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Japan rejects Trump on Strait of Hormuz after Pearl Harbor joke

President Donald Trump said that Japan was declining to help open the Strait of Hormuz, a day after he made a joke about Pearl Harbor.Following his Thursday meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Trump told Fox News host Martha MacCallum on Friday that the country would not assist with the fallout from the war in Iran because of "constitutional constraints.""Japan is better ally than NATO," Trump reportedly said to MacCallum.Japan's constitution bans the use of force except in defense of its territory. It's unclear whether the Japanese Self-Defense Force could be used to escort ships through the Middle Eastern waterway.During his meeting with Takaichi, Trump compared his strikes on Iran to the bombing of Pearl Harbor."We didn't tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor, OK?" the U.S. president joked.

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Trump ally used ICE to deport mother of his child during custody battle: NY Times

Former modeling agent and longtime ally to President Donald Trump, Paolo Zampolli asked a top ICE official for help "to settle a personal score" and have the mother of his child deported during a custody battle, according to The New York Times. Zampolli, a now presidential special envoy, introduced Trump to the president's now wife Melania. He found out that his Brazilian ex-girlfriend, Amanda Ungaro, had arrested on charges of fraud at her work and in custody at a Miami jail — and last year talked to a top official at ICE, David Venturella, to see if she could be placed in ICE detention, citing that she was in the country illegally, The Times reported. The two had been going through a custody battle over their teenage son and "now he saw an opportunity" to try and get him back, Friday's report stated.A source familiar with Zampolli's communications and records acquired by The Times revealed that Ungaro was picked up from a Miami jail by ICE agents before she could make bail and later deported. Although this could have happened without her ex-boyfriend's involvement, it raises questions about how members of the Trump administration have used the federal government during Trump's second term to pursue personal vendettas. Zampolli denied to The Times that he sought special favors or that he had requested federal officials take Ungaro into custody. The Department of Homeland Security told The Times that Ungaro was detained and deported over an expired visa after being charged with fraud. “Any suggestion that she was arrested and removed for political reasons or favors is FALSE,” the DHS statement said.Zampolli has often bragged about his loyalty to the Trumps, and has known the president for more than 30 years. He even recruited Melania, a former model, from Slovenia. Zampolli also had ties to the late financier and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. "In the city’s modeling scene, Mr. Zampolli also intersected with Jeffrey Epstein, the financier who would later be accused of sexually abusing hundreds of girls and young women," according to The Times. "The men once discussed buying a modeling agency together, and Mr. Zampolli’s name appears several times in the millions of Epstein documents recently released by the Justice Department. "In one 2011 email, Mr. Epstein warned an Emirati businessman: 'Be careful, zampoli is trouble. Lots.' He added, 'He sells stories to the press.'"Zampolli has denied having a close friendship with Epstein. He added that his name was not included as frequently as other people, such as professors, celebrities or monarchs. “At least I was included, because if you’re not on the list, you’re a loser, right?” Zampolli told The Times.

Trump says he's not interested in a ceasefire in Iran war

President Trump dismissed the prospect of a ceasefire with Iran, saying that the U.S. has won the war and has the upper hand over Tehran.

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WATCH: How Operation Epic Fury is reshaping the 2028 Republican race

Beyond the deaths of 13 U.S. troops, oil prices in a tailspin, and a regional war ignited in the Middle East, Operation Epic Fury has also detonated a grenade inside the 2028 Republican primary.

'We don't use the strait': Trump says other countries must open Strait of Hormuz because they use it

President Trump says other countries will have to help break Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz eventually because they rely on the waterway for their energy far more than the U.S. does.