THE WAR ROOM: President Trump announced that he’s going to blockade the Strait of Hormuz in order to force Iran to stop blocking the Strait of Hormuz.

  The US Navy starting today is under orders to block all ships, including Iran’s own oil tankers, cutting off the country’s supply of income. Trump threatened on his Truth Social that, “Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!”

  The speaker of Iran’s parliament said, “Enjoy the current pump figures. With the so-called ‘blockade,’ soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4-$5 gas.”  

  This came after marathon talks in Pakistan failed to end in a peace agreement. Iran is utterly beaten militarily and undefeated at the bargaining table. The stickiest issues are Iran’s possession of  nearly 900 pounds of enriched uranium for making nuclear bombs, frozen Iranian money held abroad, and control of the Strait of Hormuz, the passage  for roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil.

  The President was attending an “Ultimate Fighting” match when the talks collapsed.

  Trump and his lieutenants keep repeating how the US and Israel have wiped out Iran’s navy, air force, and missile capabilities and yet he is unable to dictate the terms of peace. Only a few waterborne mines and a missiles give Iran outsized power.  

  Trump posted, “Iran will not be allowed to profit off this Illegal Act of EXTORTION” … blocking the strait. “They want money and, more importantly, they want Nuclear,” he said. “Additionally and, at an appropriate moment, we are fully “LOCKED AND LOADED,” and our Military will finish up the little that is left of Iran!”

ORBAN OUT: Viktor Orban, the increasingly authoritarian leader of Hungary who was supported by both Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, conceded defeat in yesterday’s national election after 16 years in office.

  The 62-year-old Orban was unseated by Peter Magyar, 45, a center-right, socially conservative member of the European Parliament. Magyar won 137 seats in the 199-seat parliament. Orban’s party got 55.

  Hungarian voters turned out in record numbers, 78 percent. Orban’s political director raised questions about the turnout, possibly suggesting fraud, saying, “too many people are voting.” 

HIM TOO: California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell dropped out of the race for governor of California amid accusations of sexual misconduct. While denying the most serious accusations, Swalwell admitted “mistakes in judgement”  in his past.

  The Manhattan district attorney has opened an investigation into a woman’s accusation that Swalwell raped her in a New York hotel room back in 2024.

  In only a few days, accusations of sexual misconduct coming from four women cratered Swalwell’s campaign. His situation might increase the possibility that four members of Congress, two Democrats and two Republicans, could be ejected from the House.

  In addition to Swalwell, fellow Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick has been indicted on charges of embezzling $5 million of federal disaster money to use for her campaign.

  Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas admitted to an affair with a staffer who later committed suicide. A second staffer has accused him of pressuring her to have sex.

  Also on the roster for ejection is Republican Cory Mills of Florida, who was investigated last year in connection with a report of an assault on a woman. His former girlfriend was issued a protective order against him after accusing him of threatening to release revenge porn after she broke up with him. 

INFINITE SCROLL:

— There is no one Donald Trump will not attack if they dare to disagree with him.

  Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, has been a vocal critic of the American war on Iran soooo … Trump posted on his Truth Social that, “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”

  In a rambling post Trump railed about the Covid pandemic, Iran, Venezuela and that, “I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History.”

  Trump said; “He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump. If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”

— Appearing on Fox News yesterday, Trump condemned news coverage of the Iran war. “It’s so sad when you look at CNN, The New York Times, ABC, fake news, NBC fake news. When you look at their stuff, it’s so sad to see it,” Trump said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” “It’s almost treasonous, actually, if you want to really know that.”

— A federal appeals court on Saturday ruled that President Trump can continue construction of his massive new White House ballroom for another week while judges consider the legality of the project.

  Trump and his lawyers have argued that the ballroom that includes a bomb shelter, drone-proof roof, and bullet proof windows must be built as a matter of national security. In a 2-1 decision the court majority wrote, “It remains unclear whether and to what extent the development of certain aspects of the proposed ballroom is necessary to ensure the safety and security of those below-ground national security upgrades or otherwise to ensure the safety of the White House and its occupants while the appeal proceed.” 

THE SPIN RACK: Another US air strike on a suspected drug boat in the eastern Pacific killed five people. — Golfing star Rory McIlroy won the Masters at Augusta National yesterday, his second win in a row. — Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy, who’s running to become the state’s attorney general, said that the “the flood of Islamists” into Texas is “destroying the state.”

BELOW THE FOLD: The birth rate in the US is dropping. About 710,000 fewer babies were born last year than 20 years ago.

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