RUNNING A GAUNTLET: Right about the time President Donald Trump was telling Fox New’s Chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst that Iranians will be “be blown off the face of the Earth” if they attack U.S. vessels, two U.S. destroyers, the USS Truxtun and USS Mason, were fending off a concerted attack from Iranian missiles, drones, and small boats apparently ordered by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
It was an inauspicious, albeit successful, start of “Project Freedom,” the U.S. effort to guide ships trapped in the Persian Gulf. “The U.S. set the example for others to follow by successfully supporting the transit of two U.S.-flagged merchant vessels through the Strait,” Adm. Brad Cooper, head of the U.S. Central Command, told reporters in a conference call. “These ships are now safely headed on their journey, having conducted the journey through the Strait uneventfully.”
That “uneventful” passage was preceded by a furious exchange of missiles and drones, in which the superior firepower of the U.S. Navy defeated all the threats, according to Cooper. “Cruise missiles were going after both U.S. Navy ships, but mostly after commercial shipping. We defended both ourselves and, consistent with our commitment, we defended all the commercial ships,” Cooper said. “We’ve had drones launched against commercial ships, all of which were defended against, consistent with our commitment. And then the small boats were all going against commercial ships, and all were sunk by Apaches and Seahawk helicopters.”
TWO US DESTROYERS TRANSIT STRAIT OF HORMUZ UNDER IRANIAN MISSILE BARRAGE: REPORT
The IRGC also launched drones at a key port in Fujairah, in the United Arab Emirates, sparking a fire at a major oil facility, and wounding three Indian nationals. A statement from the UAE defense ministry said air defenses engaged 12 ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles, and four drones launched from Iran, and called the injuries “moderate.”
Iran did not acknowledge responsibility for the attack on the close American ally, but Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X, “Events in Hormuz make clear that there’s no military solution to a political crisis,” adding, “the U.S. should be wary of being dragged back into quagmire by ill-wishers. So should the UAE.”
“Project Freedom is Project Deadlock,” Araghchi taunted.
UAE INTERCEPTED 15 IRANIAN MISSILES IN FIRST MAJOR CEASEFIRE VIOLATION
TRUMP: I CALL IT A MINI WAR’: Despite his bellicose rhetoric earlier in the day, speaking at a gathering of small business owners at the White House, Trump was nonchalant, seeming reluctant to call the ceasefire over.
“We did a little detour, and it’s working out very nicely. They have no Navy, they have no Air Force, they have no anti-aircraft equipment, they have no radar, they have no nothing. They have no leaders, actually,” Trump said at the White House event. “I call it a mini war because that’s all they are.”
Later, in an interview with Hugh Hewitt, Trump indicated he was still weighing his next move. “The Iranians started firing off like Yosemite Sam at UAE and everybody,” Hewitt said, asking Trump in his lead-off question, “Are we at the beginning at the end of a new war? Are we starting over?”
“Well, one way or the other, we win. We either make the right deal, or we win very easily from the military standpoint. We’ve already won that. You know, you’ve heard me say it a million times, and other people say it,” Trump responded, expressing surprise that Iran would attack the UAE. “I mean, it’s hard to believe that they would do that.”
Trump said the biggest obstacle to making a deal is the fact that he has no idea who is calling the shots in Iran. “I mean, you know, a lot of people aren’t really looking for that job. We have, we knocked out their first team. We knocked out their second team. And we knocked out half of their third team.”
“The one thing I will say is they talk a lot differently when they’re talking to me than they talk when they’re talking to the media,” Trump said. “Do you remember I was telling you that they want to make a deal, that they’re talking, and they denied ever talking to me? And I said what’s going on over there? These guys, so they’re pretty good at propaganda.”
BRENT CRUDE TOPS $125 A BARREL ON IRAN WAR WORRIES, WHILE WORLD STOCKS RETREAT
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HAPPENING TODAY: HEGSETH, CAINE TO BRIEF: The Pentagon will be briefing again at 8 a.m., the time of day when President Trump is typically tuned in to Fox News. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Air Force Gen. Dan Caine will provide an update on the Iran War and Project Freedom.
As usual, the briefing will be livestreamed on the Pentagon’s website, and the assembled reporters will likely get another lecture from Hegseth about their collective failure to acknowledge the brilliance of Operation Epic Fury, a running theme of his public appearances.
A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll released this week found that 61% of Americans believed the war was a mistake, and 39% believe the war has not been successful, with 41% saying it’s too soon to tell.
“They did a poll on the war with Iran, and they said only 32% of the people like it. Well, I don’t like it. And I don’t like war at all,” Trump said at the White House yesterday. “Well, when you explain it like, is it OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon? It wouldn’t be 32% But even if you said that, there’d be a 32% because the polls are fake. I mean, they’re totally fake.”
The latest report from the nonpartisan Institute for the Study of War, which examined the success of the combined U.S.-Israeli campaign to eliminate Iran’s ballistic missile capability, noted that while the mission has “achieved meaningful operational and strategic success,” it has to be measured by more than the number of missiles and launchers destroyed. “The Iranian missile force is much more than its munitions and launchers; it is also commanders, launch crews, communications and computer networks, production and logistical facilities, and much more.”
“Positive strategic effects and trends do not mean that the war is an overall strategic success,” the report states. “Even a years-long setback to the missile program is recoverable.”
“The war is not over, and the final judgment of its success must be based on the political agreement that ends it. Overall success must ultimately be determined by whether the United States achieves its political objectives,” the ISW report concluded.
On CNN yesterday, former Defense Secretary and CIA Director Leon Panetta offered a sober assessment of where things stand. “I think this is beginning to smell very much like a forever war in which, you know, each side seems to be overconfident about themselves, each side is afraid of appearing to be weak, each side thinks that time is on their side, and each believes that the other is a paper tiger. That’s not a good prescription for ending the war. It’s a prescription for a forever war.”
IRAN CARRIES OUT NEW EXECUTIONS AFTER TRUMP PRAISE FOR HALTING PROTESTER KILLINGS
UKRAINE, RUSSIA ANNOUNCE CONFLICTING CEASEFIRES: The Russian Defense Ministry has unilaterally announced a Victory Day ceasefire in the war with Ukraine for May 8-9. Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky, who says Ukraine was never consulted about a ceasefire, announced a ceasefire of its own beginning tomorrow at midnight.
“Last night, the Russians attacked energy infrastructure in the Poltava region. And they struck again in an especially vile way with a missile when State Emergency Service workers were already at the scene, extinguishing the fire. As of now, dozens of people are reported injured. Unfortunately, four people were killed, including two first responders,” Zelensky posted on X this morning.
“It is utter cynicism to ask for a ceasefire in order to hold propaganda celebrations while carrying out such missile and drone strikes every single day leading up to it,” Zelensky said.
“Russia has announced a May 9 parade in Moscow without military equipment. If that happens, it will be the first time in many, many years. They cannot afford military equipment – and they fear drones may buzz over Red Square,” Zelensky said in an earlier post. “This is telling. It shows they are not strong now.”
The Russian defense ministry threatened that “downtown Kyiv” would be targeted if Ukraine attacked during the Victory Day celebrations.
Meanwhile, Ukraine posted a video of one of its sea drones hitting a Russian ship reportedly armed with Kaliber cruise missiles in the port of Primorsk. “The Karakurt-class missile ship was hit, along with a patrol boat and another tanker from the shadow oil fleet,” Zelensky posted on X. “Significant damage was also inflicted on the infrastructure of the oil-loading port. Every such result of ours limits Russia’s war potential.”
ZELENSKY TELLS PUTIN ‘TAKE REAL STEPS’ TO END WAR AFTER UKRAINIAN DRONE HITS MOSCOW
THE RUNDOWN:
Washington Examiner: Two US destroyers transit Strait of Hormuz under Iranian missile barrage: Report
Washington Examiner: US sinks six Iranian small boats as conflict heats up
Washington Examiner: Ceasefire threatened as Iran launches waves of missiles and drones at UAE
Washington Examiner: UAE intercepted 15 Iranian missiles in first major ceasefire violation
Washington Examiner: Brent crude tops $125 a barrel on Iran war worries, while world stocks retreat
Washington Examiner: Iran carries out new executions after Trump praise for halting protester killings
Washington Examiner: Pakistan facilitated transfer of Iranian crew from vessel seized by US forces
Washington Examiner: Zelensky tells Putin ‘take real steps’ to end war after Ukrainian drone hits Moscow
Washington Examiner: Trump’s troop drawdown jolts Europe as NATO chief says leaders got the ‘message’
Washington Examiner: Understanding the Pentagon’s push to become an ‘AI-first fighting force’
Washington Examiner: Two killed in ‘lethal kinetic strike’ on suspected drug vessel in Caribbean
Washington Examiner: Trump’s top border official, Rodney Scott, unpacks wins and path forward
Washington Examiner: Trump administration exempts foreign doctors from 39-country travel ban
Washington Examiner: Opinion: Trump should pull troops from Italy and Spain, not Germany
Politico: Germany’s Pistorius Plays Down US Troop Cut, Stresses Europe’s Defense Push
Washington Post: Poll: Trump’s Iran war reaches Iraq- and Vietnam-era disapproval levels
Kyiv Independent: Is Zelensky implicated in Ukraine’s largest corruption scandal, and what do the new tapes reveal?
Wall Street Journal: Trump’s Qatari-Gifted Air Force One Will Keep Its Luxurious Royal Interior
Air & Space Forces Magazine: What the F-47’s Projected Budget Suggests About Its Development
Breaking Defense: NRO Awards Three New Contracts for Commercial Satellite Data
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Space Force Eyes Operations ‘Hub’ for Expansive Data Transport Constellation
Defense News: Air Force Clears T-7A Red Hawk for Low-Rate Production
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Wants to Arm Tanker, Cargo Aircraft with Active Defenses
The War Zone: Israel’s First KC-46 Tanker Is Now Flying
Air & Space Forces Magazine: First B-52J Engine Upgrade to Begin Later This Year After Successful Design Review
Air & Space Forces Magazine: USAF Plans $3 Billion-Plus for Executive Airlift, Air Force One
Breaking Defense: UAE to Get 10 C-390 Aircraft, up to 10 More in the Future
Task & Purpose: Guardsmen Who Reacted to November Attack Receive Medals for Heroism
THE CALENDAR:
TUESDAY | MAY 5
12 p.m. 1440 New York Ave. NW — American Bar Association Standing Committee on Law and National Security discussion: “From the War Room to the Board Room: Strengthening the Defense Industrial Base,” with Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy Michael Cadenazzi; and Brian Egan, partner at Skadden https://events.americanbar.org/event/
1 p.m. 700 K St. NW — Information Technology and Innovation Foundation discussion: “Defending Against the PRC’s Techno-Economic Assault,” with Mike Castellano, executive director, U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission;b, president and visiting scholar for the Cambridge Centre for Geopolitics; Isaac Stone Fish, CEO and founder of Strategy Risks; and Robert Atkinson, ITIF president https://itif.org/events/2026/05/05/defending-against-the-prc-techno-economic-assault/
1 p.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW — Henry L. Stimson Center discussion: “Untangling the Web of U.S. Alliances,” with Kelly Grieco, senior fellow in the Stimson Center Reimagining U.S. Grand Strategy Program; Emma Ashford, senior fellow in the Stimson Center Reimagining U.S. Grand Strategy Program; Christopher Preble, director of and senior fellow in the Stimson Center Reimagining U.S. Grand Strategy Program; and Hunter Slingbaum, research associate for the Stimson Center Reimagining U.S. Grand Strategy Program https://www.stimson.org/event/untangling-the-web-of-us-alliances/
WEDNESDAY| MAY 6
4 p.m. — Heritage Foundation book discussion: Trump 2.0: The Revolution That Will Permanently Transform America, with former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, author and host of “The Sean Spicer Show”; and Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation https://www.heritage.org/conservatism/event/trumps-second-term
8 p.m. — Jews United for Democracy and Justice virtual discussion: “Democracy Stressed: Can American Institutions Still Contain Political Extremism?,” with Tim Naftali, senior research scholar at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and presidential historian for CNN; and Madeleine Brand, host of the daily news and culture show “Press Play” https://www.jewsunitedfordemocracy.org/blog/event/may-6
THURSDAY | MAY 7
9 a.m. — Intelligence and National Security Alliance virtual discussion: “How the U.S. and its partners must adapt to a rapidly changing domain,” with Paul Godfrey, assistant chief of space operations for future concepts and partnership at U.S. Space Force https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/5661859715216832858
9 a.m. 1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace discussion: “Chernobyl’s Legacy 40 Years On,” with Ukraine Ambassador to the U.S. Olga Stefanishyna; Marina Budjeryn, senior research associate at the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center; Adam Higgenbotham, author and journalist; Michael Crowley, diplomatic correspondent for the New York Times https://carnegieendowment.org/events/2026/04/chernobyls-legacy-40-years-on
10 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual media briefing: “Previewing the Trump-Xi Summit,” with Bonny Lin, director, CSIS China Power Project; Edgard Kagan, CSIS chair in China studies; J. Stephen Morrison, director, CSIS Global Health Policy Center; Philip Luck, director, CSIS Economics Program; and Scott Kennedy, CSIS chair in Chinese business and economics https://www.csis.org/events/press-briefing-previewing-trump-xi-summit
12:30 p.m. 801 Allen Y. Lew Pl. NW — U.S. Energy Association discussion: “AI and Energy Security in Europe,” part of the “AI+ Expo,” with Lithuania Ambassador to the U.S. Gediminas Varvuolis; Moldova Ambassador to the U.S. Vladislav Kulminski; Romania Ambassador to the U.S. Andrei Muraru; Georg Rute, CEO of Gridraven; and Mark Menezes, USEA president and CEO https://expo.scsp.ai/register/
FRIDAY | MAY 8
8:30 a.m. 11493 Sunset Hills Road, Reston, Virginia — Government Executive Media Group forum: “Guiding the Golden Dome: Architecture, Acquisition, and the Future of Integrated Missile Defense, with John Plumb, head of strategy for K2 Space, former assistant Secretary of Defense for space policy https://events.govexec.com/guiding-the-golden-dome/
10 a.m. — National Institute for Deterrence Studies virtual seminar: “Organizing for Deterrence and Urgency,” with Drew Walter, Acting principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear deterrence, chemical, and biological defense, policy and programs https://thinkdeterrence.com/events/organizing-for-deterrence-and-urgency-with-drew-walter/
TUESDAY | MAY 12
1:30 p.m. — Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies Schriever Spacepower Series with Gen Stephen Whiting, commander, U.S. Space Command https://afa-org.zoom.us/webinar/register
THURSDAY | MAY 14
10 a.m. G-50 Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Committee hearing: “The posture of the U.S. Central Command and U.S. Africa Command in review of the Defense Authorization Request for FY2027 and the Future Years Defense Program,” with testimony from Adm. Brad Cooper, commander, U.S. Central Command; and Air Force Gen. Dagvin Anderson, commander, U.S. Africa Command http://www.armed-services.senate.gov