The New Deal That Could Lock in Iran’s Control of the Strait, and the $7 Billion Trump’s Not Spending

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0:39Today's Tuesday, August 4th. Here's what we're covering.

0:46In the Middle East, a deal is coming together to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. but it will come at a price, effectively cementing Iran's control over what had been an open international waterway. The agreement that's being worked out is between Iran and Oman, the countries on either side of the strait. Officials familiar with the talks say what's being discussed is a setup in which ships heading into the strait would go through a channel controlled by Iran, and ships coming out would go through a channel controlled by Oman. Iranian officials say those ships would be charged a service fee. The deal would give Iran vastly more leverage over the strait than it had before the war.

1:29For his part, President Trump has said little about the emerging agreement, which would go against his administration's repeated demands that the strait be reopened with no restrictions. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned that if Iran takes control of the international waterway, it could set a dangerous precedent for other countries to do the same around the world. But for Trump, it's important politically to get ships moving again, since the closure has ratcheted up global energy prices and Americans are feeling it. The administration had tried to reopen the strait by force, using heavy bombing campaigns to try and prevent Iran from being able to attack ships in the waterway.

2:12But according to officials, the head of U.S. Central Command has said those American strikes have reached the limit of their effectiveness. One Middle East expert at a nonprofit think tank told The Times that, quote, Trump's options are between an unwinnable war and an unpalatable peace. Meanwhile, with the future of the Strait of Hormuz still up in the air, roughly 6 ,000 sailors are still stranded in the waterway, according to the International Maritime Organization. While many ships that were trapped at the beginning of the war have sailed out, during pauses in the fighting, for example, or by being guided by the U.S.

2:51military, others haven't been able to get through or don't want to take the risk. There have been over 60 attacks on ships in the strait since the war began. The head of a union representing shipworkers told The Times they feel, quote, absolutely abandoned, absolutely unprotected, and that their finances and mental health are suffering as they sit and sit and sit. Shipping experts say that crew members can ask to be taken off ships and flown home, but that can require complex logistical wrangling. And since many crew members are on short-term contracts, They might be hesitant to be seen as causing trouble, potentially jeopardizing their employment.

3:39Now, two other quick updates on the Trump administration. First. I was disappointed with Jeanine Pirro, really disappointed with Jeanine Pirro. She folded like an umbrella. President Trump openly railed against Jeanine Pirro, the Fox News personality he appointed as U.S. attorney for D.C., saying she shouldn't have dropped a series of vandalism charges in the reflecting pool case. Pirro, who has been a longtime ally of Trump's, publicly contradicted him in a recent court filing when she said problems with the pool were due to shoddy construction work, not left-wing radicals with knives, as Trump has claimed.

4:22Prosecutors have now dropped charges against four defendants accused of vandalism. Are you reconsidering our role? I don't know what, you don't, you're fake news. Don't ever talk again. You're fake news. One of the worst. When asked whether Pirro would keep her position, Trump lashed out at the reporter. Later, Pirro came to the White House for a meeting with the president in the Oval Office. According to two people briefed on the outcome, she wasn't fired, nor did she offer her resignation.

4:52And a second update now. The Times has been looking at a pot of money the Trump administration isn't spending. For decades, the federal government has issued big grants to communities all over the U.S. for public transit projects. Railroad tracks, train stations, better bus service, etc. They're called capital investment grants. Congress has designated funds for that purpose, but right now, under this administration, more than$7 billion haven't been allocated to any project. There are a lot of communities that say they could use this money. For example, Utah is trying to get ready to host the Winter Olympics in 2034, which sounds far off, but adding more rail infrastructure to shuttle people around takes time.

5:40And one county in Maryland is asking for money to help revamp traffic signals and sidewalks along a busy stretch of road that's dotted with memorials for pedestrians who've died there. They're waiting to see what will happen with their requests. But so far, the Trump administration hasn't signed a single new agreement under the program. In Trump's first term in office, his administration proposed eliminating this funding altogether. Congress funded it anyway. This new tactic is more subtle. Instead of terminating grants, which often ends up in court, it's just quietly not giving out new ones. The absence of action is harder to trace and harder for communities to contest.

6:26In response to questions from the Times about the unspent money, the Department of Transportation said that projects were working their way through the multi-stage grant process required by law.

6:49A few days ago in New Zealand, crowds gathered for what was the last greyhound race in the country. The government banned the races after years of growing concerns about the dog's well-being. An official from New Zealand's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said for years there had been high rates of serious injuries and deaths, as well as concerns about the dogs being given banned substances. New Zealand is following in the footsteps of almost every other country in the world where greyhound races have been banned. The government has acknowledged this will be a challenge for the people working in the industry, including breeders, kennel staff, and race officials.

7:29And it has set aside money to help with job training, among other things, as well as finding new homes for roughly 1 ,400 dogs. Some industry workers told The Times, though, that they would leave New Zealand to keep racing greyhounds. That could take them to one of just four countries where the sport is still legal. Australia, the UK, Ireland, and the US. But even within those countries, the sport is disappearing. In the US, for example, greyhound racing used to draw tens of millions of spectators in the 80s and 90s when it was at its height. That was more people than came out annually to watch hockey or tennis.

8:09Now, though, there are just two tracks left in the country, both in West Virginia. And there's legislation moving through Congress that would ban the sport in the U.S. altogether.

8:26And finally. Over the last few years living in New York City on random walks through different neighborhoods. I've found myself noticing musicians kind of playing in odd places and not performing for money. I would see a saxophone player playing on the Williamsburg waterfront, a kid playing tuba on a picnic bench in Queens. And the ones I really couldn't miss were the bagpipe players. Andrew Kay writes about New York City for The Times.

8:59What I realized was in a city where everybody kind of lives on top of each other and we're constantly arguing with our neighbors about noise, that musicians in particular need to find these hidden places and pockets of the city to practice their instruments. I got to speak to a bagpipe player named Christopher Rodriguez, who's sort of well-versed in this. He has gotten into altercations on the street. He has been threatened with violence by his neighbors. He's had the police called on him. And all of that sort of forced him to find these places where he could play out of earshot of his neighbors.

9:41He has a spot in Evergreen Cemetery in Brooklyn. He plays among the tombstones and the hills there. He has found a hidden dead-end street in Elmhurst, Queens that overlooks the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. And with the sort of hum of the cars there, it creates just enough sort of sound cover to not disturb the entire neighborhood, basically. All of these players understand that this is an instrument kind of designed for the battlefield. and to be played on these wide open spaces. And I think as a result, they all kind of daydream about moving to the suburbs or the countryside and kind of just living a life where they're not constantly on the run from people that they might potentially bother.

10:30But at the same time, there's this culture of bagpiping in New York City. We have parades, funerals, weddings, graduations. These are all sort of occasions that use the sort of emotional resonance that a bagpipe provides. And so these guys, you know, despite their daydreams of open space, they all say that they couldn't imagine living anywhere else ultimately.

10:58Those are the headlines. on the daily inside today's Democratic Senate primary in Michigan, which has been one of the most contentious and most expensive this year. You can listen to that in the New York Times app or wherever you get your podcasts. Before we go, I just want to let you know something new about the app. The Times has made a change to get you more access to our reporting, even if you are not subscribed to The Times yet. When you download the Times app, you now get a free month of access. So that's 30 days of every story you could want. Totally free. No credit card required. Download the Times app now to get started and check it out.

11:39I'm Tracy Mumford. The headlines will be back tomorrow.