US Politics Live Updates: Trump launches ‘Economic D-day’ against Iran

Here is more Australian reaction to the Israeli government’s decision not to pursue criminal action against its soldiers who launched a strike that killed Australian Zomi Frankcom in Gaza.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong who this morning discussed the issue with Israel’s ambassador described the move as “outrageous”.

Shadow defence minister James Paterson told reporters the Israeli decision was “incredibly concerning”.

“Zomi Frankcom never should have been killed. It’s a tragedy that she was,” he said.

Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi has called for Israel’s ambassador to be expelled from Australia, while Community Strong MP Zali Steggall called for Australia to support an International Criminal Court investigation.

Trump has just declared “ECONOMIC D-DAY” against Iran, warning that any country doing business with the country will face “TREMENDOUS economic consequences.”

“Oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies — It all needs to stop NOW. You know who you are,” Trump wrote in his latest Truth Social post.

The president has not offered any details of the measures he has in mind for nations that continue to trade with Iran.

“No one has given the Islamic Republic of Iran a greater opportunity to make a deal than me. TRAGICALLY, for them, they have failed to take it,” he writes.

Trump claimed the Iranian regime was “on the ropes” and that his “historic measures” would “cripple” the country.

American troops based in the Middle East during the Iran war have been exposed by a popular fitness app, according to reports.

A Sky News investigation this week showed that more than 1300 separate users of the fitness tracker Strava logged workouts at military sites in the US Central Command zone, across multiple countries.

Many of those sites were later targeted by Iran, and some strikes have been deadly.

One example from the report was a US Navy contractor at Manama, Bahrain, where the Fifth Fleet is headquartered.

The contractor left the base after it was targeted in the opening hours of the war. A few days later, the hotel the contractor was staying at was also hit.

Strava enables runners to log workouts, including real-time routes and locations.

In 2018, features on the app’s mapping global activity revealed a classified American military base in Niger.

New Pentagon figures show more than 750 American troops have been wounded during the Iran war.

The US Department of Defence updated the database on Thursday (AEST), recording more than 50 additional wounded soldiers.

When totals in The Defense Casualty Analysis System for “Overseas Operations” are combined with totals for Operation Epic Fury, 18 service members have died and 757 have been wounded since the US launched the war on February 28.

Pentagon officials created the “Overseas Operations” category for killed or wounded troops on July 7 - the day the Trump administration told Congress that a new conflict with Iran had begun in a War Powers Act notification.

In a social media post, Trump wrote he plans to attend the Republicans’ first-ever national convention ahead of November’s midterm elections.

“I will be with you both nights, and rarin’ to go,” Trump said on Truth Social.

The event will be held in Dallas on September 9 and 10.

Republicans are facing a backlash from American voters over the economic impact of the Iran war that has led to rising costs of fuel and other goods. 

The national debt of the United States has just reached  $US40 trillion.

The milestone figure was recorded just five months after the country hit a record $US39 trillion debt in March. It reached $US38 trillion five months before that.

The unprecedented $US40 trillion figure highlights competing Trump administration priorities, from boosting the defence spending that the US relies on to carry out the president’s Iran war to lowering the cost of fuel and groceries.

- With Associated Press

The federal government has slammed the decision by Israel not to prosecute Israeli soldiers who killed Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and six colleagues.

The aid workers were killed in April 2024 after the Israeli Defense Forces launched a drone strike against their food convoy in Gaza.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Thursday the decision not to pursue criminal charges was “insulting to Zomi’s loved ones, humanitarians and all Australians.”

She said the decision falls far short of the accountability Australia expects.

“This is despite Israel Defense Forces admissions that the IDF strikes on Zomi and her colleagues’ vehicles were the result of serious failures to follow IDF procedures, mistaken identification and errors in decision-making,” said Wong.

Trump has given an update on relations with Iran, saying the situation is “so good”.

He made the comment as he showed reporters the new White House helipad.

The president has paused talks with the Iranian regime and the Strait of Hormuz remains a key point of tension in the ongoing war.

“Right now, I think the situation is so good,” Trump said, hinting negotiations could restart “at some point.”

He reiterated his claim that the United States is in “possession” and in “complete control” of the strait.

“They shoot a drone every once in a while,” Trump said, referring to Iran disrupting shipping transiting the waterway. “But not everybody’s going to go through.”

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday (AEST) he plans to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un later this year, claiming he gets along well with him.

“Yeah, I will,” Trump said when asked whether he planned in-person talks with Kim, with whom Trump claimed to have a great relationship.

“I get along with him. And you know what? The fact that I get along with him - that’s a good thing,” he said.

During Trump’s first term, he met Kim at two summits in 2018 and 2019, but failed to defuse tensions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the president blamed previous US administrations for failing to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

“He has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons They should have ‌never allowed it. If I were president, I wouldn’t have allowed it. But he’s got them,” Trump said.