From naval clashes with Iran to a Supreme Court tariff rebuke, the administration had a week that would exhaust most presidencies. And it’s not even done yet.

There are weeks in Washington that feel busy and weeks that feel genuinely overwhelming. This was the latter. In the span of a few days, the United States and Iran exchanged fire in one of the world’s most strategically sensitive waterways, the Secretary of State flew to Rome to patch things up with a pope his boss has been openly antagonizing, a federal court took a swipe at Trump’s tariff agenda, and the Epstein saga pulled another senior cabinet member into a closed-door deposition. Normal week, really.

A “trifle” in the Strait of Hormuz

American and Iranian warships exchanged fire in the Strait of Hormuz this week — and the president described it as a “trifle.” That word choice will either age well or very badly, and right now it’s genuinely hard to say which.

The US maintained it was targeting Iranian assets that had first threatened American assets in the region — standard rules-of-engagement language. But the timing is loaded: this comes as Iran is reportedly sitting with a one-page memorandum of understanding drafted by the White House under “Project Freedom,” a proposed framework to end the ongoing conflict. Tehran hasn’t signed. And Trump, never one for diplomatic subtlety, essentially told them what happens if they don’t — warning of an “orange glow” over Iran as the consequence.

The ceasefire, for now, is technically still in place. Trump said so himself. He also said we’d know when it wasn’t. It’s the kind of statement that does the work of a threat without technically being one.

THIS WEEK AT A GLANCE

Iran US–Iran naval exchange of fire in Strait of Hormuz; Project Freedom operation paused but may resume