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The United States reinstated a naval blockade of Iranian ports on July 14, 2026, and completed its fifth wave of strikes since July 7, cumulatively targeting over 400 Iranian military sites focused on coastal defense and anti-shipping infrastructure. A proposed 20% cargo transit fee announced by President Trump was reversed within 24 hours, replaced by Gulf state investment commitments totaling $800 billion from Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Iran declared the June ceasefire agreement destroyed, struck two UAE-flagged tankers killing one crew member, and launched missile and drone attacks on U.S. bases in Bahrain and Jordan.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams issued a 56-page order on July 13, 2026, finding that the Trump v. IRS lawsuit was filed for an improper purpose, in bad faith, and as a collusive arrangement between nominal adversaries, and that the resulting Anti-Weaponization Fund constituted a slush fund conferring audit immunity on Trump and his family entities without statutory authority. The order referred Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to the New York State Bar Association, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. to the D.C. Bar, private counsel Alejandro Brito to the Florida Bar, and barred pro hac vice counsel Daniel Z. Epstein from the Southern District of Florida for one year. The audit-immunity component of the settlement remains in legal limbo, as the order does not formally vacate that provision, and the government has until mid-August 2026 to file a notice of appeal.