The Latest: Trump pivots back to sanctions for Iran as other strategies to end his war fizzle

President Donald Trump on Monday said that since Iran is seeking compensation as part of any peace talks, he’ll demand the same. It’s part of a larger pivot by Trump, who’s arguing that Iran is on the cusp of financially collapsing, even though the decades of financial sanctions it faces aren’t an immediate conflict-ending tool.

Prompted by an Iranian assassination threat, Trump secretly flew out of last month’s NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on an alternate military aircraft while the White House made it appear he was with the press pool on Air Force One, according to a report published by The Washington Post.

The president’s media company has tried a half-dozen businesses to lift its stock, but nothing has worked. Now it’s getting back to its roots, telling investors Monday that Truth Social will focus on selling early high-speed access to his administration’s announcements on social media, a move raising ethical questions.

The Latest:

Former Air Force Secretary says he’ll sue Trump administration to restore his security clearance

Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall on Monday said he’ll sue to force the Trump administration to restore his security clearance, which it revoked Friday after claiming he had disclosed sensitive information about the Qatari-gifted jet now serving as Air Force One.

Kendall, a West Point graduate who served as President Joe Biden’s head of the Air Force, said on CNN Monday that he’ll sue the administration, noting it has a history of retaliating against critics by stripping their clearances. “As my mother taught me years ago, you stand up to bullies,” said Kendall, who has denied disclosing classified information.

Mark Zaid, a prominent national security attorney who sued the administration after his own clearance was revoked by the Trump administration, confirmed in a post on X that Kendall had hired him. “More to come,” Zaid wrote.

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As Trump Media scraps some businesses, it’s doubling down on Truth Social and the president

The president’s media company has tried its hand at a half-dozen new lines of business to lift its stock, but nothing has worked. Now it’s getting back to its roots.

In a conference call with investors Monday, the company behind Truth Social said it will be unwinding much of its expansion and doubling down on its original media business by selling a form of White House access, a move that has raised big ethical questions among Democrats and government watchdogs.

Trump started Truth Social after he was kicked off Twitter and Facebook, but the two reinstated him more than three years ago, so the company has had to transform itself. Instead of a “free speech” forum, it now acts more like a “hear it here first” site, a second White House press office where people get scoops from the president on everything from the Iran war to tariffs to the future of the U.S. central bank.

But shares of the parent company, Trump Media & Technology, kept falling so it decided to become more than a media company and branched into unrelated industries like online betting, finance, investment funds, buying and storing bitcoin and nuclear energy.

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Trump used elaborate ruse to fly out of Turkey following summit because of Iran threat, report says

Catering trucks are parked at Air Force One on the tarmac as the motorcade carrying U.S. President Donald Trump arrives on the tarmac to depart following the NATO summit at Ankara International Airport in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Trump secretly flew out of last month’s NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on an alternate military aircraft while the White House made it appear that the Republican president was flying on Air Force One, according to a report published by The Washington Post on Monday.

The Post said the operation was prompted by an Iranian assassination threat against Trump. The ruse was carried out as journalists and some White House staff members were led to believe they were on the same plane as the president as he began his journey back to Washington from the annual gathering of NATO country leaders.

The Post cited material reviewed by the newspaper, a U.S. official familiar with the operation and another person with knowledge of the president’s travel. The Associated Press has not independently confirmed the report.

The White House did not respond directly to questions about the Post report of the secret operation to whisk Trump out of the country on a third aircraft, or the reported elaborate ruse to make it appear he was on the baby blue Air Force One jet flying to Mildenhall.

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Trump pivots back to sanctions for Iran as other strategies to end his war fizzle

The Trump administration is hoping that months of bombing have pushed Iran’s economy to a breaking point that will force its leadership to cave to demands to end its nuclear program and fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil and natural gas tankers.

The president on Monday said that since Iran is seeking compensation as part of any peace talks, he now intends to demand the same for the U.S. side. It’s part of a larger pivot this weekend by Trump to argue that Iran is now on the cusp of financially collapsing, even though it has already endured decades of financial sanctions, which are often a longer-term strategy rather than an immediate tool of warfare that can halt a conflict.

The shift comes as U.S. stockpiles of key weapons have dwindled and as stop-start talks seem again to have stalled. But Trump insists the pressure can lead to a breakthrough.

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