Good Wednesday evening. In this edition: Trump encourages tankers to move through Strait of Hormuz as countries turn to oil reserves.
Plus, StudentCam, DHS funding, Social Security, Fed nominee, Hern, and Epstein investigation.
Iran
President Trump encouraged oil tankers to travel through the Strait of Hormuz — the critical waterway through which about one-fifth of the world's oil transits — insisting it was safe despite attacks on three vessels in the region earlier in the day and reports of Iranian mines.
"I think they should. I think they should use the strait," he told reporters while departing the White House for a swing through Ohio and Kentucky.
Numerous outlets have reported that Tehran laid about a dozen mines in the waterway, seeking to disrupt the global oil market, which has been reeling since the joint U.S. and Israeli operations commenced Feb. 28.
Iran has long threatened to retaliate against any attack by mining the strait, using the vital shipping route as leverage over the U.S. and its allies.
President Trump told reporters he did not believe Iran had successfully laid any mines in the strait, saying the U.S. had eliminated "just about all" of Tehran's mine-laying ships.
"We took out just about all of their mine ships in one night," he said. "Just about all of their navy is gone."
Shipping through the strait has come to a standstill since the military campaign began, causing oil prices to spike sharply, reaching as high as $119 a barrel on Monday — their highest level in almost four years — before settling around $90 over the past couple of days, 25% higher than they were before the war.
Gas prices in the U.S. rose for the 11th consecutive day on Wednesday, jumping to a national average of $3.58 per gallon, according to AAA — an increase of about 20%.
World leadersagreed Wednesday to release 400 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves in an effort to increase supply.
The move was coordinated by the International Energy Agency, which comprises 32 members, including the U.S., Japan, Germany, the U.K. and France.
President Trump committed to releasing crude oil from the U.S.'s Strategic Petroleum Reserve but did not specify how much or when.
"We'll do that, and then we'll fill it up," he told a local Cincinnati news station. "I filled it up once, and I'll fill it up again. But right now, we'll reduce it a little bit, and that brings the prices down."
President Trump also told reporters he was unaware of a New York Times report that an ongoing military investigation had determined the U.S. was responsible for a deadly strike on an elementary school in Iran.
The outlet reported that outdated targeting data may have contributed to the mistaken Tomahawk missile strike that hit the school, which sits near buildings used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Navy.
At least 168 children and 14 teachers were killed in the Feb. 28 strike, according to Iranian state media.
President Trump had previously sought to cast doubt on whether the U.S. was at fault, suggesting Iran may have been responsible despite the U.S. being the only country involved in the conflict that uses Tomahawks.
Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command, said the U.S. has struck more than 5,500 targets inside Iran, including more than 60 ships, using a "variety of precision weapons."
"U.S. combat power is building, Iranian combat power is declining. And we remain centered on very clear military objectives in eliminating Iran's ability to project power against Americans and against its neighbors."
Seven U.S. service members have been killed in combat since the operation began, and more than 140 have been wounded.
Iranian authorities say more than 1,300 people have been killed there, while Israel has reported 12 people dead and Lebanon said 570 people have been killed in its country.
President Trump told reporters the ongoing military operations in Iran could be described as both a "war" and an "excursion" amid mixed signals from the administration about the scope and length of the conflict.
"Well, it's both,"the president replied. "It's an excursion that will keep us out of a war, and the war is going to be — I mean for them, it's a war. For us, it's turned out to be easier than we thought."
President Trump told Axios in a phone interview that the operations would end "soon" because there is "practically nothing left to target."
"Little this and that,"he said. "Any time I want it to end, it will end."
Watch President Trump's remarks at the White House and in Ohio.
In other news…
C-SPANannounced the winners of the 2026 StudentCam documentary competition — a nationwide civic education initiative that asks young Americans to examine the nation's founding principles and their continuing impact. This year, nearly 4,000 students from across the country participated, with 150 cash prizes totaling $100,000 awarded to students and teachers. In recognition of America's Semiquincentennial, C-SPAN challenged middle and high school students to explore the enduring power and relevance of the Declaration of Independence. The 2026 grand-prize winner is Erynna Holbrook, a student at Troy Athens High School in Michigan. Erynna will receive $5,000 for her documentary, "The Pursuit of Fair Pay," about the impact of name, image and likeness (NIL) on college sports. The documentary will air on C-SPAN networks on April 21 throughout the day.
Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic bill to reopen all agencies within the Homeland Security Department that do not conduct immigration enforcement operations. Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) objected to Sen. Patty Murray's (D-WA) unanimous consent request to fund TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard, among other agencies. "We have political games being played by our Democratic colleagues instead of putting the people of this nation first," Sen. Britt said. "What we've just seen put forth by the senator from Washington would effectively defund our law enforcement officers that are charged with keeping Americans safe." The Homeland Security Department has been without funding since Feb. 14 amid a standoff over potential immigration enforcement reforms. Talks have been slow-moving.
Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, told senators that the growing national debt, fueled by ballooning spending and wide-reaching tax cuts, would soon cause federal trust funds that pay for Social Security and Medicare to become insolvent. "Social Security, in particular, it's going to be insolvent in six years," she said during a Senate hearing on the federal fiscal outlook. "This is an unconscionable situation that we've found ourselves in, and yet the conversation still continues to be people competing not to do anything to fix the program." The budget watchdog told senators that inaction on the national debt would have substantial ramifications for American society. "It's going to cause a generational resentment, and younger people are going to be right to be angry about it," she said.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) renewed his call for the Justice Department to drop its investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, upholding his pledge not to support any nominee, including Kevin Warsh, until it does so. "It is unfortunate that an ongoing investigation prevents me from voting for Kevin at this time," he said on social media after meeting with the chair nominee. "I hope the DOJ moves quickly to conclude the investigation of Chairman Powell so that we can confirm Kevin Warsh to this critical role by May." Speaking to reporters later in the day, Sen. Tillis said he would not back down from his position. "I'm not going to try and help them out of a box canyon," he said. "There's one way out of a box canyon. It's admitting you made a mistake."
Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK) announced his bid to replace Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), whom President Trump tapped to replace Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary. "I grew up on an Air Force base, worked my way through school, built businesses, and served Oklahoma in Congress. Now I'm ready to fight for Oklahoma in the Senate," he said in a social media post. The congressman also stepped down from his position as chair of the Republican Policy Committee, in line with GOP conference rules, which require members of the elected leadership to resign from their posts if they run for higher office. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) will need to appoint someone to temporarily fill the seat ahead of the November special election. Per state law, whoever he appoints will need to sign a pledge not to run for a full term.
Richard Kahn, the longtime accountant for Jeffrey Epstein and the executor of his estate, told lawmakers he was unaware of the "nature or extent" of his client's abuse of women "until after Epstein's death" as he testified behind closed doors before the House Oversight Committee. "Had I learned of any of his horrific behavior, I would have quit work immediately," he said, according to his prepared remarks. The close associate said he "did not see anything that suggested to me that Epstein was abusing or trafficking women or otherwise acting unlawfully."
For your radar…
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett speaks Thursday at the 2026 Supreme Court Fellows Program Annual Lecture at the Library of Congress. Watch LIVE on C-SPAN at 3pm ET.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and other officials hold a news conference Thursday to highlight progress on the upcoming Artemis II crewed mission around the Moon, scheduled to launch in April. Watch LIVE on C-SPAN3 at 3pm ET.
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