Episode Details

Day sixteen of Operation Epic Fury and the war's central strategic failure is now fully exposed. Sixteen days of the most intensive air campaign in modern history, and the United States cannot reopen the Strait of Hormuz without asking China for help.

Trump posted on Truth Social calling on China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom to send warships to the Gulf in conjunction with American forces. He said the US would be bombing the hell out of the shoreline in the meantime. Iran's Foreign Minister immediately posted a response calling it begging, and noting that the touted US security umbrella had proven full of holes.

Trump gave a thirty-minute interview to NBC News and said Iran has expressed interest in a ceasefire deal. He rejected it. The terms are not good enough yet. He would not say what terms would be acceptable. He also said the US may hit Kharg Island a few more times just for fun.

The Pentagon named the six US service members killed in the KC-135 crash in Iraq. Their average age was thirty-two. The youngest, Technical Sergeant Tyler Simmons, was twenty-eight. Confirmed American military deaths in this conflict now stand at nineteen.

Formula One cancelled its Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grand Prix races in April. Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait declared force majeure on gas exports. The USS Nimitz had its service life extended to 2027 because of the war. UN Secretary-General Guterres flew to Beirut and told both sides there is no military solution. And Trump's own AI adviser David Sacks publicly warned that Iran has a dead man's switch that could render Gulf states almost uninhabitable.

Day sixteen. The coalition is being assembled. The deal is being refused. And the Strait is still closed.