FROSTY RECEPTION: Trump’s push for international allies to assist the U.S. in securing the Strait of Hormuz is getting a cool reception to start.
The president said Saturday that “many countries” will send war ships to patrol the passageway amid Iran’s moves to block the area. Tehran placed mines in the water and has vowed to attack any ships attempting to pass.
Trump later said Sunday that he was in talks with “about seven” countries on policing the strait, but at least one key ally has made clear since then that it won’t get involved.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters Monday that his country won’t send ships, saying “this is not our war.” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz later echoed that, saying it isn’t a matter for NATO and that Germany will not get militarily involved.
Trump reiterated his calls for support from other countries Monday, labeling Iran a “paper tiger.” But other longtime allies such as Australia and Japan appear skeptical of joining a coalition to secure the strait.
The apparent rebuffs stand in contrast with the agreement among the nearly three dozen members of the International Energy Agency last week to release 400 million barrels of oil stockpiles to address rising costs amid the conflict. But sending war ships would mark a significant escalation of other countries’ involvement in the war as many have made clear they don’t want to be pulled in.
Trump expressed optimism that France may take part in policing the strait after speaking with French President Emmanuel Macron. But he also said he expects the U.K. to be involved, despite Prime Minister Keir Starmer being among the most vocal opponents of the operations.
The president has also sought to persuade China to assist, but Beijing appears unenthusiastic about doing so. Trump later confirmed he requested his scheduled state visit to China, which was set for the end of March, be delayed by about a month.
“We’re working on that right now. We’re speaking to China. I’d love to, but because of the war, I want to be here,” Trump said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied that Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping was in jeopardy over Iran, saying it only would be delayed over logistics and timing.
▪ The Hill: 200 U.S. troops wounded since war began.
▪ BBC: Who wants what from the war.
MULTIPLE DENIALS: Trump claimed Monday he had a private conversation with a former president who told him they back his moves on Iran, but he wouldn't say who it was –– and multiple camps are denying it.
“He said, ‘I wish I did what you did,’” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I don’t want to get into ‘who,’ I don’t want to get him into trouble.”
Trump said it wasn't former President George W. Bush, the only living former GOP president, implying it was a Democrat.
But people close to former Presidents Clinton, Obama and Biden told The New York Times and CNN that they haven't spoken to Trump about Iran.
Trump said the former president “happens to like me, and I like that person, who is a smart person.”
CUBA THREAT: Trump said Monday that he expects he will have the "honor" of taking over Cuba, not ruling out military action.
“Whether I free it, take it, I think I can do anything I want with it,” he told reporters. “You want to know the truth, they’re a very weakened nation now.”
The president's comment comes as his administration has significantly ramped up pressure on the communist regime in recent months. It implemented a U.S. quarantine against fuel imports to Cuba in January, halting Venezuelan energy deliveries to the country.
The entire island lost electricity Monday in a countrywide blackout as it faces rising economic and energy crises.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel confirmed last week that his government is holding talks with the U.S. to address their differences and find areas to cooperate. Trump said Sunday that Cuba wants to make a deal.
The blackout is the third major one hitting the island in the past four months, The Associated Press reported.
▪ NBC News: Cuba to allow nationals abroad to invest, own businesses on island.
CANCER DIAGNOSIS: White House chief of staff Susie Wiles has been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer, the president announced on Truth Social on Monday.
“She has a fantastic medical team, and her prognosis is excellent! During the treatment period, she will be spending virtually full time at the White House, which makes me, as President, very happy!” Trump said, adding that she will be receiving treatment “immediately.”
Wiles said in a statement that she’s “deeply thankful” for Trump’s support.
“Nearly one in eight women in the United States will face this diagnosis. Every day, these women continue to raise their families, go to work, and serve their communities with strength and determination. I now join their ranks,” Wiles said. “I am grateful to have an outstanding team of doctors who detected the cancer early and are guiding my care, and I am encouraged by a strong prognosis.”
Wiles is the first female White House chief of staff and was viewed as critical to Trump’s electoral victory in 2024.
'DEAD BY JUNE': Trump revealed Monday that retiring Rep. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.) received a terminal diagnosis for a heart problem.
The president discussed Dunn’s health during a press conference at the Kennedy Center, introducing House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and noting the small GOP majority he has to wrangle.
“We had one man who was very ill, it looked like he wasn’t going to make it. I don’t know. I won’t mention his name,” Trump said before turning to Johnson, who said Dunn had a “pretty grim diagnosis.”
“He would be dead by June,” Trump said.
“OK, that wasn’t public,” Johnson responded.
The Speaker said the diagnosis prompted Dunn to consider retiring early from his seat, but a midsession resignation would further strain Republicans’ razor-thin majority.
Johnson said Trump suggested getting his own White House doctors involved to help Dunn, who had emergency surgery “within hours.”
Dunn’s office has said the congressman plans to serve the rest of his term.
▪ The Independent: Trump drops jaws with Dunn comments.
VACCINE MOVES BLOCKED: A federal judge has blocked the changes that Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made to federal vaccine policy.
U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy, a Biden appointee, granted a preliminary injunction Monday against the reduced childhood immunization schedule approved earlier this year, The Hill’s Joseph Choi reports. The request for the injunction came from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Murphy also ruled against Kennedy’s overhaul of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), an independent panel that advises the agency on vaccines. Kennedy replaced the sitting committee members with many known vaccine skeptics and critics.
But Murphy ruled the revamp violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and he invalidated all votes made by the ACIP since then.
The ACIP has voted in favor of pulling back recommendations on several vaccines, including no longer recommending birth doses of the hepatitis B vaccine; delaying the combined measles, mumps, rubella and varicella vaccine; and leaving whether everyone 6 months and older should get the COVID-19 vaccine to “individual-based decision making.”
HHS has indicated it will appeal the ruling.
▪ The Wall Street Journal: White House puts HHS on tighter leash.
KENNEDY CENTER SHUTDOWN: The Trump-picked board of the Kennedy Center voted to approve the president’s push to close it for renovations.
The board unanimously voted Monday to shutter the center, which it had previously voted to rename the Trump Kennedy Center, for two years. It will close after a July 4 celebration and have a “Grand Re-Opening" when the renovations are completed.
The board also voted unanimously to name Matt Flora as the center’s new CEO and executive director, succeeding Richard Grenell, Trump’s envoy for special missions who has served as the acting leader for more than a year. Flora has served as the center’s vice president of operations.
Democrats and other critics of the president’s oversight of the center have denounced the renovations, which are coming after many performers at the center have canceled their shows as Trump has increased his influence.
▪ The Hill: Trump says ahead of vote that board members ‘have to close’ center.
HERE COMES THE POPE: Pope LEO XIV plans to appear virtually during a 250th anniversary event celebrating the U.S.’s independence in July as he receives a medal from the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
The first U.S.-born pope is set to receive the Liberty Medal in honor of his advocacy for "religious liberty, freedom of conscience and human dignity," said Vince Stango, the interim president and CEO of the center.
