Supreme Court temporarily extends access to abortion pill mifepristone by mail

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is facing an escalating crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, where roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply remains caught in the crosshairs of the U.S. and Israeli war with Tehran.

Trump downplayed the virtual standstill in and near the vital shipping route, saying on Wednesday it was in “great shape.”

But Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, in a purported first message since taking over for his father, vowed Thursday that his country will continue to block the strait as leverage and capitalize on Iran’s economic weapon.

Attacks on shipping vessels have surged in the Persian Gulf this week, and oil prices jumped to more than $100 per barrel. In the U.S., gas prices rose to a national average of $3.59 a gallon, according to data from AAA.

The International Energy Agency said on Thursday the Middle East conflict is creating “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.” Member countries of the IEA have said they will release 400 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves, a first such joint effort since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

To deal with the economic and political fallout at home, President Trump will tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said his department’s been authorized to release 172 million barrels from the reserve starting next week.

But analysts say those solutions are temporary, likely not enough oil in the long term to make up for the 20 million barrels that typically pass through the Strait of Hormuz each day.

Trump told Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade in an interview earlier this week that ships holding at the Strait of Hormuz need to “show some guts” and push through the channel.

Trump on March 3 had announced the U.S. government was going to provide some risk insurance and guarantees after insurers canceled their coverage.

He also said that if necessary, the U.S. Navy would escort tankers through the strait, a potentially risky proposition.

But as of Thursday, Energy Secretary Wright said the U.S. Navy is “not ready” to escort oil tankers because of the military’s current focus on striking Iran.

“It will happen relatively soon, but it can’t happen now. We’re simply not ready. All of our military assets right now are focused on destroying Iran’s offensive capabilities and the manufacturing industry that supplies their offensive capabilities,” Wright told CNBC.

When asked if the U.S. escorting of tankers could happen by the end of the month, Wright said, “I think that is quite likely the case.”

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly, when asked about Wright’s comments, told ABC News that Trump is “fully prepared to provide U.S. Navy escorts through the Strait of Hormuz if he deems it necessary. Our military has destroyed well over 20 inactive mine laying boats with more to come.”

Earlier this week, Trump warned that if Iran disrupted the Strait of Hormuz with mines, “the Military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before.”

Another potential avenue the White House said it is “considering” to mitigate the crisis is to waive the Jones Act, a century-old law that requires all goods shipped between U.S. ports be carried on U.S. owned-and-operated ships. 

“In the interest of national defense, the White House is considering waiving the Jones Act for a limited period of time to ensure vital energy products and agricultural necessities are flowing freely to U.S. ports. This action has not been finalized,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Thursday. 

Trump, who could face political consequences of higher oil and gasoline prices in this year’s midterm elections, on Thursday tried to spin the rising costs as good for the U.S. overall.

“The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” Trump wrote in a social media post.

“BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stoping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World,” Trump added.

He did not comment on how expert say higher oil prices will hurt many companies and American consumers, although Wright, the energy secretary, insisted in an interview with Fox News that the individual consumer is Trump’s main concern.

“Overall for the U.S. economy, this isn’t bad news. But of course [what] President Trump is worried about is not overall, he is worried about every single American consumer. So yes, of course he is concerned about the rising energy prices through this short-term period that people have to suffer,” Wright said. 

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump attacked outgoing Republican Sen. Thom Tillis on Friday, calling him a “RINO” — an acronym for “Republican in Name Only” — and a “quitter” as he appeared to acknowledge the ongoing revolt among some in his own party.

“I called him a ‘Nitpicker,’ always fighting against the Republican Party, and ME, mostly on things that didn’t matter,” Trump wrote in a social media post.

“Now he can have all the fun he wants for a few months, with some of his RINO friends, screwing the Republican Party. In the end it will only get bigger, and better, and stronger, than ever before!!!” Trump said.

Tillis is among several Republican lawmakers to criticize aspects of Trump’s agenda, most recently the creation of a nearly $1.8 billion so-called “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to compensate those who allege they were wrongly targeted under the Biden administration. The fund was created as part of a settlement agreement in President Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.

Tillis slammed the fund as the “payout pot for punks.” Critics have said that those who committed violence against police, including Jan. 6 rioters, might be eligible for compensation in addition to Trump’s political allies.

“These people don’t deserve restitution, they — many of them deserve to be in prison,” Tillis said on Thursday. “Some of them deserve the pardon because they were over prosecuted, but this is, I mean, this is just stupid on stilts.” 

Congressional Republicans on Thursday punted plans to advance a $70 billion immigration bill as Senate Republicans were poised to try to rein in spending for the so-called anti-weaponization fund, as well as Trump’s East Wing expansion and White House ballroom construction project.

Several Republicans who Trump has spurned have become the fund’s most outspoken critics, including Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy. Cassidy lost his primary race last week after Trump endorsed his opponent.

“People are concerned about paying their mortgage or rent, affording groceries and paying for gas, not about putting together a $1.8 billion fund for the President and his allies to pay whomever they wish with no legal precedent or accountability,” Cassidy wrote on X.

Trump on Friday suggested that Tillis’ choice to not run for reelection was in some part because Trump declined to give him an endorsement. 

“When I told him that I would not, under any circumstances, endorse him for another run, too much work and drama (he couldn’t have won, anyway!), he immediately quit the race and publicly announced that he was going to ‘retire.’ I said, ‘Wow, great news, that was easy!'” Trump wrote in the post. 

When Tillis announced last year that he wouldn’t run for reelection, he said is a statement that it was “not a hard choice” to rule out running for a third term as he was finished with “navigating the political theatre and partisan gridlock in Washington.”

Tillis was asked by reporters on Thursday what he thought of Trump going after some Republican incumbents in primary races. 

“Be careful what you ask for,” Tillis responded.

In defense of the fund, which has also drawn legal challenges, Trump on Friday claimed he “gave up a lot of money” by allowing it to move forward and that he could have made an “absolute fortune” if he hadn’t made the IRS settlement.  

“Instead, I am helping others, who were so badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden Administration, receive, at long last, JUSTICE!,” Trump wrote in another social media post.

ABC News’ Isabella Murray and Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Traumatic brain injuries are quickly emerging as the signature wound of the U.S. war with Iran so far, echoing a pattern of post-9/11 wars, according to a U.S. official.

More than 200 U.S. troops have so far been wounded in the war, and at least 140 of those were TBI-related injuries, the U.S. official said. It’s a surge being driven by Iran’s reliance on one-way attack drones and the concussive blasts they deliver in strikes against American troops in countries across the Middle East, including Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Symptoms of TBI can be subtle at first but often linger for years, or even a lifetime, ranging from persistent headaches, fatigue, dizziness and vertigo, to more severe cognitive effects like memory loss, impaired decision-making and difficulty concentrating.

Veterans with TBIs are also nearly twice as likely to die by suicide compared to veterans without a diagnosed brain injury, according to data from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“If they’re near a blast, there should be no doubt they have a TBI,” Dr. Jayna Moceri-Brooks, who studies combat-related brain injuries, said. “You can’t escape from blast overpressure … symptoms can be debilitating.”

ABC News reached out to the Pentagon for comment.

TBIs have been widely seen as a signature wound of the post-9/11 wars, as insurgent tactics have relied on explosives to target U.S. troops. More than 460,000 service members were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries between 2001 and 2023, according to VA data. 

While such injuries have been suffered in warfare for generations, it wasn’t until 2011, nearly a decade into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, that the Army formally made TBIs eligible for the Purple Heart. 

After Iran launched 15 ballistic missiles at U.S. forces at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq in January 2020, in retaliation for the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the first Trump administration initially said no troops had been injured.

That assessment was slowly revised by the administration, first minimizing the scope of the damage before ultimately acknowledging that 110 service members had been wounded, most suffering traumatic brain injuries, the kind of blast-related wounds that can carry lasting, life-altering effects.

In the years since the attack, Staff Sgt. Aaron Futrell, 44, who served in the Ohio Army National Guard, who was near one of the missile strikes at Al Asad, has wrestled with a cascade of lingering symptoms. What were once daily, debilitating migraines have only recently subsided to once or twice a week with treatment through the VA. He still deals with memory lapses, describing his cognition at times as “buffering like a YouTube video,” struggling mid-sentence to find the right words.

The first year after his injury proved especially grueling. Futrell said he was often overcome by extreme fatigue, going straight to bed after work and feeling as though he “lost a year” of his life. He was medically discharged from the Guard, where he served in aviation operations, and was given a high disability compensation rating from the VA.

Even routine settings can present challenges. Loud, echoing environments, like his son’s school, can trigger headaches, at times forcing him to sit out events from his car.

“I limit myself to some places,” Futrell said. “It’s learning what places might trigger headaches or be stress-inducing.”

The toll extends beyond his own health. “It has been a huge strain on my family and me,” he said. “I don’t look disabled. I can act like a normal individual. I’m good until I’m not.”

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.