Follow the latest news on the Trump administration and national politics Friday as President Trump heads to Phoenix to deliver remarks at a Turning Point event.
The president was in Las Vegas Thursday to discuss no tax on tips. It’s possible he may speak with reporters before departing Las Vegas to Phoenix. The TPAction event was held at Dream City Church at 5 p.m. ET.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be testifying before the House Education and Workforce Committee a day after he was grilled by the House Ways and Means Committee.
Follow live updates on President Trump, the Iran war and national politics for the latest news, analysis and more:
Iran has reversed course on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, warning that it would continue to block transit through the narrow waterway as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.
The country’s joint military command said “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state ... under strict management and control of the armed forces.”
It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.
The announcement came the morning after President Donald Trump said the US blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the US, including on its nuclear program.
President Trump on Friday night suggested he won't extend the cease-fire in Iran if a peace agreement isn't reached before the truce expires on Wednesday.
“I don’t know," Trump told reporters, when asked what he would do if a deal isn't made. "Maybe I won’t extend it. The blockade is going to remain. Maybe I won’t extend it."
"So you have the blockade, and unfortunately we’ll have to start dropping bombs again.”
The president was also adamant that Iran wouldn't be allowed to force ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz to pay tolls.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned Friday that the Strait of Hormuz will once again close to marine traffic if the US blockade on the critical passage remains in place.
“With the continuation of the blockade, the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open,” Ghalibaf declared in a post to X.
The parliament speaker also accused President Trump of making seven “false” claims in one hour.
Ghalibaf’s social media post came as Trump was speaking at a Turning Point Action event in Arizona, where the president said the US plans to recover the remains of Iran's highly-enriched uranium as part of a potential peace deal with the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s foreign minister had announced earlier Friday that the Strait of Hormuz was “completely open” for all commercial ships.
But the waterway is only open “on the coordinated route,” the foreign minister noted, referring to a pathway approved by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in connection with its plan to charge a toll to transit through the strait.
Trump has insisted that the US naval blockade on Iranian ships and ports would remain until Tehran signed a deal with Washington to end the war.
President Trump revealed Friday that “many interesting documents” have been found as part of a review of government UFO files.
Trump ordered War Secretary Pete Hegseth earlier this year to begin the process of identifying and releasing documents related to UFOs and extraterrestrial life.
“This process is well underway, and we found many very interesting documents, I must say,” the president said at a Turning Point Action event in Arizona.
“The first releases will begin very, very soon,” Trump added. “So you can go out and see if that phenomena is correct.
“You'll figure it out. Let me know, let me know .. we've had a lot of questions.”
Trump called the subject “something that really captivates the mind.”
President Trump teased Friday that Cuba will "very soon" see a "new dawn."
Trump, during a speech at a Turning Point Action event in Arizona, touted the US military raid that ousted and captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolàs Maduro when he suggested military action against the island's totalitarian communist regime.
"Very soon this great strength will also bring about a day 70 years and waiting," the president said. "It's called a new dawn for Cuba.
President Trump said, as part of the peace deal with Iran, America will go into the Islamic Republic - with its blessing - to take its “nuclear dust.”
“We're going to get the dust,” he declared to cheers when he addressed a Turning Point Action event in Arizona.
Trump and Erika Kirk hugging at the event. REUTERS
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Turning Point USA. REUTERS
The “dust” he’s referring to is the remains of highly-enriched uranium that was part of Tehran’s nuclear program, which was bombed last year under Operation Midnight Hammer.
Iran kept its experiments more than 100 meters underground to project them from airstrikes. But Trump was confident US forces took out the program and had a way to get the remains.
“We're going to get it by going in with Iran with lots of excavators,” he explained. "We need the biggest excavators you can imagine. We're going to go in together with Iran. We’re going to get it. We're going to take it back home to the USA very soon.”
President Trump said America's blockade on the Strait of Hormuz will end as soon as Iran signs a peace deal as America continues to try and use the critical waterway as a pressure point on Tehran.
"As soon as the agreement get signed," he told reporters upon his arrival in Arizona for an event with Turning Point Action.
Iran said on Friday they were reopening the strait but American military forces are still blocking Iranian oil tankers from getting out and cargo getting inside.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press, as he arrives at Phoenix. REUTERS
Trump also brushed off comments from an Iranian official, who told Reuters that "no agreement has been reached on the details of the nuclear issues" and serious differences remain between the two sides before a deal can be signed.
"Well, there could be, let's see what happens. If there are, we'll have to straighten it out. But I don't think there's too many significant differences," the president said.
"We've had some very good discussions," Trump said, adding conversations will continue over the weekend.
The United States is considering releasing $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets as part of a first phase in a potential deal to end the war with Iran if certain conditions are met, a source familiar with discussions exclusively told The Post on Friday — with the potential to ultimately release a total of $20 billion.
The first phase of a deal — whose full details have yet to be disclosed — would occur over the course of two-to-three years, the source said. The full $20 billion release is contingent on even further conditions.
The full $20 billion release is contingent on Iran handing over its remaining enriched uranium. AP
There are currently $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets — originating from oil sales to South Korea — being kept in Qatar.
Axios and Reuters first reported the $20 billion figure as a possibility.
President Trump's sharply-worded critique of NATO comes as French President Emmanuel Macron hosts alliance leaders and other heads of state to discuss a multinational force to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni are in Paris for the meeting, with about 50 other nations joining via teleconference.
Trump is not listed as a participant but it's unclear whether he's spoken to leaders there.
The president has been vocally unhappy about what he calls a lack of support from NATO since the start of Operation Epic Fury Feb. 28.
President Trump claimed Friday that the NATO alliance was now willing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz — after Iran ended its threat to passing international ships.
"Now that the Hormuz Strait situation is over, I received a call from NATO asking if we would need some help," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "I TOLD THEM TO STAY AWAY, UNLESS THEY JUST WANT TO LOAD UP THEIR SHIPS WITH OIL. They were useless when needed, a Paper Tiger!"
Trump did not identify a specific caller — after spending weeks railing against UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for rebuffing his requests for help in the US-Israeli war on Iran.
President Trump touted his tax deductions for tipped wages in Las Vegas Thursday, the place where he was inspired to pursue the policy.
“This is the birthplace of a little idea called ‘no tax on tips,’” Trump said at a roundtable with workers benefitting from the new deduction.
“Las Vegas is the home of the largest concentration of tipped workers anywhere in the country, anywhere in the world, actually,” the president said. “And thanks to our tax cuts, this week thousands of Nevada, waiters, waitresses casino dealers bartenders bellmans and caddies – I love those caddies, they're very good if you have the right caddie – and valets receive the biggest tax refunds of their entire lives.”
At a roundtable event in Las Vegas, Nevada, President Trump credited the city for the foundation of his no tax on tips policy. REUTERS
“I just want to say, ‘You're welcome.’”
Trump said Las Vegas workers have reported refunds of “$8,000 or more,” from “no tax on tips alone.”
The “no tax on tips” deductions were part of Trump’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which also slashed taxes on overtime pay, vehicle loan interest, raised standard and state and local tax deductions and included significant new tax relief for businesses and seniors.
“Together, these brand new cuts and deductions in the Republican bill have been claimed by nearly half of all tax filers, so in one form or another, more than 50% have taken advantage of the things that we put into the bill,” Trump said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who was at the roundtable with Trump, said 53 million filers have take advantage of at least one of the president's signature tax cuts, including more than 6 million who claimed no tax on tips deductions.
