Trump Has a Plan to Force Iran to Make a Deal—and It’s a Bombshell

Apparently Donald Trump is tired of the negotiations dragging on.

President Donald Trump has rejected Iran’s proposal to open the Strait of Hormuz, as the U.S. military prepares to launch another wave of attacks.

Trump told Axios Wednesday that he would reject Iran’s proposal to allow trade through the Strait of Hormuz, in return for the U.S. lifting its blockade on Iranian ports and postponing nuclear talks.

“The blockade is somewhat more effective than the bombing. They are choking like a stuffed pig. And it is going to be worse for them. They can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told Axios, adding: “They want to settle. They don’t want me to keep the blockade. I don’t want to [lift the blockade], because I don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon.”

It’s worth noting that experts say that Iran was nowhere near acquiring nuclear weapons when the U.S. first began its joint attacks with Israel. Even Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth struggled to explain how Iran posed any imminent nuclear threat at a congressional hearing Wednesday.

Alongside Trump rejecting a deal, U.S. Central Command has prepared a plan for a “short and powerful” wave of strikes against Iran, likely including infrastructure targets, three sources told Axios.

Their hope is to entreat Iran to come back to the table ready to acquiesce to U.S. demands, despite the U.S. president’s ready admission that bombing is less effective than the blockade. Not to mention how expensive the blockade is—the Pentagon revealed Wednesday that the estimated price tag for Operation Epic Fury was $25 billion.

A senior Iranian official warned Wednesday that the U.S. blockade would “soon be met with practical and unprecedented action.”

Pete Hegseth Flails Trying to Explain How U.S. Is Winning in Iran

Pete Hegseth struggled in the face of Iran’s evidently strong position.

The Trump administration is failing to explain how the U.S. is coming out on top in the Iran war.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday to defend the DOD’s latest budget requests, but he came up incredibly short in providing examples showcasing America’s accomplishments in the current Middle East conflict.

“How much has Iran profited from your administration lifting the sanctions on Iran when you started this war?” asked Massachusetts Representative Seth Moulton.

“I can tell you that Iran is financially devastated,” said Hegseth.

That’s partially true. The war has forced more than a million Iranians out of work, devastated the country’s infrastructure, and tanked the value of Iran’s currency. In response, the authoritarian regime running Tehran has raised wages, subsidized basic goods, and provided cash supplements to the poor, leveraging the government’s relative wealth to resist Washington’s pressure campaign.

But weeks into the war, Donald Trump opted to temporarily lift sanctions on 140 million barrels of Iranian oil that were sitting at sea. In doing so, he gave the country a $14 billion windfall that has since bolstered the regime.

“They’ve earned about $14 billion,” Moulton said, citing the figure, though he was cut off by Hegseth.

“They’re at a point where, between the blockade and what we’ve done to them militarily, remember they don’t have a Navy so they can’t contest the blockade,” Hegseth said, adding that Tehran has “very few options.”

“OK,” Moulton continued. “How many Chinese missiles can they buy with $14 billion? Does that sound like winning?”

“Um, they’re not—we’re ensuring that they’re not buying Chinese missiles,” Hegseth said, lowering his voice.

MOULTON: How much has Iran profited from your administration lifting the sanctions?HEGSETH: Iran is financially devastated right nowMOULTON: They've earned about $14 billion. Does that sound like winning? pic.twitter.com/3UDrFTivBd— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 29, 2026

MOULTON: How much has Iran profited from your administration lifting the sanctions?HEGSETH: Iran is financially devastated right nowMOULTON: They've earned about $14 billion. Does that sound like winning? pic.twitter.com/3UDrFTivBd

Hegseth tripped over his words in another exchange with Ranking Member Adam Smith, flubbing the Trump administration’s narrative by suggesting that U.S. officials had lied to the public last year when they claimed Iran’s nuclear facilities were completely destroyed during Operation Midnight Hammer.

“Their nuclear facilities have been obliterated, underground—” Hegseth started.

“Woah, woah, woah, woah,” said Smith. “You just said we had to start this war, you just said, 60 days ago because the nuclear weapon was an imminent threat. Now you’re saying that it was completely obliterated?”

“They had not given up their nuclear ambitions,” responded Hegseth.

“So Operation Midnight Hammer accomplished nothing of substance and left us at exactly the same place that we were before,” interpreted Smith. “So much so that we had to start a war.”

Florida Wastes No Time After Supreme Court Destroys Voting Rights Act

The Florida House passed a new congressional map just one hour after the Supreme Court ruling.

Florida’s House of Representatives approved a gerrymandered congressional map drawn by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis’s office—less than one hour after the Supreme Court decided to gut the Voting Rights Act.

The legislature voted 83–28 Wednesday morning to approve the new map, which Republicans hope will give the party four new seats in Congress. The map now goes to the Florida Senate, which is expected to approve it later Wednesday before it goes to DeSantis’s desk to be signed into law.

While the session took less than 90 minutes, Democratic state Representative and U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon tried to disrupt the vote by shouting that the new map “was out of order,” and fellow Democrats tried to argue that the move would violate the state’s Constitution, which bans drawing districts with “the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent.”

Florida House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell pointed out that the DeSantis staffer who drew the map, Jason Poreda, admitted to using partisan data.

“The man who drew this map testified under oath that he used partisan data to draw up every single district,” Driskell said. “Every single one. And when the governor’s attorney was asked whether Democratic voters were being underrepresented in our congressional delegation, his answer was that ‘this is a normative question.’

“Members, if we vote........

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