KOENIG

Room of the White House, April 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said the US Navy would “shoot and kill” any boat mining the Strait of Hormuz, and claimed “infighting” has hobbled Iran’s ability to respond to peace proposals, even as The New York Times reported that hard-line generals had consolidated power under the new supreme leader.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel was ready to renew the fighting with Iran and was awaiting a “green light” from the US to target Iranian energy sites and Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, whose father and predecessor Ali Khamenei was killed at the start of the war.

Israel and the US launched the bombing campaign on Iran on February 28 in a bid to destabilize the regime and destroy its ballistic missile and nuclear capabilities. The fighting entered a truce on April 8.

After the US moved the talks between Israel and Lebanon from the White House to the State Department at the last minute, an Israeli source tells The Times of Israel that President Donald Trump “may” stop by the meeting.

The U.S. Navy has a new acting leader after the departure of John Phelan, with Under Secretary Hung Cao stepping into the role, the Pentagon announced Wednesday.

No reason was given for Phelan’s exit. His departure comes as the Navy continues operations tied to tensions involving Iran.

Cao, who has served as under secretary since October 2025, will now take on the responsibilities of the Navy’s top civilian official on an acting basis. The role includes oversight of the Navy and Marine Corps, as well as hundreds of thousands of civilian personnel and a multibillion-dollar budget.

[Side note from Koenig News: Hung Cao is a Christian who loves Jesus and has attended church at Cornerstone Chapel. Please pray for him.]

... the seizure of two commercial vessels this week shows that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps still maintains thousands of speedboats.

Experts, including Professor Saeid Golkar, say the Revolutionary Guards' navy operates as a maritime guerrilla force focused on asymmetric warfare and hit-and-run tactics rather than on conventional naval battles involving large warships.

These boats carry anti-tank missiles and fighters armed with shoulder-fired missiles against aerial and maritime targets, and they can also be used to lay mines. While they are no match for a single US destroyer, deploying them in swarms of dozens, combined with drones or shore-based missiles, could inflict heavy damage on military and commercial vessels alike.

This tactic is not new. The Revolutionary Guards have operated this way since the 1980s, and in 2015 they even destroyed a mock-up of the aircraft carrier Nimitz using 100 speedboats in a highly publicized exercise.

Israel has named its first Christian ambassador, George Deek, as special envoy to the Christian world ... Deek is a prominent member of the Arab Christian community in Jaffa. His father, Youssef Deek, long served as chairman of the Orthodox Christian community in Jaffa.

Although US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have made the ultimate war and ceasefire decisions regarding Iran, The Jerusalem Post now reveals the details and extent to which IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, US Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, and CENTCOM Chief Admiral Brad Cooper have been the next most dominant figures.

In many ways, Zamir was key to convincing Caine and Cooper that such a war was feasible, such that they would support it, or at least not oppose it.

US President Donald Trump said he expects negotiations with Iran to begin as soon as Friday, with Pakistani sources saying talks could take place in 36 to 72 hours, the New York Post reported on Wednesday.

The report mentioned that Trump, when asked via text message about the possibility of talks happening soon, said: “It’s possible! President DJT.”

Late on Tuesday, Trump announced on Truth Social that he had decided to extend the temporary US-Iran ceasefire until Iranian officials submit a “unified proposal” for discussion.

(photo: Lebanese Presidency)

Lebanon was hoping to extend the shaky ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel as its representatives were set to meet with Israeli envoys on Thursday for the second time in two weeks in Washington, DC, while Israeli officials projected optimism about the talks.

The historic negotiations, brokered by the US, are the first sustained direct talks between Israel and its neighbor to the north in decades. They come amid a ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group that is set to expire Sunday.

The truce, which began last week, has seen repeated clashes between Israel and Hezbollah, including on Wednesday, Israel’s Independence Day.

President Donald Trump said in a radio interview with CNBC on Tuesday morning that the U.S. was in a "very strong negotiating position" as the ceasefire deadline looms but expects to be bombing Iran again soon.

Asked whether he needs at least the prospects for a signed deal Tuesday or Wednesday or else he would resume bombing Iran, Trump responded, "Well, I expect to be bombing, because I think that's a better attitude to go in with."

"But, you know, we're ready to go. I mean, the military is raring to go. They are absolutely incredible,” Trump said. "We have the most powerful military in the world, and everybody knows it."

Fox News contributor and former CIA station chief Dan Hoffman told "America's Newsroom" on Tuesday that "The U.S. intelligence community is on high alert tracking the extent to which Russia and China might be providing Iran with military equipment." "China reportedly provided MANPADs and dual-use equipment for use in Iranian drones and ballistic missiles. So that is something we have to be keenly aware of, tracking and then seeking to stop with that blockade that we've imposed," Hoffman said. MANPADS are shoulder-fired, heat-seeking missiles designed to target low-flying aircraft. U.S. officials believe a similar type of weapon was likely used to bring down an American F-15E fighter jet over Iran earlier in April, marking the first loss of a manned U.S. aircraft in Iran in the conflict.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he would have “no problem” meeting Iran’s leaders, and projected confidence that peace talks between Washington and Tehran would go ahead on Tuesday, despite Iran refusing to commit to participating.

“I have no problem meeting them,” Trump told the New York Post, regarding Iran’s leadership. “If they want to meet, and we have some very capable people — but I have no problem meeting them.” 

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, meanwhile, encouraged negotiations with the US, even as he said approaching the Americans with mistrust is an “undeniable necessity,” according to the ​state news agency IRNA. Pezeshkian said the US blockade showed ⁠that ​Washington was moving toward “repeating previous ​patterns and betraying diplomacy,” according to state TV.

President Donald Trump told PBS News on Monday morning that if the ceasefire with Iran expires Tuesday, "then lots of bombs start going off."

The statement came during a phone call with White House correspondent Liz Landers focused on the Iran war, as a U.S. delegation is preparing for more peace talks.

US President Donald Trump said Sunday that talks with Iran on extending the ceasefire would resume on Tuesday, while the Islamic Republic indicated it was not planning to send a delegation and was pessimistic about the prospects of the talks.

Trump told Fox News that White House envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff would be heading to the Pakistani capital Islamabad for the negotiations, and if Tehran does not agree to a deal, the whole of Iran would be “blown up.”

He told the outlet that bridges and power plants in Iran would be targeted, repeating his threat to target civilian infrastructure — plans that appeared to have been halted after the ceasefire was reached nearly two weeks ago. The break in the fighting is set to expire on Wednesday if an extension is not agreed upon.

“Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA — nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier — tried to get past our naval blockade, and it did not go well for them,” Trump claims in a Truth Social post.

“The US Navy guided missile destroyer USS SPRUANCE intercepted the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman, and gave [it a] fair warning to stop,” Trump continues. “The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineer room. Right now, US Marines have custody of the vessel.”

“The TOUSKA is under US Treasury sanctions because of [its] prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board!” the US president adds.

Just days before Independence Day, US President Donald Trump on Sunday posted a message on his social media platform praising Israel and extolling it as an exemplary ally.

“Whether people like Israel or not, they have proven to be a GREAT Ally of the United States of America. They are Courageous, Bold, Loyal, and Smart, and, unlike others that have shown their true colors in a moment of conflict and stress, Israel fights hard and knows how to WIN!”

The United States is planning to board and seize Iran-linked oil tankers and commercial ships in the coming days, according to a Saturday report by The Wall Street Journal.

The report noted that these actions would take place in international waters, potentially outside of the Middle East.

The US “will actively pursue any Iranian-flagged vessel or any vessel attempting to provide material support to Iran,” US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said Thursday. “This includes dark fleet vessels carrying Iranian oil."

President Trump convened a White House Situation Room meeting on Saturday morning to discuss the renewed crisis around the Strait of Hormuz and negotiations with Iran, according to two U.S. officials.

Tensions in the Persian Gulf reached a new peak on Saturday when the naval arm of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced the "complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz to maritime traffic."

In an official statement published by the Tasnim news agency, Iran said the move was taken in response to what it called a US violation of the ceasefire terms and Washington's failure to lift the naval blockade on Iranian ports.

Iranian officials made clear that, as of Saturday, all ship movement in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman toward the strait is prohibited. The statement said any vessel violating the directive would be considered to be cooperating with the enemy and would become a target for attack.

The Strait of Hormuz continues to be the center of the world’s attention, as it remains unclear whether it is actually open to ships. It appeared that Iran had allowed ships to transit the Strait late last week, in the wake of a ceasefire, talks with the US, and also an Israeli ceasefire in Lebanon.

Dangerous severe weather is expected to develop across a corridor from Wisconsin to Texas beginning early Friday afternoon. More than 50 million people in the Midwest and the Plains are in the path of storms that could generate strong tornadoes, "monster" hail, and hurricane-force wind gusts.

US President Donald Trump confirmed on Friday the opening of the Strait in a Truth Social message that read: "Iran has just announced that the Strait of Iran is fully opened and ready for full passage."

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced earlier on Friday that all ships will be allowed to cross the Strait of Hormuz following the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. 

"In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of the ceasefire, on the coordinated route as already announced by the Ports and Maritime Organization of the Islamic Rep. of Iran," Arahgchi said in an X/Twitter post.

A peace deal between the United States and Iran could take around six months to be agreed upon, officials from both the Middle East and Europe told Bloomberg.

The officials recommended that the existing ceasefire between the US and Iran be extended, so as to allow for a more suitable timeframe in which to make the deal. 

The Strait of Hormuz being opened is a key issue in the deal, the officials said, and Gulf Arab and European leaders want it open as soon as possible, in order to restore the flow of energy through the region, as well as avert a potential global food shortage.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire following phone calls that he held with the leaders of both countries.

“I just had excellent conversations with the highly respected President Joseph Aoun, of Lebanon, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel,” Trump wrote. “These two leaders have agreed that in order to achieve peace between their countries, they will formally begin a 10-day ceasefire at 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.”

Trump wrote in a followup post that he would invite Aoun and Netanyahu to the White House for “meaningful talks.”