April 13th, 2026: Trump Announces BLOCKADE Of Hormuz & China Arms Iran
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
It's Monday, the 13th of April. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, President Trump announces the suspension of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz after direct negotiations with Iran come up short in Pakistan. I'll have the details. Later in the show, new U.S. intelligence suggests that China may have already armed Iran with anti-aircraft missiles, potentially putting American pilots at risk and raising the stakes in the conflict. Plus, an Easter truce collapses almost immediately, with Ukraine and Russia reporting thousands of violations on both sides. And in today's Back of the Brief, the feel-good story of the year, Artemis II makes a successful return to Earth, marking a major milestone in NASA's push to send astronauts back to the moon.
But first, today's PDB Spotlight. After marathon negotiations, well, I'm not sure if it's marathon. To be fair, the talks reportedly took place over a period of 21 hours. Anyway, after the talks with Iran failed to produce a peace deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump says the U.S. will instead blockade the Strait, moving forward with a naval operation to enforce it. Now, Trump laid this out in two lengthy posts on Truth Social. The president said he's ordering American naval forces to block any ship from entering or leaving the strait to seek out and interdict vessels that have paid illegal tolls to Iran to transit the waterway, some tolls reportedly in the range of $2 million, and to begin addressing a mine threat that officials in Washington say Tehran created.
As we've been tracking, Trump said that the Iranian regime's laying of mines in the Strait is, quote, world extortion, effectively forcing vessels to coordinate with Tehran for safe passage. According to Trump, American minesweeping vessels are already in the waterway, working with support from the U.K. to begin clearing the shipping lanes. And he's warning that any bullet, bomb or missile fired by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, at U.S. allied or commercial vessels will be met with overwhelming force, saying what remains of the regime would be, quote, blown to hell.
What led to President Trump's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz?
And he spelt that in all caps, which is much worse than the lower caps version of hell. This is Washington moving to physically take control of access to the waterway, demine it, and reopen the strait to the world. And the reason this is happening now stems directly from those talks in Pakistan. Vice President J.D. Vance led roughly 21 hours of negotiations with Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araqi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bakr Ghalibaf in Islamabad. Now, I want to point out that these were the highest level face-to-face talks between the U.S. and Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. But more importantly... By the end of the discussion, there was no deal, which, honestly, couldn't have been much of a surprise to anyone.
The negotiations reportedly centered on a few core issues. Iran's nuclear program, specifically its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, sanctions relief, and control of the Strait of Hormuz itself. The U.S. put forward what it described as its final terms, and Iran chose not to accept them. Iranian officials on social media after the talks pushed back.
How might China be arming Iran amid rising tensions?
Kalibov said the U.S. had been, quote, unable to gain the trust of the delegation. Seriously, they have had their sense of irony and self-awareness surgically removed. Military analysts in a New York Times report had already warned that the gaps between the two sides were deep and wide, particularly around Iran's nuclear program, making a breakthrough in a single round of talks unlikely. The talks themselves were part of a push supported by Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who, you remember, played a role in brokering the initial tenuous ceasefire. U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, were by Vance's side in Islamabad over the weekend.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:12–2:35
2
What led to President Trump's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz?
2:35–3:45
3
How might China be arming Iran amid rising tensions?
3:45–5:12
4
What happened to the Easter ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia?
5:12–5:51
5
What milestone did Artemis II achieve in NASA's lunar mission?
5:51–16:49
6
What were the outcomes of the U.S.-Iran negotiations in Pakistan?
16:49–22:57
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The President's Daily Brief
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PDB Afternoon Bulletin | September 22nd, 2026: Tehran Offers To Reopen Hormuz & North Korea’s New Weapon
September 22nd, 2026: Trump Calls Off Major Attack Against The Houthis & Chinese Ships Near Alaska