“We’re not talking about any easing of sanctions or giving money. No sanctions, no money, no nothing,” Trump said. “When they behave properly and when they do what’s right, we’ll let them have their money.” As for the future of the Strait, Trump said, “It’s international waters, and Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow them up.”

“The Strait will open immediately, immediately, but it’s got to be perfect,” he said. “I didn’t do this to get a crummy agreement.”

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DISPUTES FRAMEWORK OF POSSIBLE IRAN DEAL REPORTED BY TEHRAN STATE MEDIA

DEALING WITH ‘MUCH MORE REASONABLE’ PEOPLE: Trump keeps insisting that, as a result of the elimination of dozens of Iran’s top leaders, he’s dealing with a “smarter, much more reasonable” group of people.

“They want very much to make a deal. So far, they haven’t gotten there. We’re not satisfied with it, but we will be. We will be either that or we’ll have to just finish the job,” Trump said. “They’re negotiating on fumes. But we’ll see what happens. Maybe we have to go back and finish it. Maybe we don’t.”

But the fact that Iran continues to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz and launch drones at U.S. bases in the region suggests the U.S. is talking to political leaders, not Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which appears to be in charge of military operations.

Yesterday, the U.S. conducted a second round of “defensive strikes,” shooting down four one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait and hitting an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone. As was the case with a series of defense strikes earlier this week, the U.S. Central Command released no official statements acknowledging the military action, apparently to avoid undercutting the official stance that the ceasefire remains in effect. 

Kuwait said it was targeted with a missile and drone attack today, after the IRGC issued a statement claiming it was retaliating for the earlier U.S. strikes that killed four IRGC members who were in small boats and an attack on a surface-to-air missile battery. “This response is a serious warning so that the enemy knows that aggression will not go unanswered, and if it is repeated, our response will be more decisive,” the IRGC said.

US MILITARY CARRIES OUT NEW STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN MILITARY BASE AS NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUE

THE TRUMP PEACE PRIZE? At yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, President Trump doubled down on his demand that Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait join the Abraham Accords and grant full recognition to the state of Israel.

“We’d like to have them immediately join, and Steve Witkoff is working on that with Jared, and some others. But we’d like to have them join the Abraham Accords. It’ll be historic if they do it,” Trump said, adding that if they don’t, then maybe he would walk away from a peace deal with Iran, and leave the Gulf allies to fend for themselves.

“I’m not sure we should make the deal if they don’t sign,” Trump said. “You want to know the truth? If they don’t sign to join the Abraham Accords, I don’t know … I think they owe that to us, to be honest. I think — because that really would be a tremendous sign. And I think those countries owe it to us.”

“Steve, are you going to get them to sign it?” Trump said, turning to Witkoff. “We’re definitely pushing it, Mr. President,” Witkoff replied. 

“We’re requesting strongly that they join,” Trump continued. “It’ll be great. It’ll be great for Saudi Arabia. It’d be great for Qatar and Kuwait, the whole group.”

“If he can pull this off, if he can get Saudi Arabia ― the center of Islam for the entire world ― to recognize the Jewish state Israel, he’ll have ended the Arab-Israeli conflict that’s been going on for thousands of years. They should change the Nobel Prize to the Trump Prize,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said in an appearance on Fox News.

“If he can do that, and I think he can, the biggest change in the history, in the modern history and in the ancient history of the Mideast, where the Arabs and the Jews live together, where it becomes a center of power economically, not a powder keg,” Graham told Fox News’s Sean Hannity. “And once you put Iran in a box — and he’s going to do that — we’re going to have peace nobody thought that was possible. I believe it’s possible, and there’s one guy who can do it, Donald Trump.”

TRUMP THROWS UP ROADBLOCKS INTO IRAN WAR PEACE NEGOTIATIONS

Good Thursday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. 

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HAPPENING TODAY: ZELENSKY’S URGENT PLEA: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Sweden today, nailing down an agreement to acquire Gripen fighter jets to boost Ukraine’s growing fleet of war planes, but yesterday he hosted Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-NY) and Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) in Kyiv, where he discussed Ukraine’s biggest challenge at the moment — a shortage of Patriot missiles.

“We have a significant need for antiballistic missiles due to the constant Russian attacks,” Zelensky posted on X. “I sent a letter to the White House and the U.S. Congress outlining Ukraine’s needs for such missiles. I also personally handed this letter to the congressmen. We are counting on timely support.”

In the three-page letter, which Zelensky sent to both President Trump and Congress, he wrote, “While we have achieved significant progress in defending against all types of drones, Ukraine has not yet built its own capacity to produce anti-missile defense systems … And when it comes to defending against ballistic missiles, we rely almost exclusively on the United States. Patriot systems remain the most effective defense against every type of missile.”

“It is important that America hear Ukraine. We understand that much of the world’s attention is currently focused on the war in Iran. But the war here in Europe must also be brought to an end – a very bloody war that is already in its fifth year at full scale,” Zelensky posted on X. “The sooner we are able to provide greater protection against ballistic threats, the sooner we will be able to make diplomacy work. As long as Russia continues to rely on missiles, its interest in diplomacy is not real. We must correct this. And we can do so only together with America.”

RUSSIA’S DRONE INVASION AND THE GRIM REALITIES OF REMOTE COMBAT: ‘IT’S GONNA KILL YOU’

CSIS: KEY U.S. MUNITIONS STOCKPILES DEPLETED: Unfortunately, Ukraine’s request for the one interceptor that can stop Russian ballistic missiles is in short supply and in demand around the world because of the Iran war. An updated analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated the U.S. burned through 1,060–1,430 Patriot interceptors in the 39-day air campaign against Iran. It said that at the current production rate, the U.S. may not be able to send Ukraine Patriots as soon as they come off the production line, as has been the practice.

“Patriot deliveries pose a dilemma for the United States because of the need to replenish its own inventories, help Ukraine defend against Russian missile attacks, and meet the needs of 17 other countries that use the interceptor,” the CSIS report concludes. “Current production of the latest variant — PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) — is around the baseline rate of 650 interceptors per year, with half the deliveries going to the United States and the rest to allies and partners.”

“Because U.S. procurement in the last decade has averaged 225 missiles per year, deliveries from prior years will not be enough to fully replace expenditures. For that, the United States will need to wait for the 3,203 Patriot missiles requested in the Army’s FY 2027 budget. These are projected to start delivery in May 2029.”

The U.S. is facing a gap of two or three years before it returns to pre-war levels of a range of weapons, including Tomahawk cruise missiles, THAAD missiles (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense), Patriots, Standard Missiles, Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), and Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), according to CSIS.

REBUILDING US MUNITIONS STOCKPILES USED IN IRAN WAR COULD TAKE YEARS

THE RUNDOWN: 

Washington Examiner: US military carries out new strikes against Iranian military base as negotiations continue

Washington Examiner: Trump administration disputes framework of possible Iran deal reported by Tehran state media

Washington Examiner: Trump throws up roadblocks into Iran war peace negotiations

Washington Examiner: Trump’s Iran war quagmire: How a “quick win” became a political disaster

Washington Examiner: Iran begins lifting internet blockade after historic blackout

Washington Examiner: Rebuilding US munitions stockpiles used in Iran war could take years

Washington Examiner: Russia’s drone invasion and the grim realities of remote combat: ‘It’s gonna kill you’

Washington Examiner: Five takeaways from Trump’s 12th Cabinet meeting

Washington Examiner: Fact check: Delaney Hall, the ICE detention center in New Jersey under Democrats’ microscope

Washington Examiner: Homan proposes force-feeding ICE detainees on hunger strike: ‘We’ll get a court order’

Washington Examiner: Opinion: Sen. Tim Sheehy: Trump was right, Germany was wrong — First on NATO, now on trade

Washington Examiner: Opinion: US China policy: Tough talk, tangled reality

AP: Kuwait says it faces a missile and drone attack as shaky ceasefire in Iran war again challenged

AP: Oil prices are up more than $1 after US strikes on Iran

Wall Street Journal: The Trump Administration Is in Talks to Fund US Drone Companies

AP: US will need years to replenish stockpiles of advanced weapons used in Iran war, new analysis finds

Foreign Affairs: Iran and the Forever War Trap

Wall Street Journal: The Rise of a Hardline Four‑Star General Tipped to Be the Next Army Chief

Air & Space Forces Magazine: New Aviation Mishap Task Force to Examine ‘Concerning’ Rise in Incidents

Defense One: House Draft of Defense Policy Bill Leaves Some of Trump Admin’s Top Priorities Unfunded

Air & Space Forces Magazine: F-35 Controls General Atomics Drone in CCA Autonomy Test

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Lawmakers Push Back on Air Force’s Scaled-Down Plans for MH-139 Helicopter

AP: Carney Says Canada Will Buy European Surveillance Planes over Two American Options

The War Zone: Airbus Looks to Sweden’s Saab as Europe’s Sixth-Gen Fighter Plans Unravel

Breaking Defense: Pentagon Awards Dell $9.7 Billion Contract to Consolidate Software Licenses

Air & Space Forces Magazine: House Panel Proposes Eliminating SDA, Space RCO

DefenseScoop: SOCOM Seeks Autonomous Warfare Proving Ground

Washington Post: Opinion: George Will: Why the F-35 Fighter Is a Vital US Asset in This Menacing Era

THE CALENDAR: 

THURSDAY | MAY 28 

9 a.m. — Center for a New American Security virtual discussion: “Protecting Taiwan’s Information and Communication Networks from China’s Attempts to Cut Them Off,” with Bethany Allen, head of China investigations and analysis for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Cyber, Technology and Security Program; Kitsch Liao, associate director, Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub; Bryce Barros, associate fellow of GLOBSEC’s GeoTech Center; Ryan Claffey, research assistant for the CNAS Indo-Pacific Security Program; and Jacob Stokes, senior fellow and deputy director, CNAS Indo-Pacific Security Program https://events.cnas.org/taiwansinformationandcommunication

11 a.m. Colorado Springs, Colo. — Vice President JD Vance delivers the commencement address at the U.S. Air Force Academy 

11 a.m. — Washington Institute for Near East Policy virtual forum: “Israel-Lebanon Talks, Round 4: The Pentagon Takes a Stand,” with Hanin Ghaddar, WINEP senior fellow; retired Israeli Defense Forces Brig. Gen. Assaf Orion, WINEP fellow; and David Schenker, WINEP senior fellow https://washingtoninstitute-org.zoom.us/webinar/register

12 p.m. — Foundation for Defense of Democracies and Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology virtual discussion: “The Electrotech Stack at Risk: China, AI, and America’s Energy Supply Chains,” with Phoebe Benich, non-resident fellow at CMIST; retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, senior director, FDD Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation; Jackie Siebens, vice president of public affairs, Helion Energy and non-resident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council; and Emma Stewart, non-resident fellow, CMIST and lead for Idaho National Laboratory’s Center for Securing Digital Energy Technology https://www.fdd.org/events/2026/05/28/the-electrotech-stack-at-risk

1:30 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW — Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion: “The Quad Convenes: Priorities, Partnerships and the Indo-Pacific,” with Luke Collin, principal at the Asia Group; Nishank Motwani, senior fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute; Tanvi Madan, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Center for Asia Policy Studies; and Richard Rossow, CSIS chair on India and emerging Asia economics https://www.csis.org/events/quad-convenes

FRIDAY | MAY 29 

7 p.m. 610 St. SW — Politics & Prose book discussion: The Theater: Courage and Survival in the Defining Atrocity of the Ukraine War, with James Verini, writer, the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine and National Geographic; William Taylor, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine; and Ukraine Ambassador to the U.S. Olga Stefanishyna; https://politics-prose.com/james-verini-052926

8:30 p.m. (8:30 a.m. Saturday, Singapore) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivers plenary remarks at the Shangri-La Dialogue on the topic, “U.S. Strategy for Peace in the Indo-Pacific.” https://www.iiss.org/press/2026/05/us-secretary-of-war-pete-hegsethhttps://www.war.gov/News/Live-Events/