Trump Flip-Flops on Strait of Hormuz Plan, and U.S. Cyclospora Outbreak Spreads

**Tracy Mumford** (0:00)
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**Tracy Mumford** (0:33)
From The New York Times, it's The Headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today is Wednesday, July 15th. Here's what we're covering.
After announcing a drastic plan for the US to charge ships a fee to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump quickly backtracked on his own proposal yesterday.

**Donald Trump** (0:55)
Frankly, it's better, because I don't like the idea of a fee. It's got to remain free, because otherwise others will do the same thing.

**Tracy Mumford** (1:01)
And he returned to the approach he had at the start of the war—that the US will strike Iran, quote, very hard, until the country agrees to make a peace deal. US forces carried out a new round of attacks overnight that stretched for seven hours.

**Donald Trump** (1:16)
The only way you can negotiate with these people is through strength, and the only strength is military strength.

**Tracy Mumford** (1:22)
Analysts say the abrupt flip-flop underscores how much Trump seems to be relying on impulse and improvisation as he tries to confront an adversary that is not bending. He has pivoted between tactics, at times contradicting his own administration and himself. One expert on Iran told the Times, On the one hand, he keeps saying, We want to make a deal with you guys and make Iran a thriving economy. And on the other hand, he says, I'm going to obliterate your civilization.
Another analyst said that much of the president's foreign policy this term, whether it's tariffs or the US's new role in running Venezuela, has depended on the willingness of other countries to make concessions. But with Iran, quote, He's encountered a country that is not willing to play by his set of rules. The Iranian military launched its own strikes overnight, targeting US military facilities in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan. Officials in all three countries said the attacks were being intercepted.
Meanwhile, new federal data released yesterday showed that in June, when the ceasefire was still in place, inflation slowed with the pause in hostilities helping bring down oil prices.

**Ben Casselman** (2:32)
We've seen oil prices come down over the last few weeks, and that has flowed through to gas prices. But we also saw broader improvement. Even when you strip out energy, we saw slower inflation in June.
So that's an encouraging sign that we might see some continued progress on inflation as the year goes on.

**Tracy Mumford** (2:54)
Ben Casselman is The Times' Chief Economics Correspondent.

**Ben Casselman** (2:57)
The big caveat, of course, is that oil prices have been rising again. This data was from June. That was before the ceasefire began to break down.
So as oil prices rise, that's going to affect prices in July and August and going forward.

**Tracy Mumford** (3:18)
Now, a few other quick updates on the Trump administration, starting with the immigration crackdown.

**Tom Homan** (3:23)
I think it's going to be a short pause, and I'm confident that ICE has well trained the vehicle stops and you're going to see us keep moving forward.

**Tracy Mumford** (3:32)
As of yesterday, ICE officers have been ordered not to carry out most traffic stops, following back-to-back deadly shootings in Texas and Maine, where agents fired on drivers after pursuing their vehicles. In an interview on Fox News, White House border czar Tom Homan said the order is not a policy change, but a temporary pause, quote, to make sure we're doing the right thing. Since Trump returned to office and pushed for more aggressive immigration enforcement, 22 people have been fired on by federal agents, nearly all of them while in vehicles. Beyond questions about traffic stops, the recent shootings have also highlighted the slow rollout of body cameras to ICE agents. Earlier this year, DHS pledged that the government would, quote, rapidly acquire and deploy the technology. But currently, only about half of ICE field offices have body cameras, and none of the agents involved in the two recent shootings were wearing them.
Also, in Washington today, Todd Blanch, the acting US. Attorney General, will face a crucial Senate hearing as he tries to get confirmed to the role.