Donald Trump hopes of extricating himself from his war on Iran were dealt another blow on Saturday after Tehran closed the strait of Hormuz again after the president said the US would not end its blockade of Iranian ports.
Earlier, Trump said in a social media post: “The naval blockade will remain in full force and effect as it pertains to Iran, only, until such time as our transaction with Iran is 100% complete,” adding that “this process should go very quickly”.
On Saturday, Tehran reversed course on opening the waterway vital to oil shipments, and a UK maritime agency reported that Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) ships had fired at a tanker as it attempted to pass through the strait on Saturday. Reuters reported separately that an Indian-flagged vessel carrying crude oil had also been attacked while in the waterway.
Trump reportedly 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 reporting from Axios. A senior US official said that unless there is a breakthrough in peace talks, it appears that the war could reopen within days.
It marks a swift turnaround from the previous day. In a barrage of social media posts, Donald Trump claimed on Friday that Iran had agreed never to close the strategic waterway again, hailing “A GREAT AND BRILLIANT DAY FOR THE WORLD!”
He later said that “President Xi is very happy that the strait of Hormuz is open and/or rapidly opening”, and suggested it augured well for their upcoming summit in China.
Trump and Tehran’s series of mismanaged posts stall progress towards peace
A set of mismanaged and premature media announcements by Donald Trump and Tehran has led to the collapse of progress towards a peace settlement between Iran and the US, writes Patrick Wintour.
The recent missteps ended with Iran saying it would reinstate a complete block on the movement of commercial shipping through the strait of Hormuz and that it would not allow any of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to be exported out of the country.
Two weeks that pushed Trump to the edge. Is his presidency unravelling?
Lance Johnson voted for Donald Trump three times. Now he is feeling buyer’s remorse, writes David Smith. “I haven’t been too happy with the third time around,” said the 47-year-old contractor, sitting at a bar in Crescent Springs, Kentucky. “We’re supposed to not start any new wars. Prices were supposed to come down. We were promised a lot of things and we’re not getting them.”
Jon Ossoff calls out ‘Mar-a-Lago mafia’ amid presidential bid rumors
Democratic senator Jon Ossoff mocked Donald Trump’s rosy predictions on Iran and tore into what he called the unprecedented corruption of the president’s family at a campaign rally in Augusta, Georgia.
While Ossoff is running for re-election in November, he trained most of his fire on the president, and the vice-president, amid mounting speculation that the Democrat could launch a bid for his party’s nomination for the presidency in 2028.
The senator began his remarks by making fun of the paltry turnout for an event headlined by JD Vance on Tuesday, and then argued that Trump’s decision to attack Iran would be paid for by young Americans deployed to the Middle East and cuts to services for their families back home.
FBI’s Kash Patel denies excess drinking amid officials’ US security concerns
The FBI director, Kash Patel, is denying allegations detailed in a new report that he drinks to excess and has been unreachable at times during his tenure in office. Patel threatened to sue the Atlantic over the story published on Friday, which detailed his alleged heavy drinking and how members of his security detail have on multiple occasions had difficulty waking him.
Trump announces reforms to accelerate access to psychedelic drug treatments
Donald Trump on Saturday announced reforms intended to speed up access to medical research and treatment based on psychedelic drugs. The president signed an executive order directing the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expedite review of drugs such as ibogaine, which US military veteran groups have said can help treat post-traumatic stress disorder.
ICE deported 174 Daca recipients through most of last year, agency head says in letter
From January to September 2025, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported 174 people who were renewing their protections from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) program, the head of the agency has said in a letter reviewed by the Guardian.
What else happened today:
A chaotic scene unfolded Saturday at a beagle breeding and biomedical research facility in Wisconsin as about 1,000 animal rights activists seeking to breach the property were rebuffed with rubber bullets and pepper spray by law enforcement.
A United Airlines flight bound for New York City was forced to land and evacuate in Pittsburgh on Saturday morning after crew members reported a “possible security issue”, a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Two US army soldiers have been injured after encountering a brown bear in a mountainous training area in Anchorage, Alaska, the military said on Friday.
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 17 April 2026.
