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Trump Blabs to Everyone About Supposed Secret Mission for Iran’s Oil

Donald Trump brought up the oil right after a report showed inflation surging.

Donald Trump sits at his desk in the Oval Office and speaks, raising one hand with his index finger extended
Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg/Getty Images

President Donald Trump claimed Wednesday that 100 million barrels of oil had been transported through the Strait of Hormuz—much to the Energy secretary’s surprise!

In a post on Truth Social, Trump claimed that last month, he’d directed the military to conduct a “secret mission” to support the flow of energy through the essential trade passageway.

“Today, I am pleased to announce that this effort has resulted in more than 100 MILLION Barrels of Oil making its way through the Strait, and into the Open Market,” Trump wrote.

“More than 200 Commercial Ships have safely traveled through the Strait. This wildly successful effort is because the UNITED STATES of AMERICA CONTROLS the Strait of Hormuz—NOT Iran,” Trump wrote. “Their military is defeated, and their economy is lost. It’s over for Iran!”

Trump’s sudden announcement came as he struggled to justify the U.S. economy reaching its highest annual inflation rate in three years—and the president’s impulsive social media posts haven’t helped the situation. It’s not clear whether Trump is actually telling the truth. His administration has a history of lying about this exact thing, and the president has a penchant for using the war with Iran to try to manipulate the stock market.

Trump’s claim is already failing the smell test. When asked about the 100 million barrels of oil Wednesday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright appeared confused and said he was “unaware” of the operation.

Ohio Representative Emilia Sykes pressed Wright on whether he thought Trump was lying. “I do not think the president is lying, I think the president is talking casually about our efforts to stop the flow of Iranian oil,” Wright said, though clearly Trump was talking about oil that had made it out, not oil that had been blocked.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump divulged more details about the operation.

“You know we’ve been taking out millions of barrels of oil. Nobody knows it. You know who doesn’t know about it? Iran until right now,” Trump said. “We took out, the other night, 22 ships, late at night with no lights because they don’t have any radar because we blasted the crap out of it.”

It’s no secret that some ships have been able to exit through the Strait of Hormuz. Last week, a U.S. defense official told CNBC that the U.S. was coordinating with ships seeking passage through the Strait of Hormuz, but was not escorting vessels. Lloyd’s List Intelligence reported last week that roughly 40 ships stranded in the Persian Gulf have been able to exit the strait.

The numbers Trump is claiming would indicate clandestine energy flows of a far larger scale, but it’s worth noting that before the U.S. attacked Iran, an average of 20 million barrels of oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz every day. That means the transit of more than two billion barrels of oil has been stalled in the 103 days since the U.S. and Israel first launched military strikes against Iran.

This story has been updated.

“Bullsh*t!”: Energy Secretary Crashes Out Over Attack on Blue States

Chris Wright insisted he hadn’t yanked grants from areas that did not support Donald Trump.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright speaks during a House committee hearing
Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Energy Secretary Chris Wright

A House committee hearing exploded into bluster and blunder Wednesday after Energy Secretary Chris Wright was called out for singularly defunding clean energy projects in blue states.

Wright appeared before the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology to discuss oil shocks from the Iran war—but one particular exchange with Representative Gabe Amo put a spotlight on the unconstitutional use of his office.

At issue was nearly $8 billion in Biden-era grants for clean energy projects that the White House gutted in October. Democrats have described the canceled grants as politically motivated retaliation by the Trump administration against liberal areas of the country.

Amo quoted from a lawsuit filed against the Department of Energy, citing that the “primary reason” clean energy grants were funded or not funded in October 2025 was whether the grantee was “located in a blue state.”

“The court rightfully found that you violated the Constitution. The only meaningful difference between the seven projects that won in court—and the hundreds of others—is that those plaintiffs sued,” Amo said. “So, Secretary Wright, my question is simple: When will you restore the funding for all the projects that were wrongfully terminated?”

Wright appeared visibly irritated by the question.

“Number one, you haven’t read the document or misinterpreted the document. We did not involve politics in the decision-making of our review process. Hands down, did not,” Wright said.

“What about the outcomes, Mr. Secretary?” pressed Amo.

That’s when the niceties ended, and the profanities began.

“The court ruling you read—was a choice of announcements of some of the awards … not made by our department. No decisions, no decisions were made on politics,” Wright said. “It’s bullshit.”

Amo then called for a note on parliamentary procedure, incredulously questioning if the committee was OK with “promoting language like that from witnesses.”

“Watch your language there, Mr. Secretary,” drawled Committee Chair Brian Babin.

Amo then tore into Wright. “Here’s the problem with your administration. You’re willing to huff and puff when it comes to showing up in front of Congress when your audience of one is paying attention. But the fact of the matter is, my constituents—and the constituents of people across this Congress—are struggling because of your decisions. And yet you want to use language like that, act out of hand, behave poorly, so you can prove that you have loyalty to the president,” Amo said.

“That’s not how this works,” declared the Rhode Island lawmaker. “Do your job.”

Pardoned Jan. 6 Rioter Arrested Again for “Terroristic Threats”

Jake Lang is now behind bars after threatening to instigate a racist mob.

Pardoned January 6 rioter Jake Lang holds a sign that reads White Lives Matter while in a crowd outside the Collin County Courthouse.
Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News/Getty Images
Pardoned January 6 rioter Jake Lang holds a sign that reads “White Lives Matter” outside the Collin County Courthouse during Karmelo Anthony’s murder trial, on June 4.

Racist right-wing activist and pardoned January 6 insurrectionist Jake Lang was arrested in Dallas on Tuesday night for making “terroristic threats.” His bail is set at $1 million. Lang was visiting Texas to stir up racial animus around the trial of Karmelo Anthony, a Black teenager who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for fatally stabbing a white teenager at a track meet last year.

“They ripped me off the plane, dozens of officers treating me like El Chapo.… They’ve arrested me for a felony, what’s called ‘terroristic threats,’ simply because I said that if the jury did not find Karmelo Anthony guilty, that we the people will deal with justice,” Lang said, in a phone call posted on his X account, suggesting that his call for extrajudicial mob violence against a Black teenager was somehow reasonable.

“This is two-tiered persecution against the white people of this world. We are under attack, and what they’re doing to me they want to do to all of us,” Lang continued.

Lang—who is in the midst of an unserious Senate campaign in Florida—was also arrested earlier this week in Texas for trespassing in Frisco City Hall while protesting the same trial. One in 16 pardoned January 6 insurrectionists have been arrested again for other crimes.

“I Love the Inflation”: Trump Says Surging Inflation Is a Great Thing

Um, what?

Donald Trump gestures and speaks while sitting at his desk in the Oval Office
Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg/Getty Images

President Donald Trump said he loves inflation.

A new report released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that America’s annual inflation rate had reached its highest levels in three years. Later, in the Oval Office, a reporter asked Trump whether the new inflation numbers concerned him. The president presented his own pathetic spin.

“No, I love it. The numbers were great. You know what I really love? I love the inflation,” Trump said.

Sorry, what?

As Americans are struggling to afford gas, food, electricity, and medical care, Trump suggested that the high prices would be good for “after the war.”

“You know, we’ve been taking out millions of barrels of oil. Nobody knows it. You know who doesn’t know about it? Iran until right now,” Trump said. “We took out, the other night, 22 ships, late at night with no lights because they don’t have any radar because we blasted the crap out of it.”

Trump indicated that clandestine oil flows were why crude prices were below $100 per barrel. But if that was ever really a secret, Iran certainly knew about it—because Trump had posted about it earlier in the day.

Trump has made it clear he cares more about oil companies than average Americans, who aren’t likely to buy the president’s sudden pivot after he’s spent the last few years railing against inflation.

Trump Lost It at Charlie Kirk for Continuing to Talk About Epstein

Kirk did not stop his Turning Point colleagues from discussing the files, much to Donald Trump’s dismay.

Donald Trump and Charlie Kirk shake hands while standing on stage during a Turning Point USA event
JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images

Charlie Kirk was increasingly at odds with the president in the final months of his life.

Donald Trump had strong words for the GOP’s youth connection last July, two months before Kirk was shockingly assassinated at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University. At the time, Trump reportedly berated Kirk for allowing one of his college rallies to turn into a grieving session over the Epstein files, according to details of an upcoming book by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan published in The New York Times magazine Wednesday.

“Trump had called Kirk and scolded him” for providing a venue for young people to slam former Attorney General Pam Bondi and the larger Trump administration for failing to release the files, reported the Times.

Kirk, by virtue of his position leading the youth Republican movement, could see that the Epstein files had become a divisive issue for young voters. He urged the White House to change course on the matter, but they would not relent.

Trump was not shy in expressing his frustration with his aides. He reportedly told them that he was “very unhappy” with his famed supporters, raging against the likes of Kirk as well as former Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly, all of whom had demanded the admin “come clean” about Jeffrey Epstein.

Eventually Donald Trump Jr. and Vice President JD Vance joined the choir, urging the White House to change its position and pressure the Justice Department to release more files, reported the Times.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act was signed into law on November 19, legally requiring the unmitigated release of all documentation related to the child sex trafficking investigation. It has been nearly seven months since then, and the federal government still has not released everything it has on Epstein. No one has been arrested in connection to the crimes, either—beyond Epstein’s longtime criminal associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was arrested in 2020.