President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to scale back annual joint military exercises with South Korea as his war against Iran stretches the limits of U.S. aircraft carriers. Trump said South Korea wouldn’t help with his war against Iran and cited his good relationship with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
The USS George Washington is replacing the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East amid growing concerns about mental health and supply issues aboard the long-deployed Lincoln. The move leaves the western Pacific without a key military asset as China shows more signs of aggression.
The BBC asked a U.S. court for help in getting documents and testimony to defend against his $10 billion defamation lawsuit. The request filed in federal court in Florida on Friday argues that Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jr. have “personal knowledge” and likely have records relevant to Trump’s claims.
The Latest:
Israel’s Ben-Gvir advocates killing ’30 to 40′ people in Gaza every night
The comments by an extremist Israeli lawmaker in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition surfaced Sunday and were quickly shared by Palestinian media, but scarcely mentioned by Israel’s domestic media.
Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir was speaking on a podcast about Israel’s recent drawdown of strikes in Gaza.
“I disagree with the prime minister,” he said. “I think targeted assassinations should be carried out in Gaza, taking down 30 to 40 every night. Not just those who pose an immediate threat — there are people there who are not worthy of life. They shouldn’t live. They’re not even people.”
In the past, similar statements by Ben-Gvir and other Israeli officials were widely condemned and presented to the U.N.’s world court as evidence of genocidal intent. Israel denies it has committed genocide in Gaza.
Kushner meeting with Netanyahu as he seeks approval of Gaza road map
Trump son-in-law and Mideast negotiator Jared Kushner was holding meetings with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday after talking with Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt on disarmament.
The Israeli leader rejected a 15-point, U.S.-backed road map to move the truce deal forward in Gaza. Hamas says it has agreed to the road map, which includes disarmament, and the group is urging mediators and the U.S.-created Board of Peace to “compel” Israel to sign on as well.
But Israel, which under the road map must withdraw from Gaza, says Hamas must fully disarm before any Israeli withdrawal will occur.
Trump’s 60-day deadline for an Iran peace deal is expiring
The deal Trump signed at Versailles set an ambitious 60-day deadline for ending the war with Iran and reaching an accord on its nuclear program. The deadline was Monday, and the two sides are even further apart.
Talks, such as they are, have focused on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and lifting a U.S. blockade. Both were supposed to have happened under the interim deal. There has been no sign of any compromise on the strait, or that detailed nuclear talks have even begun.
The U.S., meanwhile, has no good options for getting out of the war it started alongside Israel. Acceding to Iranian control over the critical international waterway where global energy supplies moved freely before the war would be tantamount to admitting defeat. Escalating the deeply unpopular war would jolt the world economy and drive up prices ahead of U.S. elections.
Iran says deal with Oman over shipping through Strait of Hormuz is nearly final
Iranian Foreign Affairs spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran on Monday that “an understanding has been reached regarding the map of the transit route,” and the sides are working to finalize details for the joint statement.
He did not elaborate, but details that have previously emerged suggest the deal would reopen the strait with ships entering through a route close to Iran and exiting through a route close to Oman. Ships would transit without paying fees or tolls during the interim period.
The U.S. has sought an acceptable deal on opening the strait before ending its blockade of Iranian ports and it was not clear whether this would meet Washington’s expectations.
US Central Command chief visited aircraft carrier after Trump’s comments
Adm. Brad Cooper visited the USS Lincoln amid reports that its record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 240 days is taxing the crew’s mental health and creating supply shortages. The Lincoln has been supporting Trump’s war against Iran, including the blockade on Iranian ports.
Cooper praised the carrier’s leadership on Sunday for making mental health and resilience a priority. His visit followed comments by Trump on Friday that their deployment is “not nearly long enough.”
Top Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have requested a classified briefing on the ship’s situation. Republicans have been less outspoken.
Trump blames vandals for damaged grass where he held his July 4 celebration
Trump on Sunday said vandals are to blame for large swaths of dead grass on the National Mall near the World War II Memorial — in the same spot where Trump had a stage built and hosted crowds for his July 4 celebration.
Trump made the accusation in a social media post without saying why he believes it’s the work of vandals instead of trampled turf from the Independence Day festivities. He posted a photo showing a once-grassy area by the World War II Memorial, now patchy and brown across much of the sprawling turf.
“Look what VANDALS did to the grass connecting the vandalized World War II Monument and the vandalized Reflecting Pool, which will be opened again, and better than ever, shortly,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Trump has repeatedly blamed vandals for damage to his renovation projects in the nation’s capital, often without evidence and sometimes despite opposing accounts from his officials.
BBC seeks US help in getting Trump family testimony
The BBC asked a U.S. court for help in getting documents and testimony from members of Trump ’s family in connection with his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the British broadcaster, a court document showed.
Lawyers for the BBC argued that Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jr. have “personal knowledge” and likely have records relevant to elements of Trump’s claims against the broadcaster, according to a filing Friday in federal court in Florida.
The broadcaster has been unable to serve subpoenas because the three have Secret Service protection and other security personnel around them, the filing says.
Trump filed the lawsuit in December seeking $10 billion in damages from the BBC, accusing it of defamation as well as deceptive and unfair trade practices.
The allegations center on the way a 2024 documentary edited a speech Trump gave on Jan. 6, 2021, before protesters attacked the Capitol in Washington. The lawsuit accuses the BBC of “splicing together two entirely separate parts of President Trump’s speech” to “intentionally misrepresent the meaning of what President Trump said.”
The BBC has apologized to Trump for the misleading edit, but said it had not defamed him.
US pulls last aircraft carrier from Asia as Trump turns to Iran and Americas
The USS George Washington is departing the Pacific and expected to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East amid growing concerns about mental health and supply issues aboard the long-deployed carrier. The Lincoln has had its time at sea extended from its original May return date to support operations against Iran.
The lack of a U.S. carrier in the Pacific may be short-lived if the Navy deploys another in the next couple of months. But it shows how the open-ended operations with Iran are running some American sailors ragged, analysts say, while the Trump administration further retreats from the Asia-Pacific region and focuses on the Western Hemisphere.
“The administration says that the Pacific is supposed to be the most important behind the Western Hemisphere,” said Greg Poling, director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Instead, the U.S. is “doing the exact opposite” of its previously expressed goal of pulling out of the Middle East.
Trump orders Pentagon to scale back joint exercises with South Korea
President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon on Sunday to scale back annual joint military exercises with South Korea, saying the ally declined to help with the war against Iran and citing his good relationship with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
Trump said in a social media post that the exercises, which began Monday, are not only costly but “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, which he said “has been unthreatening and respectful” during his time in the White House.
“Therefore, and based on the fact that it is too late to cancel, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises!” Trump wrote. The president added that he recently asked South Korea’s president if they would join the U.S. in the “denuclearization” of Iran, “and they said, ‘No thanks!’”
The move is the latest example of the president appearing to turn against an ally in favor of a leader that previous administrations have cast as an adversary.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
