(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge in Washington on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction blocking further construction of the White House ballroom.
Judge Richard Leon wrote that President Donald Trump can’t build the ballroom without authorization from Congress, and that “no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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(WASHINGTON) — As oil and gas prices soar amid Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump and his top officials now appear to be suggesting it’s not the U.S.’s problem to solve.
Trump on Tuesday again lashed out at allies for not getting involved in the conflict, and told them: “Go get your own oil!”
“All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT,” the president wrote in a post on his social media platform.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us,” Trump added.
Trump reiterated that sentiment in a phone call with ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl later Tuesday.
“I’m going to let the countries that want to buy oil, they can — they can police it themselves. Why should I do it for them? They weren’t there for me,” Trump told ABC’s Karl of the Strait of Hormuz.
The statements appear to be a far cry from Trump’s threat to Iran from just days ago. On March 21, he wrote on social media that if Iran didn’t “FULLY OPEN” the strait in 48 hours, the U.S. would hit the country’s power plants. That deadline was extended twice after Trump said that negotiations were ongoing.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday echoed Trump in calling on countries around the world to “be prepared to step up.”
“It’s not just the United States Navy. Last time I checked, there was supposed to be a big, bad Royal Navy that could be prepared to do things like that as well,” Hegseth said, referring to the United Kingdom’s naval forces.
“President Trump’s been willing to do the heavy lifting on behalf of the free world to address this threat of Iran,” Hegseth said. “It’s not just our problem set going forward, even though we have done the lion’s share of preparation to ensure that that strait will be open, which is an outcome the president has been very clear on.”
Prior to the war, more than 100 ships were passing through the Strait of Hormuz each day, according to data from U.N. Trade and Development. Now, just a handful of ships are estimated to be passing through on a daily basis amid Tehran’s chokehold.
The result has been a record monthly spike in oil and gas prices. In the U.S., the average cost of a gallon of gas topped $4 on Tuesday for the first time since August 2022.
Yet, Trump administration officials have notably declined to list reopening the strait as a key objective of Operation Epic Fury.
“The objectives of Operation Epic Fury are as follows: destroying the Iranian navy; destroying their ballistic missiles; dismantling their defense industrial infrastructure that produces those weapons that have long threatened the United States and our allies; and then, of course, preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Monday’s press briefing.
Leavitt was pressed by a reporter whether Trump can declare victory over Iran if passage through the strait remains as hampered as it is now.
“The full reopening of the strait is something the administration is working towards, but the core objectives of the operation have been clearly defined for the American people by the commander in chief,” Leavitt replied.
Trump has said he long predicted Iran would use the strait as a weapon, and that he knew oil prices would go up if the U.S. attacked Iran. He has faced criticism for not vocalizing a clear strategy for reopening the waterway, where roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply is caught in the crosshairs of the conflict.
Trump earlier this month issued a public request to U.S partners in Europe and Asia to help the U.S. secure the strait. Those countries largely rebuffed his call to send warships and other kinds of assistance. Some made clear this is not their war, while others have said they would get involved in the strait — but only once hostilities end.
The cold shoulder prompted Trump to change his tune and declare, “We don’t need any help, actually.”
Trump then ramped up threats to attack Tehran’s power and desalination plants if Iran doesn’t reopen the strait.
“If for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!),” Trump posted Monday.
Trump has paused attacks on Iran until April 6 citing ongoing negotiations with new Iranian leadership, though Tehran has publicly denied any direct talks and has pushed back on a 15-point peace plan presented by the U.S. through intermediaries.
Amid his renewed call on Tuesday for other nations to step up, Trump told CBS News he is not “yet” pulling U.S. assets from the Strait of Hormuz, but “at some point I will.”
Later, in an interview with the New York Post, Trump said he believed the strait would “automatically open” when the U.S. exits the conflict.
“I don’t think about it, to be honest,” Trump told the New York Post. “My sole function was to make sure that they don’t have a nuclear weapon. They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon. When we leave, the strait will automatically open.”
ABC News’ Emily Chang contributed to this report.
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Barry Manilow may be 83 years old, but he’s aware of what’s going on in today’s music — and he just doesn’t get it. He even tried to write songs like one of today’s biggest pop stars, but couldn’t pull it off.
Speaking to The Times of London, Barry, who’s going to release what he says is his final album in June, said, “The truth is that for this record I really studied what’s going on out there — artists like Billie Eilish.”
He explained, “I tried to write like her but I just couldn’t because I’m used to verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, ending — but pop music now just sounds like run-on sentences. Where is the chorus? Hook?”
“Song after song is like that, so I went back to what I know and people will either think I haven’t listened to pop radio in 40 years or they’ll say, ‘Thank God! Something to hang my ears on!’” he added.
Asked to address why he thinks pop music doesn’t sound like it used to, Barry offered this explanation: “I don’t mean this negatively, but it feels like songs now are not written by bona fide musicians.”
“They feel written by young people, who know a couple of chords, and some new songs are really good,” he continued. “But the stars of pop nowadays are studio engineers and the last thing you pay attention to in a modern record are the lyrics or melody. The rhythm and grooves are delicious. But songwriters? I don’t think they’re there any more.”
Barry’s new album, What a Time, is out June 5. It features his most recent hit, “Once Before I Go.”
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Breland’s new single, “In My Truck,” is out now. It samples 50 Cent’s “In Da Club” and is his first new solo track since 2024’s “Icing.”
Mitchell Tenpenny and Meghan Patrick revealed they’re expecting their first child, a daughter, on social media Tuesday.
Clint Black kicks off his Killin’ Time: My Life and Music book tour May 17 in Bay Shore, New York, and wraps May 23 in Nashville. His autobiography arrives May 19.
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The Army has launched a formal investigation and suspended the pilots involved in the flyby of two Apache attack helicopters near Kid Rock’s Nashville, Tennessee, home over the weekend, an Army spokesman said Tuesday.
The four crewmembers have been suspended from flight duties “while the Army reviews the circumstances surrounding the mission, including compliance with relevant FAA regulations, aviation safety protocol, and approval requirements,” Army spokesman Maj. Montrell Russell said.
Each helicopter seats a pilot and a copilot/gunner.
On Saturday, Kid Rock posted on his social media two videos of him pointing to and saluting two helicopters flying low and hovering adjacent to his swimming pool.
Both helicopters are part of the 101st Airborne Division, based out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, roughly 60 miles north of Nashville, Maj. Jonathon Bless, a division spokesperson, said Monday.
The two helicopters had also been spotted flying over the No Kings protest in Nashville on Saturday, but a statement from the 101st said the helicopters were on a training mission near Nashville and the timing was coincidental.
The rock star and conservative activist has emerged as one of President Donald Trump’s most visible celebrity allies, regularly appearing at Trump campaign events.
Asked Monday about the incident by Nashville ABC affiliate WKRN, Kid Rock responded, “I think it will be alright — my buddy’s the commander in chief.”
On Monday, the Army announced that it was undertaking an administrative review of the incident, essentially a first-look at the facts that would determine whether a formal investigation should be launched.
“Army aviators must adhere to strict safety standards, professionalism, and established flight regulations,” Bless said in a statement. “An administrative review is underway to assess the mission and verify compliance with regulations and airspace requirements. Appropriate action will be taken if any violations are found.”
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Kid Cudi is making his way back to your screens, this time for a digital series titled Big Bro With Kid Cudi.
He stars in the weekly series, which finds him chatting with his celebrity friends about their respective journeys.
“This is where I invite my favorite people in culture and entertainment to come kick it,” he explains in a description with the trailer. “We put you on to dope s***, hype each other up, and tap into the real journey behind our biggest successes. It’s laughs, it’s untold stories, it’s those late night convos that hit different.”
Big Bro With Kid Cudi, a partnership with Wave Sports & Entertainment, is set to premiere April 1, and that’s no April Fools’ joke. New episodes will drop every Wednesday on podcast platforms, and behind-the-scenes footage will air on an extension of the show set to release on PDF Spaces by Adobe Acrobat, another partner of the show, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“This show f**** hard,” Cudi tells THR. “Real hard. Get with it, baby!” He also designed the show’s set, and served as a producer and the artist behind the theme song.
Big Bro With Kid Cudi marks Cudi’s latest on-screen project. In addition to his music videos, he’s appeared in Trap, Happy Gilmore 2 and voiced the character Jabari in the film Entergalactic.
He also recently launched a Twitch channel, on which he’s livestreamed several times and documented the making of his EP HAVE U BN 2 HEAVEN @ NITE?
Cudi is set to kick off his Road Ragers tour in April.
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Justin Bieber skipped Canada’s Juno Awards Sunday to play an intimate, fans-only show at LA’s The Roxy Theatre. On Tuesday, the “Daisies” singer posted footage of the show on his Instagram.
One post sees a shirtless Justin, wearing a wool hat, singing “Better Man” from his album SWAG II while smoking what looks like a blunt. A second post is a montage of scenes from the concert, featuring snippets of Justin singing songs from both SWAG and SWAG II, including “Daisies,” “Walking Away,” “Go Baby,” “Yukon,” “Everything Hallelujah” and “Speed Demon.”
“This is a little sneak preview into Coachella, which is gonna be so much fun,” Justin tells the crowd. He captioned the montage, “see you all soon.”
According to Setlist.fm, Justin only performed songs from SWAG and SWAG II, but it’s not clear if he plans to do the same at Coachella.
The exclusive concert was Justin’s first full show in nearly four years; he had to cancel his Justice tour in 2022 due to health issues. Since then, he’s only done a handful of one-off performances at special events.
Justin’s set to headline Coachella on April 11 and April 18.
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Dan + Shay’s new single, “Say So,” will finally arrive Thursday at 11 p.m. CT.
Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney acknowledged they’ve been away for a while in a handwritten letter posted on their socials.
The duo reiterated what they told ABC Audio at the CMA Awards in November: Their absence isn’t the sign of a breakup, but instead their friendship is stronger than ever after spending most of the year in the studio together.
“That has been so life-giving,” they say in the note. They go on to reveal they haven’t spent this much time working on new music since their debut album in 2013, Where It All Began.
“We’ve had what we feel is the most inspired burst of creativity in our entire career, and we wanted to capture every bit of it,” they go on to say.
They also tease their return to touring, adding they’ve “missed seeing everyone on the road” and “That changes soon. Stay tuned.”
Though they put out “Long Live Christmas” in November and their It’s Officially Christmas double album in 2024, their last studio album was Bigger Houses, which came out in September 2023.
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Metallica has announced a donation of $125,000 through the band’s All Within My Hands charity foundation toward flood relief efforts in Hawaii.
“Hawaii is facing the worst flooding it’s seen in more than two decades, leaving the islands suffering an estimated US$1B in damage statewide,” reads a statement from All Within My Hands. “The subtropical weather systems—called kona lows near Hawaii—siphoned moisture from the tropics, fueling slow-moving thunderstorms with torrential, destructive rains. The soil became saturated, and the rivers surged to record levels as the rains continued.”
“So far, hundreds of homes in O’ahu have sustained damage, in addition to millions of dollars in damage to farms across the island,” the statement continues. “As many as 115,000 O’ahu residents faced power outages in the storm’s aftermath. While the heaviest rains have passed, flash floods remain possible in the coming days.”
Among the people affected by the floods is actor and Hawaii native Jason Momoa, who’s been assisting with local organizations.
“AWMH is proud to join Jason and the many organizations and individuals working to provide critical relief and recovery assistance to the islands,” the foundation says.
For more info and to donate yourself, you can visit AllWithinMyHands.org.
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The release date for Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2 has arrived.
Netflix has announced that season 2 of the live-action reimagining of the popular Nickelodeon animated series will release on June 25. The streaming service also released a behind-the-scenes video showing off the cast on the set of season 2.
Stars Gordon Cormier (Aang), Kiawentiio (Katara), Ian Ousley (Sokka), Dallas Liu (Zuko), Elizabeth Yu (Azula) and Miyako (Toph) talk about how excited they are for fans to see the new season of the show.
Season 2 follows the young Avatar Aang as he learns to master the four elements and restore balance to a world that’s threatened by the Fire Nation.
“After a bittersweet victory saving the Northern Water Tribe from the invading Fire Nation, Avatar Aang, Katara and Sokka regroup and set off on a mission to convince the elusive Earth King to aid in their battle against fearsome Fire Lord Ozai,” according to the new season’s official logline.
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Maria Zhang and Daniel Dae Kim also star in the upcoming season.
After the success of season 1, Avatar: The Last Airbender was renewed for two seasons, which were filmed back to back.
Netflix revealed that season 3 finished production on Nov. 10.
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