Trump forgoes military strikes, attempts economic chokehold on Iran

Trump bets on economic chokehold on Iran over military strikes, for now

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday that the Trump administration’s economic pressure on Iran is hurting the regime “the most right now,” but did not rule out the U.S. military resuming airstrikes if necessary.

“If we need to use kinetic strikes, we’ll use them. If Iran is foolish enough to overplay their hand or mess with the with the American military, we’ll do what we need to do ,” Hegseth told reporters in Oshkosh, Wis. as part of the Pentagon’s “Arsenal of Freedom” tour. “But economic pressure, hurts them the most right now.”

The Pentagon chief’s remarks came hours after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent previewed the U.S. new economic pressure campaign against Tehran as the conflict has reached a stalemate after six months of hostilities.

Bessent warned countries to cut off any financial ties with Iran or risk being cut off from the U.S. dollar system, discussing the new “Operation Economic Outcast,” but offering few specifics.

“Well, we are giving everyone the opportunity to remedy bad behavior , why would I want to blow up the global financial system?” Bessent told a reporter when asked about specifics.

The Treasury secretary said that President Trump is dialing world leaders and that officials at the State Department, the Pentagon and Treasury are connecting with their counterparts, asking them to cut ties with Iran.

“I would expect that very quickly, if they do not respond, then you will see the ramifications of their actions ,” Bessent said.

Iran’s Parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, fired back Monday at the U.S. over the rollout of the economic pressure campaign.

“Americans know that no one buys their bombast; the United States is not in an economic position to further restrict its relations with other countries,” Qalibaf said on social platform X.

“More economic pressure only ensures that Iran really has – the only choice they have is to come to the table and actually talk about their nuclear program, which is what the president has demanded,” Hegseth said.

Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & National Security newsletter, I’m Ellen Mitchell — your guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.

Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

How policy will affect defense and national security now and in the future:

Marines cancel joint drill with South Korea

The United States canceled a large joint amphibious landing exercise between the Marine Corps and South Korean forces set for September over resource constraints tied to the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, Seoul’s military announced Monday. “The U.S. Marine Corps formally notified our forces in June that its ability to deploy forces during this year’s Ssangyong exercise would be constrained due to the situation in the Middle East,” …

Senate Democrats call for hearing on Iran war’s strain on troops

Nearly all Senate Armed Services Committee minority members on Monday called on the panel’s head to hold a hearing with Pentagon leadership on the impact that extended deployments in support of the Iran war are having on U.S. service members. “Recent reports of sailors suffering from severe mental health issues amid deteriorating conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln have only added to a disturbing pattern of failures to adequately …

Putin wants to mobilize at least 300,000 more troops to Russia-Ukraine war: Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to draft 300,000 more troops in his continued war effort against Ukraine. Zelensky told reporters Russia could draft enough troops next year to reach a total of 500,000, according to Reuters. Russian forces have recently ramped up ballistic missile strikes against Ukraine, targeting several cities, including Kyiv. July marked the …

US military launches first known drug boat strike in months, killing 2 ‘narco-terrorists’

The U.S. military launched its first known strike on an alleged drug boat in two months off the coast of Latin America on Sunday, killing two “narco-terrorists” in the eastern Pacific. The U.S. Southern Command (Southcom) said early Monday the “low-profile” vessel operated along “established narco-trafficking routes” in the eastern Pacific and intelligence “confirmed” the boat’s involvement in “narco-trafficking.” “We …

Upcoming things we’re watching on our beat:

Congress is out for August recess with the House returning on the 31st and the Senate on Sept. 14.

Branch out with a different read from The Hill:

Investigators examining foes of Trump seek interviews related to Mar-a-Lago search, AP sources say

WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Department investigators have sought to interview law enforcement officials related to the FBI search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate as part of a Florida-based inquiry aiming to establish a conspiracy against the Republican president, multiple people familiar …

Trump’s approval holds at record low as US support for Iran war falls, Reuters reports

‘It’s bonkers’: Jennifer Hegseth’s hands-on role in her husband’s Pentagon, The New York Times reports

Billboard campaign in military cities connects Iran war to high prices, Military Times reports

Supreme Court rules blue states sued too early over Trump’s mail voting order

The Supreme Court lifted a judge’s block on President Trump’s executive order adding to mail voting requirements, removing a key roadblock that prevented … Read more

Trump administration lays out new $103K fee proposal for H-1B visas

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a new proposed rule for H-1B visas on Monday that would charge a $103,265 fee for all workers seeking … Read more

Op-eds related to defense & national security submitted to The Hill:

25 years after 9/11, Bin Laden has achieved one of his major goals

Knowledge is power: Why America needs economic security intelligence

The US is using the wrong measure of pressure on Iran