Trump Makes Bonkers Claim About Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trump claimed Monday he was in talks to open the Strait of Hormuz “literally by tomorrow”—while Iran has denied speaking to the United States. 

Speaking at a press conference to sign an executive order, Trump rambled about ongoing talks with Iran to reopen the strait. 

“It’s not very complex. We’re talking about the strait, the opening of the strait, having it open, literally by tomorrow. Completely open,” Trump said. The president claimed that would be the first phase before proceeding to denuclearization talks.

Trump, who has been claiming the US controls the Strait of Hormuz, now says he's talking with Iran about "opening the Strait literally by tomorrow" 🤔 pic.twitter.com/8hKjbT9BBA— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 3, 2026

Trump, who has been claiming the US controls the Strait of Hormuz, now says he's talking with Iran about "opening the Strait literally by tomorrow" 🤔 pic.twitter.com/8hKjbT9BBA

Don’t hold your breath. Trump has teased an imminent deal with Iran more than three dozen times since the war began six months ago, and this doesn’t appear to be any different. 

Trump told reporters Sunday that he’d called off another “massive attack,” because U.S. allies in the Middle East believed that Tehran was ready to make “a deal on Hormuz.” The president indicated that the talks would begin Monday. 

But Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, told reporters Monday that Iran was not currently in talks with the U.S. He said Iran was in the final stages of discussions with Oman to open the strait.  

In response, Trump called Iran’s leadership “unbelievably duplicitous,” claiming in a social media post before the press conference they’d begged him to restart talks.  

Still, Trump inexplicably promised there would be progress. “We’re gonna find out today or tomorrow. I mean, they’re gonna go quickly, one way or another,” he said during the press conference. 

RFK Jr. Faces First Two Deaths From Explosive Diarrhea Parasite

Michigan officials noted that cyclosporiasis is usually not a life-threatening illness.

The cyclosporiasis outbreak just turned deadly.

Two people died in Michigan after contracting cyclosporiasis, the state’s health department announced Monday. They’re the first confirmed deaths in the country that have been tied to the public health crisis spurred by a single-celled parasite found on iceberg lettuce.

Both people had “significant underlying health conditions that may have been impacted by cyclosporiasis and dehydration,” the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement, noting that no additional information about the specific cases will be shared.

“Cyclosporiasis is generally not a life-threatening illness,” the statement continued. “Death resulting from cyclosporiasis is uncommon in the United States.”

So far, the state health agency has tallied 11,234 cases and 193 confirmed hospitalizations associated with the illness.

Those numbers would indicate that federal health agencies are far behind in their own analysis of the parasite’s spread—or, at the very least, are failing to inform the American people as to the true nature of the nationwide threat. As of Monday, the CDC’s “fast facts” page on cyclosporiasis recorded “at least 1,947” cases and 98 hospitalizations across nine states.

In a July 28 memo, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that it had received reports of at least 6,707 laboratory-confirmed domestic cases of cyclosporiasis, though an additional 11,500 cases had not yet been confirmed.

An analysis by The New Republic of state health agency data found at least 18,517 cases across the nine states listed by the CDC. The survey compiled reported figures from Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. However, several of those states had not updated their own public-facing data within days or even weeks, suggesting that the current case tally could be........

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