Today in One Sentence. Trump threatened to “bomb the shit out of” Oman if it “gets in the way” of U.S. efforts in the Strait of Hormuz; Iran rejected Trump’s threat to declare the Strait of Hormuz U.S. territory; U.S. Central Command chief acknowledged mental health challenges aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln; Trump ordered the Pentagon to substantially reduce joint military exercises with South Korea; Attorney General Todd Blanche refused to pledge Justice Department independence from the White House; the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s effort to overturn the $5 million E. Jean Carroll verdict; the Democratic National Committee approved its 2028 presidential primary calendar with South Carolina going first; and 60% of Americans called the U.S. economic system unfair.

1/ Trump threatened to “bomb the shit out of” Oman if it “gets in the way” of U.S. efforts in the Strait of Hormuz. The threat comes after Iran said it hd reached an “understanding” with Oman on a route map for ships through the strait. The U.S., however, has demanded that Iran reopen the strait first before it lifts its blockade of Iranian ports. Meanwhile, the U.S. and Iran missed the 60-day deadline for a peace deal. Trump ruled out extending the June agreement, which called for an end to military operations, the reopening of the strait, and negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. Iran, however, claim that negotiations “never began” and the 60-day period was “fundamentally no longer relevant.” Trump, meanwhile, declared that he has “no time schedule” to end the war and is “not in a hurry” to make a deal. (New York Times / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / Associated Press / Reuters / USA Today / Bloomberg / NBC News / The Guardian)

2/ Iran rejected Trump’s threat to declare the Strait of Hormuz U.S. territory. On Friday, Trump claimed that he’d “pretty soon” declare the strait “a territory of the United States,” insisting that “no ships get through unless we want them to.” Early Saturday, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi responded that the waterway “will only be opened and closed under Iran’s command,” adding that the U.S. must “accept the reality of defeat and stop indulging in delusions.” Gharibabadi added that the strait “cannot be seized with a tweet, nor with an aircraft carrier, nor by issuing an order, nor through an election speech.” (NBC News / The Guardian / The Hill / USA Today)

3/ U.S. Central Command chief acknowledged mental health challenges aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. Adm. Brad Cooper claimed the carrier has “among the lowest number of cases related to mental health” of the Navy’s 11 active aircraft carriers after visiting. However, he acknowledged that “this doesn’t mean that all is perfect” and that serving at sea for long periods “isn’t for everyone.” Reports cited shortages, contaminated water, plumbing problems, deteriorating morale, and sailors attempting to go overboard during the extended deployment. Trump, meanwhile, dismissed concerns about the crew’s mental health and whether the deployment had gone on too long, responding “No. No. No.” and “Not nearly long enough.” (New York Times / Bloomberg / CNBC)

4/ Trump ordered the Pentagon to substantially reduce joint military exercises with South Korea. Trump called the drills costly and “hostile” toward North Korea and his “very good relationship” with Kim Jong Un. Trump criticized Seoul for declining to join the U.S. effort against Iran, but called that issue “somewhat unrelated.” The order came days after North Korea launched ballistic missiles and threatened unspecified action over the 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield joint U.S.-South Korean exercises, which North Korea’s Foreign Ministry called “a rehearsal for an aggressive war.” (Associated Press / NBC News / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / New York Times / Bloomberg / ABC News / CNN / Axios / CBS News / The Hill)

5/ Attorney General Todd Blanche refused to pledge Justice Department independence from the White House. Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney and newly confirmed attorney general, added that he’d “of course” consider Trump’s views on individual prosecutions, but claimed Trump has never told him to prosecute a specific person and “never will.” Trump, however, has publicly called for the prosecutions of James Comey, Letitia James and Adam Schiff. And the Justice Department later charged Comey and James, which were dismissed. Prosecutors, however, charged Comey again. (New York Times / Washington Post / Axios / CNN / USA Today / The Guardian)

6/ The Supreme Court rejected Trump’s effort to overturn the $5 million E. Jean Carroll verdict. The unsigned order denied his request to reconsider the court’s earlier refusal to hear his appeal, leaving intact the 2023 jury finding that Trump sexually abused and defamed Carroll. The justices, meanwhile, are separately considering whether to hear Trump’s appeal of an $83.3 million defamation judgment, where he argues that presidential immunity shields him from statements he made while president. (Axios / Reuters / CNN / NBC News / USA Today)

7/ The Democratic National Committee approved its 2028 presidential primary calendar with South Carolina going first. South Carolina votes Jan. 22, followed by Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan, and Virginia. The schedule drops Iowa from the early-state lineup and pushes New Hampshire to third, putting states with larger Black and Latino electorates at the front of the nominating process. New Hampshire Democrats, however, resisted the change in part because state law requires its primary be held before any other state. Some Iowa politicians, meanwhile, threatened to hold an early contest anyway. (NBC News / New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / Reuters)

poll/ 60% of Americans called the U.S. economic system unfair. 69% said they’re dissatisfied or angry with how the system is working, 73% said the income gap between the richest Americans and the middle class is increasing, and 67% said wealthy Americans pay less than their fair share in federal income taxes. However, two-thirds said the free-market system is good for the economy, and capitalism was viewed more positively than socialism overall. Among Democrats, 58% viewed socialism positively, while 32% viewed capitalism positively. 53% also viewed the “democratic socialist” label positively. Meanwhile, 68% of Democrats want the party to pursue “big or fundamental changes” on economic policy even if they’re harder to accomplish. 83% said it was more important to show they’re “fighting for people” than to show they have a detailed plan, while 44% said the party is “not as progressive as you want it to be,” compared with 8% who said it is “more progressive than you want it to be.” (CBS News)

The 2026 midterms are in 78 days; the 2028 presidential election is in 813 days.

✨ Well, that’s fantastic: Opening arguments start Tuesday in California over allegations that Meta designed Facebook and Instagram to addict children, misled consumers about the risks, and illegally collected data from users under 13. California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey are seeking potentially hundreds of billions of dollars in penalties and nationwide changes that could force Meta to remove infinite scroll, autoplay, beauty filters, and engagement-optimized algorithms and delete children’s personal data, along with algorithms and models trained on it. Meta’s attorneys estimated damages could reach $1.4 trillion. (NPR / CNBC)

✏️ Notables.

  1. Attorney General Todd Blanche said “absolutely, it’s a possibility” that he’d appeal the 22 cases the Justice Department has lost to the Supreme Court to obtain voter-roll data. The Justice Department has sued 30 states and Washington, D.C., after they refused to turn over voter information including names, birth dates, addresses, driver’s-license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers. The administration claimed it wants the data to investigate election “deficiencies” or “anomalies,” including whether noncitizens are registered to vote. Elections, however, are administered by the states. (NBC News)

  2. Trump family’s crypto business received conditional approval to establish a bank. The charter would allow World Liberty Trust to issue and manage stablecoin services in-house rather than relying on third parties. Trump and his family owns 38% of the company. (CBS News / CNBC)

  3. The BBC asked a federal court to authorize subpoenas for Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Jared Kushner. The broadcaster argued that the three have “personal knowledge” and likely possess records relevant to Trump’s intentions and actions on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump sued the BBC for $10 billion over its editing of his Jan. 6 speech. (The Guardian / Politico / CBS News / CNBC / The Hill)

  4. The Justice Department charged a Kentucky woman with two federal felonies for allegedly vandalizing the World War II Memorial. Melissa Farris was accused of filling the fountain with bubbles and spray-painting graffiti that read “Clean hands dirty $” on the memorial. She was charged with depredation against federal property and destruction of a veterans’ memorial. Each offense carries up to 10 years in prison. (Politico / New York Times / CBS News / NBC News)

  5. Trump blamed vandals for the dead grass on the National Mall where the stage and seating were during his July 4 celebration. Photos, however, taken after the event show workers removing the structures and exposing brown, damaged turf underneath. (Associated Press / The Hill / Fox News)

  6. Trump’s appointed 57 officials worth at least $100 million to his administration. That is more than four times the combined total under George W. Bush, Obama, and Biden. Trump claimed wealthy business leaders have “great competence” and are “some of the smartest business leaders.” 32% of U.S. adults, meanwhile, approved of Trump’s handling of the economy last month, down from 40% at the start of his second term. (Associated Press)