Pentagon Says Iran Attacks Don’t Rise to Level of Restarting War

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Alex Ossola (0:33)

President Trump downplays Iran's latest attacks, worrying US allies in the Gulf. Plus, Beijing is using regulatory aggression to push back against the US.

Lingling Wei (0:43)

The people I talk to around the Chinese leadership keep telling me that Xi Jinping thinks he's quote, cracked a code on Trump.

Alex Ossola (0:52)

And flavored vapes have become a point of tension between President Trump and the FDA. It's Tuesday, May 5th. I'm Alex Ossola for The Wall Street Journal. This is the PM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that moved the world today.

We begin this evening's show in the Middle East, where fighting has picked up again this week. That includes missiles and drones that Iran's firing at the United Arab Emirates, as well as attacks on commercial ships and American warships. During a press conference this morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth downplayed the attacks and said the ceasefire holds for now.

SPEAKER_7 (1:36)

Ultimately, the president's gonna make a decision whether anything were to escalate into a violation of a ceasefire, but certainly we would urge Iran to be prudent.

Alex Ossola (1:45)

Hours after Hegseth's comments, the UAE said it was intercepting new attacks. Iran denied the attacks but said there would be a quote crushing response if it's targeted by the UAE.

Iran and other adversaries and allies are all watching the US response for a hint of how the outcome of the conflict could ripple around the world. I'm joined now by WSJ Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent, Yaroslav Trofimov. Yaroslav, what is Tehran gleaning from the Trump administration's response to its most recent attacks?

Yaroslav Trofimov (2:13)

What they are saying is that they think that the US is in a rush to extricate itself from the conflict and that the US is clearly willing to look the other way as Iran escalates and attacks other countries.

Alex Ossola (2:26)

And what does the US response signal to other Gulf states?

Yaroslav Trofimov (2:30)

There is a lot of consternation across the Gulf. It seems like even as Iran is violating the ceasefire and attacking the Gulf, the US is not inclined to punish Iran for that.

And so, as one official told me, it looks like the Trump administration has thrown the Gulf under the bus. Once again, this reinforces the conviction held by many governments are friendly to the US that the US administration, the President Trump, is a transactional one. There is growing fear that even the US is committed to helping, especially its European treaty allies as well as treaty allies in Asia, that President Trump will be very reluctant to come to help, at least if there is no perceived benefit to the US in his eyes.

Alex Ossola (3:13)

That was WSJ Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Yaroslav Trofimov. Thanks Yarrow.

Yaroslav Trofimov (3:17)

Thank you.

Alex Ossola (3:22)

Geopolitical tensions are also playing out in Asia, where China has escalated its fight against the US over Iranian oil. The US had sanctioned five Chinese refineries for buying Iranian crude. Well, over the weekend, the Chinese government told companies not to comply with those sanctions. In the past, Beijing has been wary of openly violating US sanctions. That's not the case anymore.

Lingling Wei is the WSJ's chief China correspondent and the author of the WSJ China newsletter. And in this morning's edition, she wrote all about Beijing's latest moves.

Lingling Wei (3:53)

If you are a bank and you refuse to process a payment for one of those refineries because of US sanctions, you can get sued in China. Same if you are the insurer who won't write the policy or the shipping company that won't carry the cargo.

So suddenly, complying with American law could be an offense in China. And there's really no clear way out. Follow Washington, you get sued in Beijing. And follow Beijing, you lose access to the dollar system.

Alex Ossola (4:28)

This isn't the only way China is pushing back against US economic interests. Last week, China banned Metta's acquisition of AI startup Manus.

Lingling Wei (4:37)