of concern in recent years.

As recently as February, the veteran lawmaker was hospitalised for flu-like symptoms.

Also, in 2019, McConnell tripped and fell in his Louisville home, fracturing his shoulder.

According to reporting from the Louisville Courier Journal, he also collapsed three times in 2023, suffering a concussion and a broken rib that ultimately led to him using a wheelchair.

It was during that period that McConnell had several instances where he inexplicably appeared to freeze while speaking in public, prompting questions about his fitness to serve.

Why does his presence in the Senate matter?

Republicans have a controlling majority in the Senate — but only by a few seats.

With McConnell absent, the number of Republicans available to vote shrinks from 53 to 52 in the 100-seat Senate.

That could influence the outcome of divisive bills, when every Republican vote matters.

McConnell’s absence has already helped Democrats pass a resolution against President Donald Trump’s war on Iran, with four Republicans crossing party lines to vote for it.

McConnell also sits on the all-important Senate Appropriations Committee, which helps decide discretionary government spending.

The US government has a looming funding deadline on September 30, and McConnell’s continued hospitalisation could muddle efforts to pass funding measures.

What does McConnell’s absence reveal about Republican Party unity?

The Republican majority in the Senate has weakened over time, according to Stephen Voss, a political science professor at the University of Kentucky.

Moderates like Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski — alongside wild cards like Rand Paul — have shown willingness in the past to join with Democrats during critical votes.

But that small proportion of “swing” Republicans has grown during the midterm primary season.

A number of lame-duck Republicans have lost their re-election bids to party rivals, backed by President Trump. That makes them more willing to buck their party leadership from time to time.

“McConnell’s absence could become inconvenient depending on what sort of policy battles we see in coming months,” said Voss.

What has been the reaction to McConnell’s absence?

News of McConnell’s hospitalisation sent alarm rippling through the US political sphere.

Republican leaders attempted to reassure the public that the senator would soon return to his post. But as the weeks stretched on, questions about McConnell’s condition mounted.

Ultimately, on July 8, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear sent a letter to McConnell’s office, requesting an update on the senator’s health status.

Beshear has since called McConnell’s written statement on Sunday a “step in the right direction”, but he continues to push for more transparency, suggesting the Republican senator release a video update instead.

Some critics have called on McConnell to step down altogether, questioning his fitness for office. They include Democrat Charles Booker, who is running to succeed McConnell in the midterm elections.

Tres Watson, a Republican strategist and host of the Kentucky Politics Weekly podcast, sees no reason to doubt McConnell’s ability to serve, despite the recent health scares.

“I’ve been around the senator several times in the last year. His brain is functioning fine, his wit is there, his intellect is there, but the body is failing him, and he made the understandable decision not to run for another term,” Watson said.

What happens if Mitch McConnell is unable to serve the rest of his term?

If McConnell were to vacate his senate seat before his term ends, it may be tempting for Democrats to think Beshear, the Democratic governor of Kentucky, could appoint someone from his own party.

That’s not the case, however, because of a recent change in state law. Kentucky is now one of four US states where the governor does not have authority to fill Senate vacancies.

In 2024, Kentucky’s Republican-controlled legislature passed a law requiring Senate vacancies to be filled by a special election, which must be called by the governor.

But experts say holding a special election this year would be fraught with challenges, one of which is timing.

The new law says the governor must give 63 days’ notice before the special election. Senate hopefuls would have to file their candidacy no later than 56 days prior to the vote.

Even if McConnell’s Senate seat were vacated immediately, the earliest a special election could occur is September.

But experts say that cobbling together a special election would not make sense, since November’s midterm elections are barely three and a half months away. McConnell’s Senate seat is up for grabs in that race.

“Setting up the process would take time, so we wouldn’t get a senator in office very quickly, even if this process kicked off soon,” said Voss, the political science professor. “The probability that we’d get a replacement ahead of time is pretty low.”

Watson, the Republican strategist, agrees. He questions the efficiency of rushing to hold a special election, when the midterms are on November 3.

“We’re getting pretty close to Election Day,” Watson said. “They’re not going to put the commonwealth through the expense of having another special election just so someone could be a US senator for effectively one month.”

Could there be challenges to filling McConnell’s seat?

Yes, a significant challenge could be litigation. Kentucky’s 2024 law is largely untested, and it would almost certainly attract legal challenges.

“I think there’s a decent chance the issue could end up in the courts,” said Joshua Douglas, a University of Kentucky law professor who teaches election law.

Douglas believes there may be a contradiction between the new law and parts of the Kentucky Constitution.

“The 17th Amendment says the legislature may authorise the governor to appoint a temporary replacement, Section 152 of the Kentucky Constitution says the governor appoints one, and the Kentucky legislature now says there must be a special election after the new law,” Douglas said.

Voss explained that the legal challenges could delay any special election to fill McConnell’s seat.

“This is the sort of thing that lawyers know how to tie up in litigation,” Voss said. “There would be people involved who know how to slow walk the process.”

Why can’t the governor pick McConnell’s replacement?

The 2024 law stripped the governor’s authority to select a temporary replacement for a US Senate seat.

Governor Beshear vetoed the bill, but the state legislature, which has a Republican supermajority, overrode his opposition.

The measure is part of a broader strategy of Republican lawmakers to shift powers away from the governor since Beshear’s election in 2019.

“We’ve seen an overall attempt by the Kentucky General Assembly to shift power from the executive to the legislative branch,” Voss said.

But the 2024 law was not the legislature’s first attempt at limiting the governor’s ability to fill Senate vacancies.

Initially, in 2021, Republican lawmakers passed a bill that required the governor to choose a temporary replacement from a list of three provided by the executive committee of the former senator’s party. After filling the vacancy, a special election would be held.

According to Watson, Republicans passed a new version because they were concerned about legal challenges to the 2021 law.

Republicans in the state argue that the 2024 update is more democratic and aligns with the process for filling other vacancies.

Beshear is the only Democrat to hold a statewide office in Kentucky. The state has not elected a Democrat to the US Senate since 1992.

Who is running to replace McConnell in the midterms?

In the general election, Democrat Charles Booker, a former state legislator, is running against Republican Representative Andy Barr to succeed McConnell.

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio is hosting more than 65 countries for a conference focused on political violence from the far left, a designation that a number of critics say is being used to target legitimate opposition.

The “Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism”, taking place on Thursday, brings together government representatives from around the world to coordinate on what the US Department of State calls a “renewed threat”  that has “remained a blind spot in the international community’s counterterrorism focus”.

Critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union, told the Reuters news agency that “the far-left terrorism designations could be used to target lawful protest activity and political opponents rather than genuine security threats.”

Here’s what’s driving the summit and who’s attending:

What is this summit about?

The Trump administration’s 2026 counterterrorism strategy identifies three primary threats: “Islamist terrorism”, “narco-terrorism”, and “violent left-wing extremists, including Anarchists and Anti-Fascists”.

The strategy states that the third category of left-wing “extremists” has been traditionally ignored, and notes that Charlie Kirk’s assassination in September 2025 was executed “by a radical who espoused extreme transgender ideologies”.

The counterterrorism strategy omits right-wing extremism and white supremacist groups, despite growing instances of violence that some of these outfits have been accused of – including several of those who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2020, in an attempt to overturn the US presidential election that Donald Trump lost.

Thomas Renard, director of The Hague-based International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, said the summit reflects a fundamental shift in how the US sees the threat.

“What we are seeing now in the United States is that counterterrorism has been completely politicised, instrumentalised,” he told Al Jazeera. “For instance, the threat from far-right terrorism, which was for decades considered as the primary domestic threat, has now completely disappeared from the US counterterrorism strategy.”

Who has been invited?

Invites went to more than 70 countries as the State Department wrote on social media that countries had shown “overwhelming interest”. It is reported that Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar will be present alongside representatives from multiple countries. The stated aim is to “expand coordination, enhance information sharing, and strengthen international law enforcement mechanisms”.

The summit follows a series of smaller meetings held earlier this year, including one in The Hague with law enforcement officials.

Renard says many European nations are expressing their unease with this ministerial meeting by sending relatively junior ministers.

“They are not particularly convinced that this is a topic that justifies this type of gathering, but at the same time, they don’t want to antagonise the United States either. And therefore, this is the compromise they found,” he said.

In November, 2025, the US designated four European groups as terrorist organisations: The German Antifa Ost, the Italian Informal Anarchist Federation/International Revolutionary Front (FAI/FRI), the Greek Armed Proletarian Justice and the Greek Revolutionary Class Self-Defense.

What is “far-left terrorism”?

The term is usually used by governments to describe movements accused of violence and driven by left-wing ideologies, including Marxism, socialism, or anarchism. Such movements usually describe themselves as anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist.

Latin America saw several left-wing armed movements during the Cold War, a number of which carried out sustained campaigns of political violence, such as Colombia’s Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMNL) in El Salvador and the Tupamaros in Uruguay. Throughout the 20th century, Washington repeatedly backed hardline right-wing regimes that opposed left-wing movements across Latin America.

India has been dealing with the Naxalite rebellion, a far-left Maoist movement that started in the 1960s and claims to fight for the rural population. The group is seen as one of India’s most serious internal security threats. At its peak, about the year 2000, thousands of people were killed due to the conflict with the Naxalite rebellion.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Marxist groups like the Red Army Faction in West Germany were behind several assassinations, abductions and bombings that they argued were aimed at weakening the capitalist state.

By contrast, the Antifa movement, which the Trump administration has consistently tried to portray as a major violent threat, is a loose, decentralised collection of socialist-leaning individuals opposed to far-right extremism, white supremacy and authoritarianism. Several individuals described by prosecutors as Antifa members have been indicted on accusations of violence in US courts, especially in states like Texas that are ruled by Trump’s Republican Party, since he returned to power. In June, eight such individuals were sentenced to several years in prison: Benjamin Hanil Song, convicted of the attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, was sentenced to 100 years in prison.

Far-right political violence and terrorism in the US

But the same Trump administration has pardoned all those charged with violence during the January 6, 2023 insurrection, including individuals accused of beating police officers.

This week’s summit also specifically focuses on far-left political violence but does not include the threat from far-right ideology and terrorism, similar to the counterterrorism strategy.

This, even though the Oklahoma bombing, which killed 168 people and wounded nearly 700 in the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in the US, was carried out by the right-wing hardliner Timothy McVeigh.

The Cato Institute, a US think tank in Washington, DC, stated in February that of politically motivated terrorism on US soil between 1975 and 2025, excluding the Oklahoma bombing and 9/11, “right-wing terrorists account for 45 percent of people murdered, Islamists are responsible for 32 percent, left-wing terrorists are responsible for 16 percent.”

Renard says the summit creates the very problem it claims to solve: “The United States, with this summit and with its strategy, is creating, actually, a blind spot about far-right terrorist threats, as that threat is strongly anchored and rooted in the United States.”

July 16 (UPI) — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has announced that all service members aged 30 and older will undergo mandatory screening for testosterone deficiency during their annual health assessments, as the Trump administration continues to emphasize traditional masculine ideals in its public presentation of the U.S. military.

The former Fox News host announced the new policy in an online video statement, saying the new testosterone-screening program is to ensure all U.S. soldiers “have the right testosterone levels to operate at your absolute best.”

“We owe our warriors the absolute best medical care in the world, and this program delivers on that obligation,” he said.

According to a Department of Defense statement, while mandatory for all active-duty and reserve personnel over the age of 30, younger service members may also request screening during their periodic health assessments.

Hegseth said if treatment for a deficiency is recommended, it is up to the service member to decide whether to undergo testosterone replacement therapy.

“This initiative — it’s not about artificial enhancement. It’s about restoring and optimizing your natural capabilities, protecting your longevity and ensuring you have the biological foundation required to sustain the fight,” he said.

Testosterone is produced in the testicles and helps maintain men’s bone density, fat distribution and muscle strength and mass, among other functions, according to the Mayo Clinic, which said that after the age of 30 or 40, men’s testosterone levels decline at a rate of about 1% a year.

Testosterone replacement therapy seeks to alleviate issues caused by low levels of the hormone, though the Mayo Clinic states that its unclear if such treatment would benefit older men who are otherwise healthy.

The announcement comes as testosterone and testosterone-replacement therapy has been a focus of the Trump administration.

Last month, the Department of Health and Human Services announced it had requested to remove labeling from testosterone-replacement therapy that stated the safety and effectives of the treatment in men with age-related have not been established.

It also comes as Hegseth has sought to cultivate a more traditionally masculine image and culture within the U.S. military, implementing President Donald Trump‘s ban on transgender services members and imposing male physical standards for combat positions, a move critics say could reduce the number of women serving in those roles.

He has also sought to instill a “warrior ethos” in the military and routinely refers to service members as warriors. The Trump administration also refers to the Department of Defense as the “Department of War,” though a permanent change to the department’s name requires congressional approval.

Some Democrats were quick to point out that testosterone-replacement therapy is a form of gender-affirming care, which the Trump administration and Republicans have sought to restrict and ban.

“This, by the way, is gender-affirming care,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said during a congressional hearing held shortly after Hegseth’s announcement.

“And, by the way, male members of this committee, watch what you vote for. Do you really want the government getting into your business, taking your testosterone levels and determine whether or not you have enough testosterone? Are you male enough to be in Congress?” she said, mocking the policy.

The US military has continued strikes against Iran, hitting targets further to the country’s north as well as close to capital Tehran for the first time in the latest round of violence.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said early on Thursday it struck several military sites and assets in a bid to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten innocent mariners” in the Strait of Hormuz. The unit also said it disabled an oil tanker in the passageway.

At least 35 people have died, and more than 300 have been wounded in the latest wave of attacks that began last Wednesday after CENTCOM launched strikes on Iranian port cities close to the Strait of Hormuz. The US says the attacks are in retaliation for Iran hitting three commercial ships in the Strait.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it targeted US military assets in neighbouring Gulf countries.

Here’s what has happened in Iran and the US on Wednesday and Thursday and what both sides are saying:

Where did the US hit?

CENTCOM said in a statement early on Thursday that US air strikes targeted Iranian command centres, air defence sites, missile and drone capabilities as well as coastal surveillance facilities.

Multiple locations were hit, CENTCOM said, including Bandar Abbas on Thursday.

An earlier wave of strikes late on Wednesday hit coastal defence and cruise missile sites on Greater Tunb Island in a 90-minute bombing wave, CENTCOM added. The small, strategically located island sits near the Strait of Hormuz and is believed to hold a naval base, although details are not publicly available. It is also believed to be a point from which the Iranian military has disrupted shipping routes.

Meanwhile, Iranian media reported attacks in Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island, Sirik, Chabahar, Konarak, Rask, Khondab, Khorramabad and Semnan.

A hospital in Ahvaz was forced to evacuate 211 patients after reportedly being hit in the strikes.

Air defences were activated in Tehran and neighbouring Pakdasht and Parchin on Thursday.  The Iranian military said an MQ-9 drone was downed over the city of Andimeshk.

CENTCOM, in a separate statement on Thursday, said it was enforcing a naval blockade reimposed on Tuesday by disabling a “non-compliant” oil tanker that was attempting to sail towards Iran’s Kharg Island using Hellfire missiles.

How has Iran responded?

Iran’s army claimed retaliatory attacks on US military assets in Kuwait and Bahrain on Thursday.

Kuwait: The Iranian army said in a statement it targeted radar systems, the Patriot defence system and fuel tanks belonging to US forces at the Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait. In an earlier statement, it said it hit a radar and gathering point for US soldiers in Kuwait, as well as US communications systems and fuel depots in Jordan’s al-Azraq airbase.

Bahrain: Drones also targeted US Super Hawk radars and Patriot defence systems at the Sheikh Isa airbase in Bahrain, the army added.

Jordan: Meanwhile, Jordan said it intercepted eight Iranian missiles on Thursday.

Iraq: Iraqi authorities said five drones attacked the city of Erbil, with two crashing near a US base and one shot down near the US consulate. Iran’s army has not claimed the attacks.

What are both sides saying?

Iran’s parliament speaker and lead negotiator, Mohammad Ghalibaf, said on Wednesday Iran is prepared for a fuller military confrontation if the US does not live up to the terms of the interim deal. The country is fighting an “existential” battle, he added.

The IRGC has, meanwhile, threatened to halt all energy exports from the Middle East over the US’s naval blockade, which was reimposed on Tuesday.

“The export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or for no one,” it said in a statement.

Speaking at the US Army War College in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, President Donald Trump reiterated his claims that Iran was pushing to strike a peace deal behind the scenes but did not provide details.

“They don’t like what we’re doing, and they do want to settle. We’ll find out whether or not we settle with them, or we just finish it off,” he said.

However, in a rare show of gratitude on Wednesday, Trump thanked Iran via his Truth Social platform for the release of Dena Karari, an American citizen the US says was “wrongfully” jailed in the country since 2024.

Meanwhile, US Vice President JD Vance, in an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan released on Wednesday, defended the war on Iran but added that an agreement was needed between the two sides to end the conflict.

July 15 (UPI) — The United States attacked Iran on Wednesday, and Iran struck U.S. assets across the region into Thursday morning, marking the fifth straight day of strikes between the two nations as they fight over the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Central Command launched two waves of attacks seeking to degrade Iran’s ability to threaten vessels transiting the vital chokepoint between Iran and Oman.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said early Thursday that it was conducting missile and drone strikes targeting U.S. assets at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait.

“Once again, we remind the honorable people of Kuwait that the United States is committing these crimes against Muslim Iran from your soil,” the elite military unit responsible for protecting Iran’s Islamic regime said in a statement.

The IRGC-aligned Fars News Agency reported early Thursday that U.S. bases and facilities in Bahrain, as well as in Kuwait, were being struck. It separately said it was attacking U.S. assets at the Al-Azraq Base in Jordan.

The extent of potential damage could not be independently verified. However, the Kuwait Army said its air defenses were confronting drone attacks, and the Jordanian Armed Forces said they downed eight Iranian missiles early Thursday. Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior urged residents to find shelter as sirens blared, suggesting an incoming attack.

CENTCOM said in a statement that its second wave ended at 9 p.m. EDT, hitting command centers, air defense sites, coastal surveillance facilities and missile ad drone capabilities.

In announcing the strikes hours earlier, CENTCOM had said they were “targeting Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels freely transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.”

“The U.S. military is holding Iran accountable at the commander in chief’s direction,” the post said.

The U.S. attacks followed earlier strikes on Greater Tunb Island in the Strait of Hormuz, a key site for Iran’s coastal defenses and missile storage, during a 90-minute wave. The U.S. military also said it fired on the Curacao-flagged Belma vessel transiting international waters toward Iran.

CENTCOM accused it of violating a military blockade of Iran’s coast that Trump reimposed Tuesday afternoon to deny Iran maritime trade.

The IRGC said Ahvaz, a southwestern Iranian city, had come under U.S. attack, with missiles reportedly hitting near Baghaei Hospital, which treats children with cancer, requiring all but the most ill patients to be transferred to another medical facility.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Bagher Ghalibaf told state media that Iran had “no reason” to abide by any deal with the United States if it did not benefit from it, but he left the door open for possible diplomacy, stating: “We must utilize diplomacy and negotiation to achieve and stabilize our national interests.”

While the war began in late February with President Donald Trump seeking to dismantle Iran’s nuclear and conventional weapons programs while encouraging regime change, the current chapter of the war is over the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. President Donald Trump is fighting to restore freedom of navigation through the waterway, down which about one-fifth of global energy supplies flow. Tehran is fighting to preserve its ability to restrict passage through the chokepoint as leverage and has previously suggested it could charge vessels that transit it.

The U.S. attacks came as Trump told reporters that Iran’s leaders “better behave” on Wednesday, one day after he threatened that the United States would strike bridges and power plants if Iran did not return to the negotiating table.

“They want to settle so badly,” Trump said later Wednesday at a defense summit in Pennsylvania. “They don’t like what we’re doing, and they do want to settle. We’ll find out whether or not we settle with them or we just finish it off.”

US President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as the nation’s top intelligence official, Jay Clayton, evaded directly stating that Trump lost the 2020 election. During his Senate confirmation hearing Clayton said only that Biden had been ‘certified’ as president, adding ‘I am not an election denier’.

July 15 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday evening that Iran has freed a U.S. citizen detained in the country since 2024 as a “gesture of goodwill.”

In a social media post, Trump said Iran wrongfully detained the woman in December 2024.

“She is now safely outside of Iran, and in good condition,” Trump wrote. He did not identify the woman but said the United States appreciated the gesture.

Lawyer Jared Genser said in a social media post that the woman is Dena Karari, a client of his trapped in Iran on “bogus charges.” Genser said Karari is safe and traveling back to the United States. He said her freedom wouldn’t have happened without “extraordinary and relentless efforts” by Trump.

Genser said in a further statement that Karari is a U.S.-Iranian citizen who ran a nonprofit called the Children of Mehr Foundation, ABC News reported. The foundation’s Instagram page says that it works to empower children “through education, creativity and opportunity.”

Genser said she visiting her family when she was detained and interrogated by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, suffering “enormous physical and psychological hardship.”

On Wednesday night, the United States military struck Iranian targets for the fifth straight day, with Iran hitting several U.S. military targets Tuesday in Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait.

July 15 (UPI) — The United States struck Iranian targets again Wednesday evening, marking the fifth straight day of strikes and the second wave that day, as President Donald Trump said Iran’s leaders “better behave.”

U.S. Central Command said in a social media post that the later strikes “are targeting Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels freely transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.”

“The U.S. military is holding Iran accountable at the Commander in Chief’s direction,” the post said.

The U.S. attacks followed early strikes on Greater Tunb Island in the Strait of Hormuz, a key site for Iran’s coastal defenses and missile storage, CNN reported. The United States military also said it fired on a ship that tried to violate its blockade of Iran’s ports and “redirected” two other commercial vessels.

Iranian media reported explosions in several areas, including Bandar Abbas and the city of Ahvaz. The state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting said Shahid Baghaei Hospital, which is in Ahvaz and treats children with cancer, evacuated families after a U.S. projectile landed nearby, CNN reported.

Meanwhile, Iran said it struck U.S. military targets in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain. Iranian negotiator Bagher Ghalibaf told state media that Iran’s leaders had “no reason” to abide by any deal with the United States if the country did not benefit from it, but he left the door open for possible diplomacy. An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, however, said Iran has no plans for negotiations.

Trump said Wednesday that Iran’s leaders “better behave” as he spoke with reporters, one day after he threatened that the United States would strike bridges and power plants if Iran would not negotiate again.

“They want to settle so badly,” Trump said later Wednesday at a defense summit. “They don’t like what we’re doing. We’ll find out whether we want to settle with them or if we just finish it off.”

United States President Donald Trump is promising “really big news” in a rare primetime address on Thursday night, though he won’t say exactly what it is.

The surprise speech was announced on Tuesday. But when pressed by reporters about what he planned to talk about, Trump only revealed that the speech would be about elections and “a couple of other things”.

“It doesn’t get bigger, because without free and fair elections, you don’t have a country,” he told journalists in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

Asked to elaborate, Trump said he wanted to “save it” for the speech.

“We’ll be discussing other things, too,” he added. “It’s going to be a very big announcement.”

The White House has since confirmed that the address will focus on elections, including information related to the 2020 presidential election, which Trump has falsely claimed he won.

The speech is also expected to discuss what the White House describes as vulnerabilities in US voting machines.

Here’s what we know about the upcoming primetime presidential address.

When is Trump’s speech?

Trump is expected to speak from the White House on Thursday at 9pm US Eastern Time (01:00 GMT Friday).

How can you watch it?

Major US television networks are expected to carry the address live. The Trump administration has requested airtime from major broadcasters.

It will also be livestreamed on WhiteHouse.gov and on the White House’s YouTube page.

Why is the timing significant?

Trump’s speech comes three and a half months before the November 3 midterm elections.

At stake is control over the US Congress. Currently, Trump’s Republican Party holds slim majorities in both of Congress’s chambers.

But Democrats are seeking to tip the balance in their favour, leveraging backlash to Trump’s second term.

Critics fear Trump may use his primetime address to erode voter confidence in the upcoming elections, or to assert federal influence over election administration, which is run at the state and local level.

There is also speculation that Trump may be angling to fire up his base amid drooping poll numbers. The research firm YouGov suggested this month that more than 57 percent of US voters disapprove of the president’s second-term performance so far.

What is Trump expected to talk about?

So far, much remains unknown about Thursday’s speech.

Administration officials say Trump will discuss newly declassified intelligence connected to its investigations into the 2020 presidential election.

They have also suggested that Trump will discuss alleged vulnerabilities in voting machines that could allow foreign cyber intrusions.

Trump has revealed little else. When asked this week whether the speech would focus on voting machine integrity, he replied simply: “It will concern that subject.”

What happened in the 2020 elections?

Trump was a first-term incumbent when he ran for a second term in the 2020 presidential election.

He faced Democratic nominee Joe Biden, who had previously served as vice president under Barack Obama.

Biden defeated Trump, winning both the Electoral College vote – which determines the presidency – and the popular vote, an important symbolic metric.

The Democrat scooped up 306 Electoral College votes and more than 81 million individual ballots, compared with 232 Electoral College votes and 74 million ballots for Trump.

Critically, swing states like Georgia, Michigan and Arizona voted in Biden’s favour.

After the election, Trump repeatedly rejected the results, and his supporters attacked the US Capitol during the Electoral College certification on January 6, 2021.

What is Trump’s history of questioning US elections?

Trump has spent years casting doubt on the integrity of US elections, even before 2020.

Before the 2016 election, he refused to say whether he would accept a loss to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

After winning his first term in office, he created a presidential commission to investigate his claims that he lost the popular vote due to widespread fraud. The commission was disbanded after finding no evidence to support those claims.

After losing the 2020 election, Trump repeatedly alleged that the vote had been stolen despite numerous investigations finding no evidence to support those claims.

In Georgia, he urged the state’s secretary of state to “find 11,780 votes”, the number needed to overturn Biden’s victory there.

Trump and his allies later faced two indictments – one on the state level, one on the federal level – over allegations they attempted to overturn the 2020 election results.

The federal case was dropped when Trump was re-elected in 2024, in accordance with Department of Justice norms not to prosecute a sitting president.

The state-level case, meanwhile, fell apart after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was disqualified from prosecuting the case.

Trump, however, has continued to assert he was the rightful winner of the 2020 race, despite there being no evidence to support the claim.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a federal cybersecurity watchdog, has called the 2020 election “the most secure in American history”.

Investigations, including several by Trump allies, have produced no evidence that vote-machine rigging or foreign cyber intrusions changed the outcome.

What has the administration done lately to advance Trump’s 2020 claims?

In January, FBI agents descended upon Fulton County, Georgia, to execute a search warrant to collect election materials related to the 2020 race.

Officials in Fulton County, which contains the state capital, Atlanta, have protested against the search and called for the return of the confidential election materials.

They have also claimed they were not given an inventory of what was taken.

An FBI memo obtained by US media this month indicates the agency has diverted hundreds of agents to the case, which officials say is about “irregularities that occurred during the 2020 presidential election”.

Trump has called on Bill Pulte, the acting director of national intelligence, to declassify documents related to the 2020 vote.

What do Trump’s claims have to do with the midterms?

Trump appears to be ramping up his election fraud claims as the November midterms approach.

According to a review published by the Reuters news agency in May, Trump claimed the 2020 vote was stolen more than 107 times over the preceding six-month period.

Already, Trump has suggested that California’s primary vote in June was “rigged”.

Just last week, he invited defeated Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt to the White House after crediting Pratt’s loss to voter fraud. “What they did to that guy was unbelievable,” Trump told Fox News on Sunday.

Trump has expressed fear he could be impeached if his party does not retain control of Congress in the midterms. Major Democratic victories in the midterms could also stymie his legislative agenda for the final two years of his presidency.

What has Trump done to advance his election reform agenda?

Since returning to office in 2025, Trump has pushed to overhaul voting procedures.

Under the US Constitution, election administration falls to the states. It is not within the federal government’s control.

But critics say Trump is attempting to nationalise the election and tighten voter access.

Trump has championed election restrictions like those in the SAVE America Act, a bill that would require voters to produce in-person proof of citizenship, like a birth certificate or passport.

Already, non-citizens are barred from voting. But opponents argue that the SAVE America Act would present a hurdle to legal voters who do not have access to such documents. Many states allow voting with other forms of identification, like a state driver’s licence or a Social Security number.

Trump has also sought to limit the use of mail-in ballots through bills like the SAVE America Act and executive orders. But federal courts have repeatedly blocked his attempts.

In June, for instance, the Supreme Court ruled that states can continue to count mail-in ballots after election day, so long as they are postmarked on or before that date.

Trump has also faced legal challenges against his attempts to compel states to hand over their voter rolls and create a national voter file. And he has threatened to withhold funds – including from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) – if states fail to comply with his demands.

Earlier this month, his administration issued letters to election officials nationwide, warning that they “could be criminally prosecuted” if there are instances of non-citizen voting.

But non-citizen voting is exceedingly rare, as is voter fraud overall.

How have Democrats responded to Thursday’s upcoming speech?

Democrats have warned against giving Trump airtime for his unsubstantiated claims.

“Trump is going to use a primetime address to stoke misleading claims about our elections in order to justify interfering in our midterms,” Senator Mark Warner wrote on social media on Wednesday.

“It’s on all of us to follow the facts and not accept his constant stream of misdirections and lies.”

Another senator, New Mexico’s Ben Ray Lujan, pointed to Trump’s second impeachment as evidence of his willingness to subvert elections.

“This is the same man who was impeached after inciting an insurrection to overturn the election,” Lujan said, calling Trump “corrupt”.

New Mexico says the withheld records are critical to its criminal investigation into alleged abuse at Epstein’s ranch.

The United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) has said it cannot provide the state of New Mexico with unredacted files pertaining to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In a social media post on Wednesday, it argued that doing so would violate existing law.

“Federal law, court orders, and privacy protections for victims and witnesses do not allow us to release millions of unredacted documents,” the department wrote.

The post came in response to pressure from New Mexico’s Department of Justice, led by state Attorney General Raul Torrez, a Democrat.

In a letter released to the public last week, Torrez accused the administration of President Donald Trump of obstructing his state’s investigation by refusing to release critical documents.

But the US Justice Department (USDOJ) pushed back in Wednesday’s post, claiming Torrez’s request fell outside its authority.

“We will continue to follow federal law and the court orders that are in place,” the Justice Department said. “To capitulate to their demands would be to break federal law. Is that what the [New Mexico attorney general] is suggesting?”

The Epstein scandal has been a pressure point for the Trump administration since the Republican leader began his second term in 2025.

Critics say the administration has fallen short of its commitment to transparency, with some speculating that officials may be shielding powerful figures featured in the Epstein files.

Trump himself was part of Epstein’s social circle. He has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.

Epstein is accused of directing a sex-trafficking ring whose victims number in the hundreds.

In 2019, during Trump’s first administration, federal prosecutors called on New Mexico to suspend its investigation into Epstein’s activities in the state to allow their own case to proceed.

Epstein, however, died that year while in jail. His death was deemed a suicide.

New Mexico reopened its investigation in February after the second Trump administration released millions of records under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

In his letter this month, Torrez explained that his office has spent more than five months seeking the unredacted federal records it needs to proceed with its probe.

But the office has yet to receive all the files it requested, Torrez said. He called the Justice Department’s actions a “deliberate choice not to cooperate”.

“Every day the USDOJ withholds these records, the case that could be brought on behalf of New Mexico survivors becomes more difficult to make,” Torrez wrote.

“Witnesses relocate and become unreachable, memories already strained by years of trauma and silence continue to fade, physical and documentary evidence degrades or is lost.”

New Mexico is examining allegations that women and girls were trafficked to Epstein’s Zorro Ranch, a sprawling property he owned south of Santa Fe from 1993 until his death.

Documents released by the US Justice Department in January include an unverified tip about videos of sexual abuse and the alleged burial of two foreign girls on the property.

Survivors like the late Virginia Giuffre have also made allegations about sexual assault and other crimes taking place on the ranch. State officials say those allegations were never fully investigated.

The dispute comes amid growing scrutiny of the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files.

The administration continues to face questions about whether it fully complied with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed in November.

It required the Justice Department to publish its Epstein-related records within 30 days, with limited redactions to protect victims.

Millions of files were eventually released, many with heavy redactions, while the identities of some victims were exposed.

Sheinbaum has denounced remarks from DEA head Terry Cole as a baseless ‘political statement’ about Mexico.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has rejected a claim from the head of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that there is a deadly connection between her government and the country’s influential criminal cartels.

During her daily news conference on Wednesday, Sheinbaum pushed back, saying the DEA’s remarks seemed “more ‌like a political statement than one backed by evidence”.

She added that the DEA should focus on combating drug trafficking, distribution and money laundering within its own country. The US, she pointed out, is the world’s largest market for illicit drugs.

Sheinbaum has repeatedly faced accusations under US President Donald Trump that her country is “run” by cartels.

Several Trump officials have mirrored that assertion. On Tuesday, for instance, DEA Administrator Terry Cole said ⁠the Mexican government and cartel networks were “one and the same”.

The Mexican government responded by saying Cole’s remarks did not reflect its efforts to work with the US to combat cartels.

It added that Mexico continues to be willing to collaborate with the US to combat crime, as long as its sovereignty was respected.

Since Trump took office for a second term, Sheinbaum has faced pressure from her northern neighbour to crack down on crime in her country.

In response, she has pledged close cooperation with the US, while pushing back against Trump’s militaristic approach to Latin America.

Her administration has repeatedly rejected the prospect of the US conducting military operations on its soil without the federal government’s consent.

Initially, Trump and Sheinbaum appeared to forge warm relations, with the US president praising his Mexican counterpart as “marvellous”.

But Sheinbaum has become increasingly vocal in her criticism of the Trump administration in recent months.

In April, for instance, she rebuked the US for issuing an indictment against ⁠Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha, amid allegations his campaign worked with the Sinaloa Cartel to violently influence the 2021 gubernatorial election.

Sheinbaum said no evidence had been produced to back the US’s claim against Rocha. She also argued that rooting out corruption was a domestic issue, not an international one.

Earlier this week, Mexico filed criminal complaints with US prosecutors over the deaths of ‌Mexican ‌nationals swept up in Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

Sheinbaum’s remarks on Wednesday came as the US Department of the Treasury announced that two more criminal organisations in Mexico — the Juarez Cartel and Los Viagras — had been designated “foreign terrorist ⁠organizations and specially ⁠designated global ⁠terrorists”.

The Trump administration has made such designations in the past, as it has sought to frame its actions in Latin America as a war on so-called “narco-terrorists”.

July 15 (UPI) — The U.S Mint will begin producing $1 gold-colored coins featuring President Donald Trump‘s face, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant announced Wednesday.

The coins are meant to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary. They will have Trump’s face and “In God We Trust” on one side, with “Liberty” and “1776-2026” on the border. The reverse side features the presidential seal with “250” on a shield.

Bessent said on social media that the coin honors “the enduring legacy of liberty and a lasting symbol of patriotism.”

“Featuring President Trump, it celebrates the strength of American values, and the promise of a nation dedicated to preserving freedom for all,” he said.

Federal laws generally prevent the image of a living president from appearing on currency. U.S. code says that “[o]nly the portrait of a deceased individual may appear on United States currency and securities.”

In addition, a 1866 law prohibits living people on paper currency, Politico reported. The 2007 Presidential Coin program included the rule that no living president or those who’d died in the past two years could be featured.

U.S. Congress passed a law in 2020 that gave the Treasury Department the power to mint 2026 coins with designs “emblematic of the U.S. semiquincentennial.” That law says that no person living or dead can be on the reverse side of thecoin.

Bessant has said the design is legal, The Washington Post reported. Megan Sullivan, acting chief of the U.S. Mint office of design management, said in January that “the legal research has been done both at the Mint and up into Treasury, and they have determined that [the proposed coin design] does not violate any laws.”

This is not the first design for the coin. An earlier proposal showed Trump standing with a clenched fist in front of an American flag with the words, “Fight Fight Fight” above him.

The Treasury said there is no actual gold in the coin, which will be available for purchase in the fall.

This is not Trump’s first attempt to have his image on currency. There have been proposals for a $250 bill and 24-karat gold coins featuring the president, and his signature has been added to $100 bills.

United States President Donald Trump is scheduled to address a defence summit at the US Army War College on Wednesday, where he is expected to laud US investments in its armed forces that he has argued have helped add a new edge to history’s most powerful military.

But his speech comes at a time when the US’s war on Iran has significantly depleted the US military’s weapons stockpile.

The summit, which will be held in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, comes as the US has re-ignited attacks on Iran in the past week, and as Trump has threatened to continue a war that, according to recent US polls, is highly unpopular among Americans facing high costs of living.

The US has expended half of at least four of its most critical munitions since its war on Iran began on February 28, and has racked up billions of dollars in weapons expenses, analysis shows.

Replenishing low stockpiles could take anywhere between several months and several years. Analysts warn that a shrinking arsenal could put the US in a less formidable position in a potential future conflict – particularly against China.

Here’s what we know about the US weapons inventory:

What’s happening with the US-Iran war?

Following an April ceasefire between the US and Iran, and the subsequent signing of a memorandum of understanding in June, the conflict kicked off again after the US Central Command launched heavy waves of attacks on Iran’s military sites last Wednesday, saying it was aiming to degrade Tehran’s military capabilities. Huge, hourlong attacks have continued for four nights since Sunday, including on railway tracks and bridges.

Both sides traded low-intensity attacks throughout the ceasefire period. However, the US escalated air attacks last week after Iran fired on three commercial ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz – because those vessels had used a shipping route not approved by Tehran.

Each blames the other for violating the ceasefire, and at last week’s NATO leaders’ summit, Trump declared the pact with Iran over, although he said American negotiators could continue talks. Washington has also reinstated a naval blockade on Iran-linked ships trying to transit the waterway and has re-imposed sanctions on Iran.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has responded with retaliatory attacks on US military assets in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.

More than a dozen people have been killed in Iran since the new wave of US attacks, including civilians.

“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,” Trump threatened in a Fox News interview that aired on Tuesday.

Attacking civilian infrastructure is a violation of international law.

Does the US have enough weapons to keep attacking Iran?

Washington’s supplies are running low but have not reached a critical level, according to analysis of the US weapons inventory by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think tank.

In the 39 days of conflict between the start of the US-Iran war in February and the ceasefire in April, the US hit more than 13,000 targets, focusing mainly on using seven of its most powerful missiles and air defence systems: Tomahawk missiles, Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM), Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM), Standard Missile-3 (SM-3), Standard Missile-6 (SM-6), Terminal High Altitude Area Defenses (THAAD) and Patriots.

For at least four of the munitions, Washington likely expended more than half of its available stockpiles, although many lower-grade alternatives are still in stock, according to CSIS. Government data on weapons inventory is classified.

Here’s how the munitions were used:

• Tomahawks – The US had about 3,000 of the long-range missiles that are fired from sea at ground targets. It likely used up more than 1,000 in the war on Iran.
• JASSM – About 4,000 of these stealthy, air-launched long-range missiles were in the US inventory before the war. About 1,100 were used in the war on Iran.
• PrSM – Supplies of the newly delivered, ground-launched long-range missiles were already low to start with, with deliveries since 2023 amounting to a total of 90. An estimated 40-70 were used in the war. One US military official claimed that the “entire” inventory had been expended.
• SM- 3 – The most expensive weapon per unit at $28m, these ship-launched ballistic missile interceptors numbered about 410 before the war. The US has used between 130 and 250 of these in the war on Iran.
• SM-6 – Also ship-launched, this missile is mainly used to intercept aircraft and cruise missiles. The US had about 1,160 stockpiled. An estimated 190- 370 have been expended in the Iran war.
• THAAD – The US had about 360 of the costly anti-ballistic missile systems by April, and between 190 and 290 were used in the war. The US has a total of 8 THAAD units or “batteries” consisting of launchers, interceptors, and radar systems.
• Patriot – An estimated 2,330 Patriots were in stock before the war, but between 1,060 and 1,430 have been expended. Some older versions may also likely be available – about 400 of them.

What does this mean?

Analysts from CSIS say that while the US may have enough to continue hitting Iran in the near-term war, it has reduced its stockpiles so significantly that it may not have enough for potential future wars, especially against a formidable rival like China.

Replenishing high-capability and costly weapons like the ones the US has used in Iran will likely take several years.

Trump and senior administration officials have publicly maintained that the US has an “unlimited” supply of weapons as the US-Iran war has raged on.

However, in March, Trump said administration officials met with the heads of US manufacturers, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, BAE Systems, Honeywell Aerospace, L3Harris Missile Solutions, and Northrop Grumman. He said all promised to “quadruple” production and that increased manufacturing was already under way.

Subsequently, in June, Trump signed the Defense Production Act, an executive order compelling US weapons manufacturers to speed up production, citing existing conditions “which may pose a direct threat to the national defense or its preparedness programs”.

An order compelling private actors to ramp up production likely reflects timeline concerns within the Pentagon, analysts note.

In the short term, Washington is also unlikely to meet demands from its allies, and may not have the capacity to supply the THAADs and Patriots that Ukraine says are crucial in its war against Russia.

Already, supply orders have hit road bumps. Japan’s order of 400 Tomahawks from Raytheon was meant to be delivered between 2025 and 2027, but US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in May that two more years could be added to the schedule.

Meanwhile, Switzerland began negotiations with France, Israel and South Korea in June to buy another missile defence system after its 2022 order from Lockheed Martin and Raytheon continued to face delays.

How long will replenishing weapons take?

Hegseth said in May that it could take “months and years” to replenish the supplies, based on the weapons system.

Analysts reckon it could take the US between one and four years to get its most exquisite munitions stockpiles back to pre-Iran war levels, even as Trump has boasted that new weapons plants are being built around the US and production is being ramped up.

Trump’s administration is set to buy large amounts of advanced munitions in its proposed $1.5 trillion 2027 defence budget – a 44 percent increase from 2026’s defence budget.

According to CSIS, estimated timelines to replenish the seven critical munitions, based on existing production facilities, are:

• Tomahawk: Between 4- 5 years (207 will be delivered in 2026, while 785 have been requested for 2027).
• JASSM: 1 year (821 to be delivered in 2026 and 821 requested for 2027).
• PrSM:  8 months (70 to be delivered in 2026 and 1,134 requested for 2027).
• SM- 3:  3 years ( 52 to be delivered in 2026 and 214 requested for 2027).
• SM-6:  3 years (125 to be delivered in 2026, and 540 requested for 2027).
• THAAD: 3 to 3.5 years (92 to be delivered in 2026, and 857 requested for 2027).
• Patriot: 3 years (172 to be delivered in 2026, and 3202 requested for 2027).

Three days after the sudden death of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, his sister, Darline Graham Nordone, was sworn in on Tuesday to fill his vacant Senate seat at the suggestion of United States President Donald Trump.

Announcing his selection of the deceased senator’s sister on Monday, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster introduced the new senator as Graham’s “darling little sister” who would “finish his work for him now”.

Graham had been among the most influential of senators in the US Congress, using his seat in South Carolina to pursue a consistently hawkish line on foreign policy as well as offering unflagging support to his formerly bitter political rival, President Trump.

Among the Senate’s strongest advocates of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, Graham repeatedly argued against imposing limits on US military support and rejected calls for a ceasefire. He also pressed for a tougher stance on Iran, championing harsher sanctions, backing military action against Tehran’s nuclear programme and warning that the US should be prepared to use force to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

After dying unmarried and without children, his position has now been inherited by his sister, Darline, formerly active in South Carolina’s local government, but with no experience in elected political office.

So, who is Darline Graham Nordone, how significant is this, and are US political powers often inherited? Here’s what we know.

Who is Darline Graham Nordone?

She is Lindsey Graham’s younger sister.

Graham and his sister lost both their parents within 15 months of each other.

At the time, Graham was 22 and his sister was 13. She went to live with relatives, but the pair remained close as Graham studied law and later served in the Air Force.

Years later, Graham legally adopted his sister, saying the move would ensure she was eligible for his military benefits if he died and would be eligible to serve as first lady if he were ever elected president.

Darline Graham Nordone has never held elected office. Neither she nor Governor Henry McMaster has said whether she intends to seek a full six-year Senate term or serve only as a caretaker until January 2027.

“I promise to work hard over the next several months to support the president and carry forward the efforts of my brother on behalf of the citizens of South Carolina and the United States,” she said in brief remarks during the announcement of her appointment on Monday. “I think this is what Lindsey would have wanted, and I plan to honour him in this way.”

What powers has Darline Graham Nordone inherited?

Although Darline Graham Nordone inherits her brother’s Senate seat, she does not automatically inherit his influence.

As a senator, she will be able to vote on legislation, approve presidential appointments, influence foreign policy and help shape US spending priorities.

However, her brother’s committee positions, seniority and political networks were built over decades of negotiating and dealing in the Senate’s corridors of power, and will not transfer to her.

Republican leaders will decide her committee assignments, leaving her to establish her own standing in Washington.

Are US political powers often inherited?

It happens more than you might think.

The practice of relatives stepping into the seats of deceased lawmakers has a long history in US politics, with family members often appointed to complete the remainder of a term.

Figures from the US House of Representatives show that, as of 2025, 45 widows have directly succeeded their late husbands in Congress – including 38 who entered the House and eight who served in the Senate.

Supporters of such appointments point to a long tradition in US politics. Known historically as “widow’s succession”, the practice involved governors appointing the spouses of lawmakers who had died in office, allowing them to serve as temporary custodians until a special election was held. The system also provided an early pathway for women to enter Congress, helping expand female representation in the 20th century.

In modern Washington, inherited seats have, more often than not, served as bridges between one era of family influence and the next, such as the way that the powerful Kennedy family has preserved its influence over past decades.

Has there been any backlash?

Some.

Senior elected officials have yet to comment on Graham Nordone’s appointment, while details of her willingness to run in the midterms remain unknown. However, social media users in the US have reacted angrily to what they see as the unelected transfer of power.

Journalists such as Ben Binday of The Washington Post have also questioned Graham Nordone’s lack of political experience, commenting that nothing is known of her position on key issues such as abortion, foreign policy and healthcare.

July 15 (UPI) — The United States and Iran traded attacks Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning as their war over the Strait of Hormuz continued to spiral, with President Donald Trump renewing threats to target civilian infrastructure.

The two nations have been trading nearly nightly strikes since last week, when Iran struck commercial shipping transiting the vital energy route.

While the broader war began in late February with the United States seeking to dismantle Iran’s military and nuclear programs and encourage the overthrow of its government, the current chapter is centered on control of the Strait of Hormuz. Washington is fighting to restore freedom of navigation through the chokepoint, while Tehran is fighting to preserve its ability to restrict passage as leverage.

Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said in a statement Wednesday that more than 30 civilians were killed in southern Iran in the U.S. strikes.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps early Wednesday claimed to have hit U.S. military assets in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain, as U.S. Central Command said late Tuesday that it had completed a seven-hour wave of strikes, hitting Iranian naval capabilities, coastal defense systems and missile and drone sites near the Strait of Hormuz and elsewhere along Iran’s coast.

CENTCOM said the strikes were intended to “degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping and civilian crews” within the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM earlier said that in the last seven days, Iran attacked seven commercial ships, resulting in nearly a dozen civilian casualties. An Indian national was killed in a strike on a ship on Monday.

The IRGC said in separate statements carried by its official Sepah News that it had “destroyed” shelters housing F-15, F-16 and F-35 fighter jets at Al Azraq Air Base in Jordan; and “destroyed” a satellite communications center, missile and air defense radar, a Patriot air defense complex and logistical facilities at a U.S. base in Kuwait.

The Fars News Agency reported that at least one Iranian drone struck U.S. assets in Kuwait.

The extent of any of the damage was unknown.

The Kuwait Army said its air defenses were confronting drone attacks, and Jordan’s Armed Forces said it had intercepted and shot down three missiles launched from Iranian territory. Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior said sirens had been activated.

Trump earlier Tuesday told Fox News that the U.S. military was going to hit Iran “very hard tonight” and again on Wednesday and Thursday, with civilian targets to be struck next week, a potential violation of international humanitarian law.

“Next week comes the power plants. Next week comes the bridges,” he said. “We’re gonna knock out all their power plants. We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.”

Trump has, since his first administration, tried to coerce Iran to the negotiating table on a new agreement aimed at preventing Iran from securing a nuclear weapon. Last month, a fragile cease-fire was agreed to for the purpose of implementing a memorandum that could lead to ending the war, but the Strait of Hormuz has been a sticking point.

On Tuesday, the U.S. military reimposed a blockade of Iranian ports that Trump removed after the MOU was reached.

CENTCOM said its round of strikes against Iran began at 3 p.m. EDT Tuesday, an hour before the naval blockade resumed operations.

The striker says FIFA’s decision to suspend his one-match ban led to ‘a lot of outside noise’ before USA’s knockout match.

US striker Folarin Balogun says he expected “a lot of controversy” after FIFA suspended his one-game ban at the World Cup following United States President Donald Trump’s request to review the decision.

Balogun was sent off during his team’s 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last 32, but FIFA controversially suspended his ban for a one-year probationary period. The striker has spoken about the incident for the first time in an interview with CBS Mornings on Tuesday.

“My initial reaction was I was happy to be back in the team. But when I kind of started to reflect, I knew it was going to cause a lot of controversy,” he said.

“I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves because it was something that’s so unique.

“But the closer we got to the game, I tried to just focus as best as I could. But it was difficult – a lot of outside noise, and that’s hard to avoid.”

Balogun received the red card for stepping awkwardly on the right ankle of Bosnia’s Tarik Muharemovic in a 2-0 win for the USA in their round-of-32 match, triggering an automatic one-game suspension.

FIFA’s decision to suspend that ban – leading to Falogun playing in the game against Belgium – caused a furore in the football world, and accusations that the body bent its rules to please Trump.

The global football body announced that it had suspended the red card after the US president urged FIFA chief Gianni Infantino to review the case.

The decision prompted criticism from Belgium’s football association, Europe’s top football body, a former FIFA boss, multiple top former players, and many others. Critics argued that overturning a red card suspension after direct political intervention undermined the integrity of the tournament and set a dangerous precedent.

Balogun conceded that the saga led to a confusing few days for him. After the red card, he took on a supporting role in training to try to keep the team’s morale high before finding out he was cleared to play.

“We found out on the team bus. Everybody was like screaming and shouting,” Balogun said. “It was a pretty intense bus ride to the practice field.”

The US striker said it was not hard to separate “the emotion from the job at hand” ahead of the match against Belgium.

“We’re all professionals, so it’s not something I think was too difficult to be able to separate once we kind of got over the initial announcement that I’d be back in the team,” Balogun added.

The USA lost 1-4 to Belgium, with Balogun struggling to influence the game, following a fine overall tournament in which he scored three goals.

US President Donald Trump welcomed Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to the White House. Trump praised the ‘tremendous chemistry’ between him and the PM and said the countries will be announcing a new ‘massive’ oil partnership.

Millions lost power as Cuba’s fifth nationwide blackout of 2026 hit amid a US-imposed oil blockade.

Cuba’s national power grid has collapsed, plunging the island into its third nationwide blackout in less than 10 days and leaving approximately 10 million people without electricity.

The outage began around 11am local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, when the country’s entire power grid went offline, according to the state-run electricity company, UNE.

“There has been a total disconnection of the electrical system,” Cuba’s Ministry of Energy and Mines said on social media.

The latest blackout comes as Cuba faces its worst economic crisis in decades, worsened by an oil blockade imposed by the United States that has deepened fuel shortages and pushed the island’s ageing power system to the brink.

US President Donald Trump imposed the blockade in January after the United States removed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power. Venezuela had long been Cuba’s main supplier of subsidised oil, and under US pressure, Mexico also halted fuel shipments to the island.

As of 2023, according to the International Energy Agency, Cuba was producing only about 40 percent of the oil it consumed, leaving it heavily reliant on imported fuel.

The Trump administration says the measures are intended to pressure Cuba’s communist government to hold democratic elections and release what it calls political prisoners.

The repeated blackouts have fuelled growing frustration across the island. Just a week ago, scattered protests broke out across Havana, with residents banging pots and pans and shouting “turn on the lights” as millions endured another prolonged outage. In both of last week’s blackouts, it took over 24 hours to restore power across the island.

Cuban authorities have struggled for months to keep the lights on as fuel shortages and an ageing electricity grid, much of it dating back to the 1960s and 1980s, leave the system increasingly prone to collapse.

Havana blames the crisis on the US fuel blockade, while Washington says Cuba’s communist government is responsible for the country’s deteriorating power system.

Speaking at a UN General Assembly debate on US sanctions last week, US Ambassador Michael Waltz said Cuba’s leaders were to blame for the electricity shortages.

“Change your ways and turn the lights back on for your people,” he said.

July 14 (UPI) — Two Supreme Court Justices are planning to testify before Congress Tuesday about the Court’s budget ask for extra security amid growing threats.

Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett plan to appear before the House Appropriations subcommittee that approves funding for the Court to discuss the request for a $16.6 million budget increase to improve security for the justices at work and home. But questioning could veer toward several recent controversial decisions the Court made in its 2025-2026 term.

The budget increase requested is $20.6 million for fiscal year 2027. It asks for $14.6 million to give each justice six more security agents and 25 extra officers at the Supreme Court building, The Washington Post reported. The request also includes $2 million for a residential security office to coordinate home security.

It will be the first time Court justices have gone before Congress since 2019.

Supreme Court justices regularly face personal attacks from politicians and the public who may be displeased with their decisions.

Barrett’s home was “swatted” in May, when a caller reported gunshots at her home to lure police there. In October, a woman was sentenced to eight years in prison for planning to kill Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Chief Justice John Roberts spoke out in March against personal attacks on judges after President Donald Trump criticized the justices for striking down his tariffs.

“Personally directed hostility is dangerous and has got to stop,” Roberts said during a speech in Houston.

Sending justices to Congress has become rare. Until 2011, at least one justice had appeared before Congress every year. Since then, there have been only three appearances.