‘I CALL IT A SKIRMISH’: In remarks at a political event at Wheeler High School in Marietta, Georgia, last night, President Donald Trump continued to claim victory in the war with Iran, even as Tehran defied his latest threat of more U.S. attacks on bridges and power plants if Iran continued to attack ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.
“I call it a skirmish. This is, with this skirmish we have with the Islamic Republic of Iran, and I call it that,” Trump said. “Because, let me tell you, they’re getting hit so hard and they want to make a deal. But I say they’re not ready to make a deal. Because every time they make a deal, they want to change it and everything. They’re not ready. They’ll be ready very soon.”
Last night, the U.S. Central Command announced the 12th consecutive day of strikes was completed against Iranian targets, including maritime capabilities, missile and drone storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites, and air defense assets, in the effort to “further degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels.”
Frustrated by Iran’s continued attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, Trump issued a threat via Truth Social to “bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT,” for “any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship … whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon.”
Iran responded by striking U.S. bases in Jordan and Kuwait, claiming to have damaged radars and other ground facilities, including a communications tower in Kuwait, which is said to be in retaliation for U.S. attacks on communications infrastructure in Iran.
“During missile and drone attacks on King Faisal and Prince Hassan bases, an F-15 preparation and maintenance hangar was targeted. In an attack on a drone preparation facility, eight brand-new MQ-9 drones, still in their packaging and before being readied for service, were completely destroyed, while two additional MQ-9s located outside sustained heavy damage,” the Revolutionary Guard claimed, while also asserting that “Despite attempts to entice ship crews, no vessel dared test passage through the illegal route south of the Strait.”
TRUMP THREATENED IRAN’S KEY INFRASTRUCTURE. WHERE ARE ITS MOST IMPORTANT POWER PLANTS?
ENTER THE HOUTHIS: Meanwhile, Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels say they attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, effectively opening a second front in the war by posing a threat to shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
The Houthis’ SABA news agency said the rebels struck two tankers, the Encelia and the Layla, leading to fires on both, in retaliation for Saudi Arabia’s blockade of Yemen and a recent attack on the international airport in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, which is controlled by the rebels.
“At least seven vessels have changed course to avoid transiting through the Bab al Mandeb Strait in light of the Houthi blockade on Saudi ports,” the Institute for the Study of War reported last night, while noting 30 commercial vessels transited the strait yesterday, down from 64 the day before.
“If something like that happens, we take care of it,” Trump said Tuesday, “We’ve done that with the Houthis before, and we haven’t heard from them in a while … I think that if there is something like that, we’ll just have to take care of business.”
Last year, the United States conducted an air and sea campaign to ensure freedom of navigation through the Bab al Mandeb Strait dubbed Operation Rough Rider. “That was about 45 days of very powerful action we took against the Houthis, and *we’ve had no problem with the Houthis.”
In Georgia last night Trump insisted the movement of oil through the Middle East is not really a U.S. problem. “We don’t need straits. We don’t need anything,” Trump said. “If you combine us and Venezuela, we have about 62% of the world’s oil market.”
“We don’t need the Hormuz Strait but we do it because we have to do it, because we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” he said. “We’re likewise winning in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and we’re ensuring that they will never, ever be able to do to us what they’ve done to so many.”
“Houthi officials have emphasized that the Houthis will maintain their blockade on Saudi ports until Saudi Arabia lifts its blockade on Yemeni ports and airports,” The ISW said.
IRAN STILL HAS A CARD TO PLAY — AND IT’S AIMED AT THE RED SEA
‘ONE OF THE HARDEST THINGS TO DO’: Trump traveled to Georgia from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where he attended a dignified transfer of four soldiers whose remains were being returned to the U.S. He was joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine.
For me, it’s one of the hardest things to do as a president, but has to be done,” Trump said as he left for Dover. “To honor our heroes, and they are indeed great heroes, actually. They said, and all of them said very strongly. ‘We can’t let — We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. They won’t have a nuclear weapon,’ so we’re going to honor them.”
That comment had Democrats, including Reps. Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Seth Moulton (D-MA), accusing Trump of speaking for soldiers and their families.
“Trump put words in the mouths of the troops who had died saying they didn’t want Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Moulton said on CNN. “Speaking as someone who was sent to war by politicians in Washington, D.C., the idea that politicians that a president would tell my family what I was thinking when I died is unbelievably offensive.”
But last night Trump said his interactions with the families of the fallen touched him deeply. “You know, I read — when I go to Dover, I read charts on all of the young people, and some are unbelievable.”
“One of the families happened to be traveling to Georgia, a beautiful family, beautiful wife and husband and — and brother-in-law. And I said, ‘I’m going to Georgia too. Where are you going?’ He says, ‘Well, after this, sir … We’re going to Georgia.’ I said, “So if you want, I’ll give you a ride on Air Force One,” and they said, ‘Wow, this is something. Thank you so much.”
Despite recent polls showing the support for the Iran war flagging among Trump’s MAGA base — down 13% in a Politico poll — Trump argues the polls are wrong. “Americans aren’t against the war,” Trump told reporters traveling with him. “Americans don’t want high gasoline prices, but they’re not against the war. That just came out loud and clear in a poll.”
AS TRUMP TRAVELS FOR DIGNIFIED TRANSFERS, HE SAYS AMERICANS AREN’T AGAINST IRAN WAR
Good Thursday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Keely Bastow. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com.
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BATTLE OVER NDAA HEATS UP: The House passed the annual defense policy bill known as the NDAA, the National Defense Authorization Act, but it was not with the traditional wide bipartisan consensus. The must-pass measure, which provides the authority for the Trump administration to spend $1.15 trillion on defense, passed 216 to 212, with six Democrats voting with the Republican majority, and seven Republicans siding with the Democratic minority.
The House also passed a budget resolution by a straight party line 216 to 214 vote — employing a parliamentary procedure known as reconciliation which doesn’t require support from Democrats — that would provide $73 billion in additional money for the Pentagon mostly to cover the costs of the Iran war.
“As passed on the House floor today, this bill has been loaded with toxic, partisan amendments that continue the rightwing culture war assault on the LGBTQ+ community and preempt state and local laws under the guise of military readiness,” Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) said in a statement after voting against the NDAA. “The problem is the $1.6 trillion price tag — a 60 percent increase in the defense budget at a time when our country is running a nearly $2 trillion deficit. Our country faces threats and DoD has modernization needs, but I will not support making massive cuts to critically important domestic programs and slashing taxes to meet those needs.”
Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) praised the House version of the NDAA as “a strong bill that builds on President Trump’s Peace Through Strength agenda, supports servicemembers and military families, and gives our warfighters the resources they need to fight and win.’
“Our national security depends on a ready, capable, and well-equipped fighting force backed by a robust and innovative defense industrial base,” Rogers said in a statement. “The FY27 NDAA delivers that.”
HOUSE PASSES $1.14 TRILLION DEFENSE POLICY BILL AMID IRAN WAR
RUBIO, LAVROV DISCUSS UKRAINE: Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Manila, and said the U.S. is still hoping to help end what he called a “senseless wear.’
“The U.S. remains open and willing to play a constructive role in bringing that war to an end, if that opportunity presents itself,” Rubio told reporters before the meeting. “And it might. We’re open to it, to playing that role, because we think right now – and I think the Russians would agree – we’re probably the only country in the world that can play that role … in trying to bring that to an end.”
In a readout provided by the Russian Foreign Ministry, Lavrov was said to have “reaffirmed Russia’s readiness for a political and diplomatic settlement in Ukraine and its commitment to the proposals advanced by the United States at the meeting of President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump in Anchorage, which the Russian leader has accepted.”
It was yet another Russian reference to a purported agreement between Putin and Trump that Rubio denies was ever a formal agreement. Lavrov also called for the U.S. and Europe to stop supplying weapons to Ukraine.’
“We’ll have to find new suggestions and new ideas,” Rubio said afterward.
READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
THE RUNDOWN:
Washington Examiner: House Republicans pass budget framework for $95 billion party-line spending bill
Washington Examiner: House passes $1.14 trillion defense policy bill amid Iran war
Washington Examiner: Trump predicts another government shutdown in September
Washington Examiner: Trump threatens to blow up one bridge or power plant for every ship Iran strikes
Washington Examiner: Trump threatened Iran’s key infrastructure. Where are its most important power plants?
Washington Examiner: As Trump travels for dignified transfers, he says Americans aren’t against Iran war
Washington Examiner: Trump flies family of fallen service member home to Georgia after dignified transfer
Washington Examiner: Trump: ‘With communism, everything turns to s***’
Washington Examiner: Opinion: Iran still has a card to play — and it’s aimed at the Red Sea
Washington Examiner: US and Saudi Arabia sign ‘peaceful’ multidecade nuclear cooperation deal
Washington Examiner: FCC reviewing possible ban of foreign-made military-grade drones
Washington Examiner: Judge questions whether Hegseth’s testosterone plan undermines transgender troops ban
Washington Examiner: Secret Service warns of record threat level ahead of White House Correspondents’ Association dinner redo
Washington Examiner: More Americans support abolishing ICE than not following fatal shootings: Poll
AP: Houthis say they attacked 2 Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea as US carries out 12th night of strikes
Axios: U.S. deploys B-1 bomber as attacks on Iran intensify
Wall Street Journal: U.S. Surges Forces Toward Middle East, Giving Trump Options to Expand Iran War
New York Times: What Visuals Show About Recent Damage to U.S. Military Sites in the Middle East
Washington Post: Trump administration weighing military action in Mali, officials say
AP: House votes for Department of War renaming as part of an annual defense bill
Defense News: Backed by France, Macron Sees Germany as Nuclear-Deterrence ‘Vanguard’ in Europe
AP: The New Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Forged His Reputation Fighting Russia in 2014
Air & Space Forces Magazine: An Early Look at the Air Force’s New Counter-Drone Units
The War Zone: Ukrainian F-16 Scored First Air-To-Air Kill Against a Russian Fighter: Top US General
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Space Force Launch Program Sees Demand Surge from 60 Missions to 170
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Experts: What Canada Joining Sixth-Gen Fighter Program Signals for US Industry
National Defense Magazine: BAE Systems Unveils Sixth-Gen CCA Fighter Jet
Defense One: An Australian CCA Flew in a Pacific Exercise. Boeing Exec Says It’s an Important ‘First Step’
Stars and Stripes: Military Air Traffic Controller Shortages Hinder Homeland Defense, IG Says
Task & Purpose: Hazing Could Soon Become a Specific Charge Under Military Law
Military Times: The BRRRRT Act Would Keep More Warthogs Flying and Force the Air Force to Reverse Course
THE CALENDAR:
THURSDAY I JULY 23
9 a.m. Peterson Institute for International Economics virtual discussion: “Are Trump administration policies catalyzing European unity?” with Enrico Letta, dean, IE University School of Politics, Economics and Global Affairs; and Nicolas Veron, PIIE senior fellow https://www.piie.com/events/2026/are-trump-administration-policies
11 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “The Air Campaign Returns: From Epic Fury to Midnight Hammer,” with retired Air Force Gen. James Slife, former commander of Air Force Special Operations Command; and retired Air Force Lt. Gen. S. Clinton Hinote, former deputy chief of staff for strategy, integration and requirements https://www.csis.org/events/air-campaign-returns-epic-fury-midnight-hammer
3:30 p.m. — Middle East Institute virtual discussion: “U.S. Policy After Iraq: Getting Lebanon’s Disarmament Right,” with retired Army Lt. Gen. Sean Barry MacFarland; and Kenneth Pollack, MEI vice president for policy https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register
3:30 p.m. 1800 K St. NW — Henry L. Stimson Center discussion: “The Path Ahead for U.S.-South Korea Shipbuilding,” with retired Adm. James Foggo, dean, Center for Maritime Strategy https://www.stimson.org/event/the-path-ahead-for-u-s-south-korea-shipbuilding/
FRIDAY | JULY 24
7:45 a.m. 300 First St. SE — National Institute for Deterrence Studies seminar: “The Israel Iran Wars: Missile Offense vs. Missile Defense,” with Uzi Rubin, former director, Israel Missile Defense Organization https://thinkdeterrence.com/events/dr-uzi-rubin-live-at-the-capitol-hill-club
10 a.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Hudson Institute discussion: “Taiwan’s National Mobilization Against the China Threat, with Chi-Chang Tsai, Yuan legislative member; Pao-Yang Shen, Yuan legislative member; Ting-Yu Wang, Yuan legislative member; and Miles Yu, director, Hudson China Center https://www.hudson.org/events/taiwans-national-mobilization-against-china-threat
7 p.m. — White House Correspondents Association annual dinner, with President Donald Trump, rescheduled from April 25 [email protected]
TUESDAY | JULY 28
12 p.m. — Association of the U.S. Army “Noon Report,” webinar with Kevin Hymel, author of Patton’s War: An American General’s Combat Leadership Volume 3: January 1-December 21, 1945, highlighting Gen. George Patton’s battlefield leadership during World War II. https://www.ausa.org/events/noon-report/pattons-war
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
