Caroline Hepker

US allies, meanwhile, are meeting to prepare a diplomatic outreach to Iran, which is starting to operate the Strait of Hormuz like a tollbooth.

A Bloomberg investigation reveals how Iran-friendly tankers are being given secret codes and charged around $1 per barrel of oil for safe passage.

Reopening the Strait has become a key priority for governments around the world, with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer pushing for talks.

The British leader has been a frequent target of the White House for refusing to join the war.

Those talks that Starmer references are happening later today here in London and the US is not expected to attend them.

European leaders are concerned that President Trump's threats to withdraw from NATO could erode the alliance at a critical moment in its history.

When asked by The Telegraph if he would consider pulling the US out of the treaty, Trump said, oh yes, I would say it's beyond reconsideration.

In the same interview, the president called the bloc a paper tiger and criticised European members' refusal to send ships to unblock the Strait of Hormuz.

NATO's Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation, Pierre Vandier, says the alliance must weather the storm.

Vandier added that it's a moment when we need to have cool heads in his words.

His comments came as the FT reported that Trump had threatened to stop supplying weapons to Ukraine in order to pressure Europeans to join a coalition of the willing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is also preparing to outline a tiered system for tariffs on steel and aluminium products.

50% tariffs on a large number of derivative products will be maintained, while other products will be tariffed at a lower 25% rate and some will fall below that level.

Bloomberg understands that the expected announcement could come as soon as today in response.

to push back from American companies over widespread levies posing difficulties for importers.

The move comes a year after President Trump announced his Liberation Day tariffs, which Bloomberg Economics says have not dealt the deep blow to growth that many had fears US imports from April to December 2025 were down just 1.7% compared to the same period a year ago.

And lastly, a crew of NASA astronauts are going to be closer to the moon than any other human beings in 50 years.

Here is the moment that the Artemis 2 mission lifted off.

So that was the rocket taking off.

It's taller than the Statue of Liberty.