Donald Trump threatened to bomb the country trying to end his war.
Oman is a longtime American ally, the mediator both sides trust and the channel for every Hormuz negotiation. On Saturday, Iran announced the two countries had agreed on a plan to reopen shipping. Trump’s answer came Monday: “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them.” Asked later to explain, he offered only that Oman hasn’t “behaved very well.”
Three days ago he gutted military exercises with South Korea for refusing to attack Iran. The 60-day window both sides agreed to as a ceasefire expired Monday night with no deal and no talks, but Trump says he is in no hurry.
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Mono County, California, opens an air curtain burner that destroys 3 to 5 tons of wildfire fuel hourly while trapping smoke.
Today’s GovBrief News
Trump threatens to bomb Oman if it obstructs reopening the Strait of Hormuz, hours after Iran announced a shipping route agreement with the Gulf state.
Source: CBS News
August 17, 2026
Kindergarten vaccine exemptions hit a record 4.2% as MMR coverage falls to 92.4%, well below the threshold needed to prevent measles outbreaks.
Source: NBC News
August 17, 2026
CBP pauses all construction on its $1.7 billion border project in Big Bend National Park as bulldozers clear a route near Santa Elena Canyon.
Source: WFAA Dallas
August 17, 2026
Energy Secretary Wright issues a 6th emergency order keeping Michigan's Campbell coal plant open, 15 months past its planned retirement.
Source: WOOD Grand Rapids
August 17, 2026
EPA quietly stops publishing cancer risk estimates from air pollution after 2 decades, leaving raw emissions data the public cannot interpret alone.
Source: Government Executive
August 17, 2026
Trump votes by mail in Florida's primary for the second time this year while calling mail voting cheating and ordering restrictions on it.
Source: The Hill
August 17, 2026
Voting rights coalition sues New Hampshire to restore school-issued IDs for registering and voting, arguing the repeal deliberately targets young voters.
Source: New Hampshire Public Radio
August 17, 2026
USS Benfold drifted 4 days in the South China Sea in July without power, toilets, or air conditioning before being towed to the Philippines.
Source: The Guardian
August 17, 2026
Justice Department creates a process for people with felony convictions to apply for restored gun rights, reviving a program Congress defunded in the 1990s.
Source: Newsweek
August 17, 2026
4 states seeking up to $1.4 trillion take Meta to federal trial over claims it deliberately designed Facebook and Instagram to addict children.
Source: NPR
August 17, 2026
Supreme Court rejects Trump's rehearing request in the E. Jean Carroll sexual abuse case, making the $5 million verdict final and unchallengeable.
Source: Courthouse News Service
August 17, 2026
ICE proposes subsidizing $500,000 liability insurance policies for local officers deputized to make immigration arrests, removing a hurdle keeping police departments from joining.
Source: The Associated Press
August 17, 2026
Kentucky Governor Beshear says McConnell has ignored his request for proof of capacity as the 84-year-old senator recovers at home after leaving rehab.
Source: The Hill
August 17, 2026
Official White House account tells CNN's Kristen Holmes her children will someday be "sickened and embarrassed" after she asked Trump to respond to Ossoff criticism.
Source: The Washington Post [gift link]
August 17, 2026
Texas families ask the Supreme Court to strike the state law requiring Ten Commandments displays in every public school classroom.
Source: SCOTUS blog
August 17, 2026
Salt Lake City launches a federally funded stabilization program reimbursing small businesses up to $3,500 for vandalism and property crime repairs.
Source: Axios
August 17, 2026
Judge permanently blocks the FBI headquarters move within Washington, ruling the administration illegally diverted over $1 billion Congress appropriated for the Greenbelt, Maryland site.
Source: WMAR Baltimore
August 17, 2026