President Trump to Reimpose a U.S. Blockade of Iran

0:28This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. Trump says the U.S. blockade of Iranian shipping is back on and oil prices jump. Plus, Goldman Sachs' top lawyer was going to step down after she was named in the Epstein files. Instead, she's actively involved in choosing her successor, and she's testifying to Congress this week. There has been concern inside Goldman about the impact that this could have on the reputation of Goldman Sachs. And a dozen states are trying to stop the Paramount-Warner brothers merger. It's Monday, July 13th. I'm Alex Oseleff for The Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

1:12We begin tonight's show with the latest on the Middle East, where a standoff over who controls the Strait of Hormuz has led to days of fighting between the U.S. and Iran. President Trump said today that he was reimposing the U.S. blockade on Iranian shipping. The military says that will resume tomorrow at 4 p.m. Eastern. And in an interview on Fox News' Fox & Friends, Trump said that the U.S. would be back in control of the waterway. Lindsey Graham was definitely on your side when it comes to Iran and the threat, them not having a nuclear weapon. It looks like they're back at their business trying to take over the strait.

1:46What's your response? Well, we're taking over the strait. They have nothing. On social media, Trump said that the U.S. would charge 20 percent of each cargo through Hormuz as compensation for its costs. He didn't lay out how that would work. Analysts say taking over Hormuz militarily would require a substantial ground invasion or a risky naval operation. Trump so far hasn't gone down that route, and doing so could mean a lot of U.S. casualties. Iran's armed forces said it wouldn't allow the U.S. to, quote, interfere in how the strait is managed. A federal judge today issued a scathing rebuke of President Trump and his family, saying that they acted in bad faith in bringing a$10 billion lawsuit against the IRS.

2:25Judge Kathleen Williams said that the lawsuit was an effort to manipulate the judicial process for Trump's benefit, and that Justice Department officials abdicated their responsibility to defend the U.S. government's interests. She referred Trump's lawyer Alejandro Brito to Florida bar authorities to determine whether any disciplinary action is appropriate. Trump's case against the IRS led to the creation of a$1.8 billion, quote, anti-weaponization fund, and a government promise not to audit Trump, his family, and his businesses. The administration has backed off the fund. A Justice Department spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

3:00Trump's legal team says the president was wronged by an IRS employee and that he will continue to hold those responsible to account. Turning to Congress, Lindsey Graham's sister, Darlene Graham-Nordone, will serve as the late senator's temporary replacement in the Senate. South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, a Republican, announced her appointment this afternoon. Lindsey took care of his little sister and years long departed. It's my honor to ask his little sister, Darlene Graham, to finish his work for him now. Her appointment had Trump's approval. She'll serve out the remainder of her brother's term, which ends in early January.

3:38That brings Republican Senate majority back to 53 seats, although Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell remains in the hospital and unable to vote. The president is separately discussing Republican candidates to fill Graham's seat for a new six-year Senate term. The Journal has learned that he's expressed interest in Representative Russell Frye of South Carolina for that. Coming up, a new challenge to a Hollywood mega-deal. Lawsuits alleging a link between Tylenol and autism are back on the table. and why a move to make it easier to apply to college might actually make it harder to get in. Those stories and more after the break.

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4:51June 30th was supposed to be Katherine Rumler's last day as Goldman Sachs general counsel. She had announced her decision to step down in February after the Jeffrey Epstein file show she had remained an ally of the convicted sex offender through his 2019 arrest. But her departure never happened. Rumler is still working at Goldman. Last month, the bank told employees that she was instead staying on in an advisory role and to help with her successor's transition. Journal-lead financial reporter Anna Maria Andriotis has been speaking to people inside the bank. Anna Maria, what's the complication with Rumler's role in this case?

5:24She is critical, according to the bank, as somebody who should be involved in determining who will be the next general counsel, essentially who will be the one to take her seat. I spoke with people who talked to me about how at least some lawyers who've been approached for the role have shared that they were not interested, given how close Rumler appeared to be to both the bank and to its CEO, David Solomon, concerns essentially that some of these lawyers have, that she would be hovering over them if they were to become the new general counsel. The bank spokesman says that Rumler has agreed to stay at Goldman only through a transition to a new general counsel.

6:14But nevertheless, she plays a role in making a decision about who moves on in the process as a candidate. That's created some hesitation and for some just not being interested in taking this on. Anna Maria, on Wednesday, Rumler is supposed to testify in a closed-door congressional hearing about her ties to Epstein. Are there concerns inside Goldman about this hearing? There have been concerns inside Goldman for quite some time, and certainly those increased after the release of documents by a congressional committee and the Justice Department. Her name comes up thousands of times in terms of communicating with Jeffrey Epstein.

6:53This concern has been high level inside Goldman. At the same time, however, Rumler has some pretty big backers and supporters who've stood by her through all of this. First and foremost, David Solomon himself. That was WSJ lead financial reporter Anna Maria Andriotis. Thanks, Anna Maria. Thank you. We should note that Rumler spokeswoman said that Rumler has been open and transparent about her interactions with Epstein when she was a defense lawyer in private practice and that she had nothing to do with Epstein's crimes.

7:28The escalation in tensions in the Middle East drove international oil prices to their biggest gain since 2020. Brent crude jumped 9.6 percent to more than$83 a barrel. Meanwhile, AI stocks sold off, dragging the Nasdaq down 1.6 percent. The Dow and the S &P were also lower. In legal news, a dozen states are suing to block Paramount's$81 billion acquisition of Warner Brothers Discovery. California's leading the group, which says that the merger would make film and TV more expensive and worse quality. They say the Trump administration has a record of not taking antitrust issues seriously. Paramount won a bidding war against Netflix for Warner about four months ago.

8:07The Justice Department moved fast to sign off on it, as have many international territories. It's still waiting for approval from the UK and the European Union. Paramount said it plans to vigorously defend the deal. And a federal appeals court has revived more than 500 lawsuits that allege Tylenol and generic acetaminophen can cause ADHD or autism. The court ruled that a trial judge had overstepped by excluding the plaintiff's expert medical witnesses. They were expected to testify that there was a link between pregnant women taking Tylenol and neurodevelopmental disorders. Scientists have been studying this for decades.

8:41A link hasn't been proven. Tylenol is made by Kenview, which Kimberly-Clark has agreed to buy for more than$40 billion. Kenview said today that it stands behind the safety of its product. The case now goes back to the lower court.

9:04Some top colleges are making it easier to apply. Tulane University, Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are cutting down on the number of essays required in the application. They're getting rid of supplemental essays, which colleges use to ask questions that require more specificity, like why do you want to attend our school in particular? Or more creativity, like where is Waldo really? Or what advice would a wisdom tooth have? These schools say they're doing it to help relieve students' stress because essays like this can really pile up. WSJ reporter Roshan Fernandez says that making the application easier to do also affects how many people apply.

9:43The biggest thing is they want to see more applications. When you see more applications, then you can choose to accept the same number of students and you can inflate your ranking or your prestige. Now, some of these schools also want to grow enrollment. So, for example, Texas Christian University told me that they removed some supplemental essays because they want to grow their enrollment. And they saw a 14 percent jump in applications. Another reason colleges are doing this now is because of artificial intelligence. Tulane University was saying it's just become so much harder to tell whether the responses are AI polished.

10:17And that's what's news for this Monday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Danny Lewis with supervising producer Tali Arbel. I'm Alex Osula for The Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.

10:40Hey, this is Telus Demos. And I'm Miriam Gottfried. We're reporters at The Wall Street Journal and the hosts of WSJ's Take on the Week. It's a weekly show that gives listeners a leg up in the world of markets and investing. From the Fed's moves to market bubbles, we dive into the biggest deals, key players, and business news ahead. If you're looking for more news and tools that you can use to help navigate the markets, consider becoming a subscriber to The Wall Street Journal. Visit subscribe.wsj.com slash takeontheweek to subscribe now.