Trump Sec. Flails When Fox News Wrecks Key Claim About Hormuz Strait

Fox News is not buying the Trump administration’s claims that the U.S. controls the Strait of Hormuz instead of Iran.

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright spoke to the network’s Bret Baier Thursday evening, and didn’t have a good answer when Baier asked him about the strait.

“Mr. Secretary, you can concede, can’t you, that the U.S. doesn’t have total control over the Strait of Hormuz?” Baier asked.

“Look, Iran is attempting to hold the world economy hostage and to terrorize their neighbors. They built up a giant arsenal. So are they causing difficulties in the region? Absolutely. But they have a losing strategy. At the end, that will lead to the collapse of this regime in Iran as their economy gets strangled,” Wright responded. “But are they causing some difficulties for their neighbors and the world economy? Absolutely. But their ability to cause difficulties are declining. Our ability to escort and bring products out of that region is growing. They have sort of one card and it’s shrinking in size.”

“That does not sound like total control,” Baier said.

At one point in the interview, Baier played a clip from November where Wright claimed energy prices would plummet. He then showed the secretary that energy costs were much higher now. Wright ignored Baier’s comparison, claiming that costs were down.

If Fox News is skeptical and willing to call out a Trump administration official, that suggests that the continued Iran war and its negative effects on the global economy are too big to ignore for conservatives. For months, gas prices have stayed high, and talks between Iran and the U.S. have yo-yoed between a peace deal and Donald Trump threatening to escalate the war, but pulling back at the last minute and raising concerns that he is manipulating markets.

If no deal is reached by November, the midterms will not go well for Trump and Republicans, and Democrats could retake Congress. They’d have the ability to end the conflict with a war powers resolution and investigate Trump’s market manipulation, as well as his mishandling of the battle with Iran.

The President Trump-appointed Kennedy Center board first tried to close the Center in May, but that decision was blocked by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who argued that the board’s decision was “ill-informed and seemingly preordained.” On Thursday, the board voted again, this time deciding to close the center for two years so that they can renovate the building in Trump’s image.

Judge Cooper still has to review the board’s plan for the center’s closure, which they have until next week to provide.

The board also voted to put Trump’s name back on the center, circumventing the law stating “no additional memorials or plaques in the nature of memorials shall be designated or installed in the public areas” by putting “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump,” somewhere on the building.

“This morning’s decision to close the center and the surprise agenda item to put Donald Trump’s name back on the building was more of the same,” said Democratic Ohio Representative Joyce Beatty, who successfully sued the center in May. “This latest development is a transparent effort to circumvent the court’s ruling, and flies in the face of the statutes that Congress passed. I will continue to fight for this treasured national monument.”

This is just one of the many useless aesthetic overhauls that President Trump has taken on during his vastly unpopular second tenure—from the Reflecting Pool, to the East Wing of the White House, to the new ballroom. His takeover of the Kennedy Center, attacking it for being too “woke,” did real damage to the institution, as ticket sales plummeted and the center’s cultural legitimacy suffered.

“My word: Just think about how low his self esteem is that he needs this so badly? Most human beings would have felt the shame of all this,” journalist Chuck Todd wrote on X. “I know this isn’t a new take. But it doesn’t make it any less sad or pathetic.”

The Trump administration responded to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s killing of nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in January by opening up investigations into left-leaning groups days later.

The New York Times reports that the Department of Homeland Security opened probes into labor unions, a climate change organization, socialist groups, and other organizations to find out if they had aided protesters, whom the government called “violent opportunists and agitators,” against the administration’s crackdown in Minnesota.

According to government documents, these investigations were invasive, gathering information on individuals and groups who have never been suspected of committing crimes. For example, over three years of financial records were subpoenaed from the Sunrise Movement, a climate activism group, and the Communications Workers of America, the labor union that represents the staff at The New Republic.

The government also sought three years’ worth of wire transfers from the Service Employees International Union, the U.S.’s biggest health care union, saying they were inquiring about “domestic terrorist financing.” Those time periods predate the 2025 launch of the government’s “Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota.

In addition, government agents began extensively spying on protesters and organizers at libraries, parks, churches, and online meetings, recording license plate numbers as well as names and proceedings. They also infiltrated Signal group chats, attempting to learn about protests and their targets’ political opinions.

All of this suggests some kind of ulterior motive on the part of the Trump administration. The DHS investigations seem to imply that the government was trying to find or manufacture criminal activity based on dissenting political speech. Federal prosecutors even went so far as to show a grand jury a PowerPoint slide alleging a conspiracy to obstruct immigration agents by 18 groups, including the AFL-CIO, the country’s largest labor federation.

While none of the groups targeted by the inquiry have faced criminal charges, the government in June charged 15 people with interfering with immigration agents. The government claims the defendants are part of the left-wing antifascist movement, or antifa. Instead of going after the crimes committed by its own agents, the Trump regime wants to charge the people who protest those crimes.

New York GOP Representative Mike Lawler chose to go back and forth with Dana Bash rather than make any commitment to return the $10,000 he accepted from his embattled colleague, Ohio Representative Mike Miller—who was sued by his ex-wife today for accidentally sharing images of their two-year-old daughter’s genitalia while attempting to discredit other disturbing accusations against him.

“You received $10,000 from Congressman Miller’s PAC this election cycle. Your campaign spokesman told Politico you have no plans to return the money. Now Miller, of course, has been accused of abusing his ex-wife and his daughter—allegations he denies,” Bash asked Lawler on CNN Thursday afternoon. “Why have you decided not to return the $10,000?”

“Well, first of all, there’s been a lot of allegations leveled. I know Max very well. I’ve talked to him personally over the last two years about this very difficult family situation—it’s tragic. I don’t think anybody disagrees about that,” Lawler said. “But this is something that should play out in family court. I think the fact that some in the media and my Democratic colleagues have tried to turn it into a spectacle and,
you know, use this situation for political points is wrong.”

He then turned focus away from Bash’s question and onto his upcoming midterm opponent Cait Conley, who took money from former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer in 2017. Spitzer resigned in 2008 after he was caught in a prostitution ring.

“Okay, so I’m asking you specifically about Max Miller ... you said you’ve talked to him a lot privately,” Bash pushed. “It sounds like you’re saying that you’re not returning the donations because you get into that because you believe him?”

Miller has been accused of holding a gun to his wife’s head, scalding her with boiling water, breaking his two-year-old daughter’s collarbone, and using drugs. Miller has denied all of it, referring to the boiling water specifically as a “playful incident.”

When asked about the allegations, Lawler was defensive. “Look, this is a private family matter that unfortunately has spilled out into the public. It should be adjudicated in family court. Max has been accused, Max has also made accusations against his ex-wife. It is tragic,” he said, refusing—like nearly every Republican in Congress—to seriously condemn the allegations against Miller and call for his resignation.

“Obviously, I don’t condone any level of abuse, but ultimately there’s been nothing that has been corroborated here, which is part of the reason why Max is continuing to run for reelection.”

The most full-throated GOP rebuke of Miller came from his father-in-law, Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno. “He is a danger to my daughter, and I hold my breath every minute he has custody of my granddaughter,” Moreno wrote on X. “If there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them.”

Virtually every Republican except Emily Moreno’s father has deferred to the House Ethics Committee, refusing to call on Miller’s resignation, even as Senator Moreno calls him someone who needs “serious psychological help.”

“This is the typical Washington media game where it’s always: An allegation comes up, you must return the money,” Lawler said. “It’s the typical game. Everybody plays, and it doesn’t actually do anything to further the situation. If there’s evidence that Max did something, then obviously there should be a thorough investigation of that. But thus far, there’s been nothing to verify any of the claims that have been leveled. I think it is a tragic family situation. We all know people who have gone through nasty divorces.”

Lawler didn’t say whether he thought this was simply a “nasty divorce” or what precisely was “tragic” about the family situation. Then again, he didn’t have to.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth denied that military servicemembers aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln are dealing with poor conditions, saying Thursday that reports describing such conditions were “completely misrepresented.”

“We make sure every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment,” Hegseth said to reporters while on a visit to Panama. “Some deployments are longer than others and I have more respect and gratitude for those sailors than anybody. What they do in those high seas in those austere conditions with fewer port calls—it’s incredible.”

Multiple outlets, including the Military Times and Stars and Stripes, have reported low morale and mental health concerns among sailors as the Abraham Lincoln’s deployment stretches well beyond its initial end date in May. The aircraft carrier is reportedly experiencing water contamination, plumbing problems, disruptions in mail delivery, and food shortages, with pictures of meager, tasteless-looking meals going viral.

The situation has led to safety issues, exhaustion, and burnout among servicemembers, and multiple sailors have reportedly tried to jump overboard or otherwise harm themselves. Hegseth didn’t mention those reports Thursday, despite family members of crewmembers stationed aboard the ship explicitly raising them during heated town hall meetings last week with military leaders, including acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao. One spouse reportedly told officials at a meeting that her husband had messaged her earlier that day saying “he hopes he doesn’t wake up tomorrow.”

Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal wrote a letter to Hegseth Wednesday demanding answers about conditions on the Abraham Lincoln and to visit the ship.

“The Lincoln’s extended deployment raises broader questions about the Navy’s ability to sustainably generate carrier forces while preserving servicemember well-being, maintenance schedules, fleet readiness, and the capacity to respond to future contingencies,” Blumenthal wrote.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the USS George Washington aircraft carrier will soon be deployed to the Persian Gulf from Japan to replace the Abraham Lincoln, which has been deployed for 250 days and hasn’t had a port call for a record 200 days. The change, which U.S. officials told the Journal is part of a previously scheduled rotation plan, will come as a long-awaited relief to the beleaguered sailors on the Lincoln.