The briefing for Thursday, July 16.

The United States expanded its military strikes into northern Iran early Thursday, hitting targets around Tehran for the first time in this latest round of fighting. Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks on Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait, all home to U.S. forces. The BBC reports that explosions were heard across Iran and air defenses were triggered in the capital. U.S. Central Command said American forces targeted command centers, air defense sites, and coastal surveillance facilities across Iran, including in Bandar Abbas and Greater Tunb Island.

The escalation comes after President Trump threatened Tuesday to target Iran's energy infrastructure if Tehran failed to return to talks. Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told state media that Iran had "no reason" to abide by any agreement that didn't benefit the country. The U.S. also disabled a Curacao-flagged oil tanker attempting to break its renewed naval blockade on Iranian ports. According to the AP, Iran's Revolutionary Guard warned the U.S. to "expect the closure of other oil and gas export routes" serving American interests.

The dispute centers on the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran effectively closed following the initial U.S.-Israeli strikes in February. That closure has caused sharp increases in global oil prices as tanker traffic through the critical shipping lane has virtually stalled. The Biden administration's interim deal to end the conflict, struck last month, has now completely unraveled. Iranian officials say U.S. strikes have killed more than 35 people and wounded over 300. In a potential diplomatic opening, Iran released American detainee Dena Karari, whom Trump called "wrongfully detained." The president welcomed what he described as a "gesture of Goodwill" from Tehran.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company announced Thursday it will spend an additional $100 billion expanding its U.S. manufacturing capacity, bringing its total American investment commitment to $265 billion. The world's largest contract chipmaker said the expansion will add four more fabrication plants in Arizona to the six already planned. TSMC also raised its capital expenditure budget for this year to $60-64 billion, up from an earlier estimate of $52-56 billion.

The massive investment reflects surging demand driven by artificial intelligence. TSMC Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei told investors during the company's quarterly earnings conference that AI-related demand remains "extremely robust" and will likely stay strong through 2029 or 2030. The company reported record profits of $22 billion for the April-June quarter, up 77% year-over-year, with revenue climbing 36%. Wei said TSMC now expects annual 2026 revenue growth slightly above 40%, up from a previous forecast of over 30%.

The expansion supports TSMC's role as a key supplier to Nvidia and Apple, and comes after a U.S.-Taiwan agreement earlier this year that cut tariffs on Taiwanese goods in exchange for approximately $250 billion in new tech sector investments. Wei said the additional $100 billion is needed to "support the strong multiyear demand from our leading U.S. customers" and will "help to further foster the development of the U.S. semiconductor ecosystem." The new Arizona facilities will focus on producing the most advanced chips at 2-nanometer scale and below.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche confronted intense questioning Wednesday at his Senate confirmation hearing over a controversial $1.776 billion fund created to compensate President Trump's allies and a tax immunity deal for the president. The fund, which was quickly withdrawn after bipartisan backlash, drew particular concern from Republican Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis. Cornyn noted that Trump, a plaintiff in the underlying lawsuit, has not agreed in writing to permanently delete the fund, meaning it could potentially be resurrected.

Blanche, Trump's former personal attorney, has run the Justice Department on an interim basis since April when Pam Bondi was fired. Democrats accused him of weaponizing the law enforcement institution by pursuing criminal investigations into Trump's perceived adversaries. Senate Judiciary Committee ranking Democrat Dick Durbin said Blanche is "still acting like Trump's personal attorney" and condemned the purging of Justice Department employees deemed insufficiently loyal to the president. The department has lost more than 3,000 employees since Trump returned to office.

Blanche needs support from every Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee for his nomination to advance, making Cornyn and Tillis's positions crucial. In prepared remarks, Blanche said his team is "restoring trust" in the Justice Department. He also defended aggressive investigations into Trump foes and the department's handling of Jeffrey Epstein files. The hearing represents a major test of Trump's grip on Republican lawmakers whose support Blanche requires to serve out the remainder of the president's term.

President Trump is taking longer to approve disaster aid requests than any other president dating back to 1989, according to an Associated Press analysis of Federal Emergency Management Agency data. Since taking office last year, Trump has averaged a month and a half to approve major disaster declarations, compared to about three weeks during his first term and similar timeframes under President Biden. Previous presidents including Obama, both Bushes, and Clinton all averaged less than two weeks.

The delays are accompanied by a stark partisan divide in approval rates. Trump has approved 80% of disaster requests from Republican governors but only 60% from Democratic governors. The disparity is even sharper when analyzed by presidential election results: Trump approved more than three-quarters of requests from states that voted for him in 2024, but less than half from states that didn't. No other president in the dataset showed such a wide partisan gap in disaster declarations.

Earlier this month, Trump denied disaster aid requests from four Democratic states—Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island—seeking federal assistance for a February snowstorm. Rhode Island's Democratic congressional delegation called the denial "part of a pattern of extreme partisanship as he tries to shift a heavier economic burden onto blue states." White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson insisted "there is no politicization to the President's decisions on disaster relief." When requests are denied, individuals, insurers, and local governments must shoulder recovery costs themselves. The delays and denials come as the Trump administration contemplates a makeover of FEMA.

Hundreds of protesters rallied in downtown Kyiv Thursday after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy moved to dismiss Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who had served just six months in the position. The mostly young demonstrators chanted Fedorov's name and made crude remarks about Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine's armed forces commander, shouting "Syrskyi go away!" Similar demonstrations took place in other Ukrainian cities including Dnipro and Odesa.

Fedorov, 35, is widely credited with modernizing Ukraine's military performance through technological expertise, particularly in drone warfare and military procurement. The former digital transformation minister spearheaded Ukraine's deployment of drone technology and introduced e-government platforms before taking the defense post in January. At a press conference Thursday, Fedorov confirmed tensions with Syrskyi, saying he had suggested to Zelenskyy that the commander-in-chief should be replaced. When Zelenskyy declined, Fedorov said he agreed to work with Syrskyi, but "all the initiatives we proposed were blocked."

The dismissal represents a significant political test for Zelenskyy as Ukraine's fight against Russia's invasion approaches four and a half years. Ukrainian parliament approved Serhii Koretskyi, head of state energy company Naftogaz, as the new prime minister with 289 votes. One protester, Kyiv resident Bohdan Huryak, told the Associated Press he was "deeply outraged," saying Fedorov "shows results on the battlefield" and questioning why he would be removed after just six months. The controversy echoes last July when Zelenskyy reversed course on anti-corruption legislation after large street protests threatened his leadership stability.

The United Kingdom government nationalized British Steel on Thursday to protect the nation's steelmaking capacity after Chinese owner Jingye Group moved to shut the plant's blast furnaces. The Department for Business and Trade said the move would save thousands of jobs and ensure a domestic supply of steel for major construction projects and the defense industry. Business Secretary Peter Kyle said "British Steel now belongs to the British people" and the focus is on "building a sustainable, competitive and decarbonized steel sector."

The blast furnaces at the Scunthorpe plant in northern England are the last in the UK that make "virgin steel" from raw materials. British Steel and its predecessors have been making steel at Scunthorpe for more than 130 years, building on the UK's development of improved steelmaking technology during the Industrial Revolution. The plant currently employs about 2,700 people. The UK government took operational control of British Steel last year after Jingye indicated it was considering closing the blast furnaces.

Jingye Group bought British Steel in 2020 and says it has invested more than £1.2 billion to keep the plant running despite what it described as "ongoing production instability." An independent evaluation will determine whether any compensation will be paid to the former Chinese owner. The nationalization marks a significant intervention by the UK government to maintain domestic industrial capacity in a strategically important sector.