PDB Afternoon Bulletin | April 10th, 2026: Trump Blasts Iran as Hormuz Standoff Deepens & Putin Declares Orthodox Easter Truce In Ukraine
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It's Friday, the 10th of April. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, a ceasefire may or, well, may not be in place between the U.S. and Iran, while the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut down, not to mention, but I'm about to, that Iran is still firing missiles and drones at Gulf states. And all along, here I thought a ceasefire meant that you, I don't know, ceasefire. And now, just hours before talks begin, or supposedly begin, between the U.S. and Iran, both sides are already raising the stakes. Later in the show, a brief Easter ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine is set to take hold. but few believe it will last.
Regardless, behind the scenes, one senior Ukrainian official now says a peace deal may be closer than expected. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. We begin today with rising tensions between the US and Iran. You know, could they rise any further? I don't know. Just hours before the two sides are supposedly set to sit down for their first direct talks since the war began. Ahead of those talks, scheduled for Saturday morning in Pakistan, President Trump is making it clear that he's not pleased with how Tehran is handling the ceasefire, particularly when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz. In a series of posts on Truth Social on Thursday night and Friday, the president slammed Iran for acting in bad faith, saying, quote, Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable, some would say, of allowing oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz, end quote, while adding, quote, that is not the agreement we have.
Well, maybe it's just me, but I don't think that a regime that just recently admitted to slaughtering thousands and thousands of their own citizens really gives a rat's ass about being called dishonorable. Trump went further, though, accusing Iran of what he described as a, quote, short-term extortion of the world by restricting access to international waterways and claiming the regime has, quote, no cards beyond that leverage.
What is the current status of the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran?
Additionally, Trump told the New York Post on Friday that U.S. warships are currently being reloaded with munitions and are ready to resume strikes if the talks in Pakistan fail. Now, despite the escalating tensions, the ceasefire, well, in name only, is still holding. There are reports that since supposedly agreeing to the deal, Iran has continued launching missiles and drones at regional targets, including hitting key sites in Kuwait over the past 48 hours, such as the Al Uldari base in Kuwait and the Kuwait Oil Corporation refinery. And as we've been tracking on the PDB, Iran continues to maintain a near-total blockade of the strait, disrupting global energy flows in a corridor that typically carries roughly 20% of the world's oil supply.
There are also reports, first cited by the New York Times, suggesting Iranian officials have discussed imposing fees of up to $2 million per transit, potentially as a way to fund reconstruction after recent strikes. It's likely that some of the tankers that have managed to pass through the strait with Iranian authorization over the past few weeks have, in fact, been paying the toll, or the ransom fee, or the extortion amount, however you want to refer to it. Now, in the category of just when you think you've heard it all, President Trump did not entirely dismiss the concept of a toll or a fee for transiting the Strait earlier this week, telling reporters that he's entertaining the idea of a potential joint U.S.-Iran arrangement to manage the Strait, calling it a way to secure the route while making, quote, big money.
I'm not making that up. But no surprise, maritime experts warn that introducing a toll system in a strategic choke point like Hormuz could set a dangerous precedent, raising questions about whether other critical waterways from the Taiwan Strait to the Strait of Gibraltar could face similar restrictions in the future. Regardless, the president apparently had shifted his tone by Thursday afternoon, warning that if the reports are true, then Iran, quote, better stop now.
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