Today’s edition of quick hits.
* A blockade takes effect: “As the U.S. military blockades the mouth of the Persian Gulf and halts what little trade was still passing through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s major ports may be starved of their remaining trade. Although the strait has been nearly shut for most global trade since early March, some vessels, primarily Chinese-flagged ships, have been allowed to pass through unharmed.”
* If my count is right, I think we’re up to 48 strikes: “The U.S. military said Sunday that it blew up two boats accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing a total of five people and leaving one survivor, as the Trump administration pursues its campaign against alleged traffickers in Latin America while preparing a naval blockade of Iranian ports.”
* An investigation worth watching: “It became one of the searing images of the Trump administration’s immigration operation in Minnesota earlier this year. After using a battering ram to break down the door of a home in St. Paul, federal agents handcuffed ChongLy Scott Thao and led him outside in subzero temperatures wearing only boxer shorts and slip-on shoes. On Monday, local law enforcement officials announced that they were weighing whether federal agents should face criminal charges, including kidnapping, burglary and false imprisonment, over the detention of Mr. Thao on Jan. 18.”
* At the Stonewall National Monument: “The Trump administration said Monday it will resume flying a rainbow Pride flag on a federal flagpole at the Stonewall National Monument in New York City, reversing course after removing the banner in February. The government revealed the decision in court papers as it agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by LGBTQ+ and historic preservation groups who had sought to block the removal.”
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* Trump’s online item reverberated internationally: “Donald Trump’s remarks about Pope Leo XIV were ‘unacceptable,’ Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said. … ‘The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal for him to call for peace and to condemn every form of war,’ Meloni said in a statement.”
* I don’t know when the war will end, but the effects of the war will reverberate — and not in a good way: “In just six weeks, the Iran War has shattered a system of global trade that has enriched people and nations for more than a century: the freedom to sail the open seas.”
* The latest on Swalwell: “The House Ethics Committee announced Monday that it has opened an investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations against Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif.”
* Remember that weird statement Melania Trump made last week about Jeffrey Epstein? Her husband told The New York Times, “Would I have done it that way? Perhaps not, perhaps, I don’t know.”
See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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