THE WAR ROOM: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed yesterday that it would be the “most intense day” of American strikes against Iran since the start of the war.

  Hegseth said at a Pentagon morning news conference that “the most fighters, the most bombers” would be deployed and that the US military was giving President Trump “maximum options” to fight the war. Hegseth, who had previously said the war might last three to eight weeks, said that it was up to Trump to assess whether “it’s the beginning, the middle or the end.”

  Israel also announced  a new wave of strikes in Tehran, the Iranian capital. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hopes the Iranian people would oust the Islamic Republic and that “ultimately, it is up to them” on when the war would end.

  Amidst speculation about how and under what terms the war might end, a spokesman for Iran’s Revolutionary Gurd said, “We will determine the end of the war,” and that Iran would not allow “one liter of oil” to leave the region if the strikes by the United States and Israel continue.

  Iran is reported to have been laying mines in the Straits of Hormuz and the US has been blowing up the mine-laying ships.

  About 1,800 people have been killed across the Middle East, 1,300 of them in Iran and 500 in Lebanon.

  No one has mentioned any diplomatic efforts to end the conflict that has disrupted global energy markets.

  Hegseth continued to deflect yesterday on whether a US Tomahawk missile destroyed an Iranian girls’ school, killing 168 students and teachers. 

  He repeated his stand that the US does not strike civilian targets, which did not answer the question he was asked: Was it a missile fired by the US hit the school? The Tomahawk is a naval missile and the US is the only country using them in this war.

CASUALTY REPORT: As many as 140 American service members have been injured so far in the war with Iran and seven killed, according to the Pentagon.

  They said eight have been severely injured and out of the overall number, 108 have returned to duty.

SLIPPERY SITUATION: One of the biggest risks to President Trump in fighting the war on Iran is its impact on the price of oil and gasoline at the pump. Gas in the US is up as much as 50 cents after Trump took credit for tamping it down in the first year of his term.

  Gas prices rose for the 11th consecutive day today, up to a national average of $3.58 a gallon, according to the AAA motor club. The price is up 20 percent since the start of the war

  As further evidence that Trump is a purely transactional creature … not principled … to ease the rising price of oil he loosened restrictions on Russian oil exports that had been imposed to help force an end to the invasion of Ukraine. 

  Amin Nasser, the chief executive of Saudi Aramco, told The NY Times that, “There would be catastrophic consequences for the world’s oil markets the longer the disruption goes on, and the more drastic the consequences for the global economy.” 

THE REGIME:

— President Trump appointed Erika Kirk, the widow of assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk, to the board at the US Air Force Academy that makes recommendations to the Secretary of Defense and the president.

  The board’s responsibilities include the academy’s morale, discipline, curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, and financial affairs. The former Miss Arizona took over Turning point USA after her husband’s death. She never served in the military.

— Ed Martin, who is President Trump’s pardon attorney, is up on charges before the District of Columbia bar accusing him of misconduct in seeking to punish Georgetown University’s law school. Martin has been at the forefront of Trump’s efforts to punish perceived enemies.

  The charges brought against Martin are part of an effort by state and local bar associations to curb lawyers who violate ethics and laws in pursuit of the President’s agenda.

— The voting technology company Smartmatic moved to dismiss the federal criminal charges against it claiming they were part of President Trump’s “campaign of retribution against his perceived enemies.” They say the charges are part of Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 contest was stolen.

— Congressional Democrats are opening an inquiry into what happened to millions of dollars private companies pledged to Donald Trump’s planned presidential library. The fund, fed in part by legal settlements from ABC, Meta, Paramount, and X,  was dissolved last year.

— Alina Habba, the attractive 41-year-old former defense lawyer for Donald Trunp and acting US Attorney for New Jersey, divorced her husband and moved to Palm Beach … ground zero of Trump World.

THE SPIN RACK: Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey commuted the death sentence of a prisoner scheduled for execution in two days. Charles Burton, now 75, was one of five men who robbed an AutoZone in 1991 when one of his accomplices killed a customer. Under Alabama law a person committing a fatal crime can be sentenced to death even if they didn’t pull the trigger. Ivey said, ““I believe it would be unjust for one participant in this crime to be executed while the participant who pulled the trigger was not.” — Pope Leo XIV accepted the resignation of a Catholic bishop accused of embezzling at least $270,000 from his Eastern Rite parish outside San Diego. Bishop Emanuel Shaleta, 69, was arrested last week at San Diego International Airport while trying to leave the country. — A pod of dolphins has been spotted recently cavorting in New York’s East River. It’s happened before, but it’s rare.

BELOW THE FOLD:  Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had rotator cuff surgery yesterday. The cause of his shoulder injury was not given, but maybe he did it doing pullups in an airport.

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