Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is set to begin the first phase of its refund process for certain tariffs on April 20, following a ruling by the Supreme Court in February.

CBP will deploy the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) through its Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) system, which would allow businesses to seek refunds for tariffs they paid that were imposed by President Donald Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The Supreme Court ruled on Feb. 20 that the IEEPA does not clearly authorize the president to impose tariffs.

The agency said the CAPE will be implemented in phases, with the first phase starting at 8 a.m. ET on April 20 and covering “certain unliquidated entries and certain entries within 80 days of liquidation.”

The system is designed to “consolidate refunds of IEEPA duties including interest rather than processing refunds on an entry-by-entry basis,” according to CBP.

It stated that importers and licensed customs brokers are required to set up an account on the ACE portal, submit bank account details, and file declarations for imports on which tariffs were paid.

“Importers and authorized brokers should anticipate that valid IEEPA refunds will generally be issued within 60–90 days following acceptance of the CAPE declaration, unless a compliance concern requires further CBP review, ” the agency stated on its website.

“However, certain scenarios, such as entries that are extended, suspended or under review, and warehouse entries, will maintain their liquidation status with validated refunds issued at liquidation.”

In a court filing dated April 14, CBP Executive Director of Trade Programs Brandon Lord said the agency was dealing with “an unprecedented volume of refunds,” with more than 330,000 importers filing about 53 million entries in which they deposited or paid tariffs imposed pursuant to IEEPA as of March 4, which amounted to $166 billion.

“[The CBP’s] existing administrative procedures and technology are not well suited to a task of this scale and will require manual work that will prevent personnel from fully carrying out the agency’s trade enforcement mission,” Lord said, adding that CBP was working to have its ACE functionality ready for use within 45 days.

The Trump administration has been looking at alternative legal avenues after the Supreme Court struck down the reciprocal tariff framework.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Feb. 20 that his office would launch new investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act, covering most major trading partners.

The probe intends to counter “unjustifiable, unreasonable, discriminatory, and burdensome acts, policies, and practices,” Greer said. Further tariffs may be applied if unfair practices are found, he added.

The new trade investigations will cover various areas, including industrial excess capacity, forced labor, pharmaceutical pricing practices, discrimination against U.S. technology companies and digital goods and services, digital services taxes, and ocean pollution.

Last November, we warned that storms clouds were gathering over the torrid, and in some cases chaotic, rollout of US data centers, after Fermi’s massive 11 GW energy and data center project in Texas, called Project Matador, which the company has envisioned to be the world’s largest AI data center and energy campus in the Texas Panhandle, near Amarillo, was struggling to close the deal with its first major data center tenant (and since Fermi is set up as REIT that allocates income from tenants to shareholders, the delay may raise doubts about attracting other potential money-generating tenants, in a toxic feedback loop).

Fermi’s Project Matador – The President Donald J. Trump Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus.

Fast forward 6 months, and the Fermi story has gone from bad to catastrophic, after the developer of nuclear power for AI data centers, slumped following the sudden departure of co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Toby Neugebauer and the company’s chief financial officer.

The exit of Neugebauer was the definition of a Friday night bomb: it was disclosed in a filing late Friday after the close of trading. Fermi held a conference call over the weekend for analysts, during which it said the board had been considering the change in management for at least three months, according to a research note from Evercore ISI.

On Monday, Fermi issued a statement revealing that Miles Everson resigned as CFO, and that it’s planning a new corporate headquarters in Dallas. Fermi said it has created a “interim office of the CEO,” comprising Jacobo Ortiz Blanes and Anna Bofa, both company executives who will now serve as co-presidents, while it searches for Neugebauer’s replacement. Neugebauer, a major shareholder in the company, will remain on the board. Everson was elected to the board, Fermi said.

As we reported in late 2025, Fermi – which has been developing a massive AI campus in Texas that it expects to initially power with natural gas and eventually plans to add as many as four nuclear reactors – has been dogged by challenges in recent months, including the loss of a key anchor tenant for the site. 

The change at the top of the company “indicates that there was friction between customers and Neugebauer, and negotiations could be simpler going forward,” Stifel Nicolaus analyst Stephen Gengaro said in a note.

For the company’s sake, he better be right: the company has so far failed to line up tenants for its complex; and without tenants there is no company (not to mention, what it means for the broader AI space where euphoria is absolutely oozing everywhere). Fermi said in December that a potential user had terminated a $150 million deal.

FRMI shares fell as much as 22% Monday, the most intraday since March 30 when the company said on an earnings conference call that it still hadn’t signed up customers for the campus, which it’s calling Project Matador. Fermi has slumped 69% since its initial public offering last year, giving it a market value of $4.1 billion.

“Fermi’s ability to ink a contract from hyperscalers who are scrambling to secure scarce available power has been perplexing,” Gengaro wrote in the research note. “Some potential customers could be taking a ‘prove-it-to-me’ approach to Fermi’s power campus.”

Some analysts said the management overhaul, despite triggering a stock drop, may ultimately be a positive for Fermi.

“Overall, we view this transition as changing the ‘tone at the top,’ but maintaining the same tenacity and vigor the industry has seen from an operational perspective,” Evercore analysts led by Nicholas Amicucci wrote in their note.

Authored by  Bryan Hyde via American Greatness,

Three defendants who took part in an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protest last year are headed to federal trial on May 18 after a judge denied their motions to dismiss the case.

The defendants were part of a June 2025 protest near an ICE facility in Spokane, Washington, where they allegedly tried to block and damage law enforcement vehicles in response to the detainment of two Venezuelan men.

The protest against the Trump administration’s immigration agenda coincided with demonstrations in Seattle, Portland, and other major cities.

Just the News reports that the three defendants are part of a group of nine protestors who were arrested and later indicted by the Trump administration on federal conspiracy charges.

Six of the defendants took plea deals, including former Spokane City Council president Ben Stuckart, but the remaining three protestors, Jac Archer, Justice Forral, and Bajun Malvalwalla, chose to file a motion to dismiss their charges as protected free speech.

Malvawalla, a US Army veteran, has alleged that he was assaulted by federal agents during his arrest.

Attorneys for the defendants argued that their clients’ actions were constitutionally protected and challenged the indictment’s sufficiency.

The Dept. of Justice (DOJ) called the motion “meritless” and argued that the demonstration went beyond a constitutionally protected protest, alleging that the defendants blocked a transport van from leaving the federal facility, deflated its tires, and piled objects in front of the exits to stop the agents.​

According to Just the News, a pretrial conference is scheduled on May 5 and the court will also consider motions that day by acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche seeking to exclude certain defense arguments and evidence at trial.

Blanche specifically wants the court to exclude arguments about whether the demonstration was a constitutionally protected protest, and references to other major immigration-related protests.

He also is asking the court to reject claims of political influence, including former acting US Attorney Richard Baker, who resigned days before the indictment, a well as arguments that two Venezuelan immigrants whose transport sparked the protest were here legally.

Liz Moore with the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane is calling on residents of Spokane “To make sure that immigrant neighbors and loved ones in our community are not isolated and targeted and they experience support.”

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

Ashraf Al Safoo from Chicago has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for conspiring to provide material support to ISIS, which involved recruiting members into the terror group and encouraging attacks on its enemies.

Al Safoo, 41, was a leader of online organization Khattab Media Foundation, which pledged allegiance to ISIS, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in an April 17 press release. The foundation created and spread threats and ISIS propaganda online, with Al Safoo and other members posting pro-ISIS articles, videos, infographics, and essays in coordination with the terrorist outfit.

Most of the propaganda spread by Khattab promoted violent jihad on behalf of ISIS.

The organization’s posts celebrated mass shootings and terror attacks in the United States and encouraged people to engage in “lone wolf” attacks in Western nations.

In one post, Al Safoo asked Khattab members to “cause confusion and spread terror within the hearts of those who disbelieved,” according to the DOJ press release.

In another post, Al Safoo wrote, “Work hard, brothers, edit the issue into short clips, take the pictures out of it and publish the efforts of your brothers in the pages of the apostates. Participate in the war, and spread terror, the [Islamic] State does not want you to watch it only, rather, it incites you, and if you are unable to, use it to incite others.”

Al Safoo immigrated to the United States in 2008 and was naturalized in 2013. In 2018, he was arrested and has since been in federal custody.

A bench trial was conducted last year, after which U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey found Al Safoo guilty of various charges.

On April 16, Blakey imposed a 25-year prison term for Al Safoo, followed by 10 years of court-supervised release.

The State Department designated ISIS’s predecessor group, al-Qaeda in Iraq, as a foreign terrorist organization in December 2004 under the George W. Bush administration. When ISIS was formed in 2013, the designation carried over.

Over the past several months, multiple individuals have been detained for their support of ISIS.

In December 2025, a Texas man alleged to be an ISIS sympathizer was charged with an international terrorism offense. The man allegedly provided funding and bomb making equipment to people he believed were acting on behalf of ISIS.

Earlier in November, a dual American Albanian national was arrested and charged in New York for allegedly providing support to ISIS and distributing instructions for homemade bombs.

During a testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security on Dec. 11, Michael Glasheen, operations director at the FBI, highlighted how ISIS continues to pose a threat to American interests, both domestically and abroad.

The terror outfit is able to “direct, enable, and inspire attacks through their successful use of social media and messaging applications to attract individuals. ISIS seeks direct confrontation with the United States, and almost certainly would exploit any opportunity to attack the U.S. or Western interests,” Glasheen said.

Like other foreign terrorist organizations, he said, “ISIS advocates for lone-offender attacks in the U.S. and Western countries via videos and other English-language propaganda that have specifically advocated for attacks against civilians, the military, law enforcement, and intelligence community personnel.”

The 2025 Worldwide Threat Assessment report from the Defense Intelligence Agency said that ISIS and al-Qaeda have implemented a decentralized plotting approach toward Western nations.

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Both groups are referencing Israel’s operations in Gaza to generate revenue, hire new members, and inspire attacks against U.S., Jewish, Israeli, and European interests internationally.

“The groups are also seeking to improve their weapons capabilities, including with commercial technologies such as UAVs and artificial intelligence,” the report said, referring to unmanned aerial vehicles.

In December, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said it had initiated Operation Hawkeye Strike in Syria following an attack that killed two Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter.

CENTCOM said in a Feb. 14 update that since the launch of Operation Hawkeye Strike, “more than 50 ISIS terrorists have been killed or captured and over 100 ISIS infrastructure targets have been struck with hundreds of precision munitions during two months of targeted operations.”

FBI Director Kash Patel filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit Monday against The Atlantic magazine and its national-security reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick, escalating a high-profile clash over a Friday article that alleged Patel’s “erratic behavior,” excessive drinking, and unexplained absences have alarmed colleagues and raised national-security concerns.

FBI Director Kash Patel speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice on Dec. 4, 2025. Daniel Heuer/AFP

In the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Patel accuses the publication and Fitzpatrick of publishing the story “with actual malice” despite being “expressly warned, hours before publication, that the central allegations were categorically false,” having access to “abundant publicly available information contradicting those allegations,” and ignoring “obvious and fatal defects in their own sourcing,” CNN reports.

The Atlantic article, titled “The FBI Director Is MIA,” relied on more than two dozen anonymous sources – including current and former FBI officials, members of Congress, and hospitality-industry workers – to portray Patel’s leadership as a “management failure” and his personal conduct as a potential vulnerability. It detailed claims of “bouts of excessive drinking” at venues such as the private club Ned’s in Washington, D.C., and the Poodle Room in Las Vegas, rescheduled meetings due to late-night drinking, and incidents in which Patel’s security detail allegedly struggled to wake him and once requested breaching equipment to access a locked room. The piece also suggested Patel is deeply paranoid about being fired and that President Trump has privately expressed displeasure over his behavior, including a viral video of him chugging beer with the U.S. men’s hockey team.⁠

Patel’s attorney, Jesse R. Binnall, sent a detailed pre-publication letter to The Atlantic and Fitzpatrick on April 17, disputing the claims point-by-point and demanding the outlet refrain from publishing. Binnall later posted the letter publicly on X, writing: “They were on notice that the claims were categorically false and defamatory. They published anyway. See you in court.”

This is the letter we sent to The Atlantic and Sarah Fitzpatrick BEFORE they published their hit piece on FBI Director @FBIDirectorKash. They were on notice that the claims were categorically false and defamatory. They published anyway.

See you in court. pic.twitter.com/Ke8cqNh8hY

— Jesse R. Binnall (@jbinnall) April 17, 2026

Patel himself responded defiantly on Fox News Sunday, calling the story “fake news” and promising legal action the next day. “We HAVE to fight back against the fake news,” he said. “If the fake news mafia isn’t hitting you with baseless info, you’re not doing your job!”⁠

🚨 WOW! FBI Director Kash Patel is SUING The Atlantic after they reported he gets drunk all the time and constantly has “unexplained absences”

“You want to attack my character? Come at me. I’LL SEE YOU IN COURT!”

“Absolutely. [The lawsuit] is coming TOMORROW. FOR DEFAMATION.”… pic.twitter.com/7X5PqQlP3p

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 19, 2026

The suit seeks $250 million in damages, a figure Patel’s team described as necessary to hold the outlet accountable for what they call a “sweeping, malicious, and defamatory hit piece.”

Authored by Amin Haqshanas via CoinTelegraph.com,

US aluminium giant Alcoa is reportedly nearing a deal to offload its long-idle Massena East smelter in upstate New York to Bitcoin mining firm New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG).

The company is in advanced discussions and expects the transaction to close “in the middle part of this year,” CEO Bill Oplinger told Bloomberg on Friday. The site, located along the St. Lawrence River, has been inactive since 2014 after Alcoa shut it down amid rising energy costs and global competition.

Built for 24/7 heavy industrial operations, aluminum smelters come with pre-existing substations, transmission lines and high-capacity grid connections. That makes them attractive targets for Bitcoin miners and data center operators, who often spend years securing similar infrastructure approvals from scratch.

Massena East also benefits from hydropower supplied by the New York Power Authority, a key draw for energy-intensive computing firms seeking low-cost and lower-carbon power sources.

US smelters reborn as crypto, AI data centers

The potential sale comes amid a broader trend across the US, where retired industrial sites are being repurposed for digital infrastructure. Earlier this year, Century Aluminum sold its Hawesville smelter in Kentucky to TeraWulf for $200 million, with plans to convert it into a high-performance computing and AI facility rather than traditional industrial use.

TeraWulf shares are up 80% YTD. Source Bloomberg 

Meanwhile, NYDIG has been growing its footprint in Bitcoin mining infrastructure. The firm, owned by Stone Ridge, already holds a stake in Coinmint, which operates mining hardware at the same campus under a long-term lease.

Last year, Crusoe Energy also agreed to sell its Bitcoin mining business, including its digital flare mitigation operations, to NYDIG.

Bitcoin miners pivot to AI

NYDIG’s renewed push into Bitcoin mining comes as other miners are increasingly pivoting toward AI and cloud computing as shrinking margins in mining push them to diversify revenue streams.

Earleir this year, MARA Holdings acquired a 64% stake in French infrastructure company Exaion, giving the company a foothold in AI services. Other miners, including Hive, Hut 8, TeraWulf and Iren, are also repurposing mining facilities into data centers, while some, such as CoreWeave, have fully transitioned into AI-focused infrastructure.

Shares of Tyson Foods and Smithfield Foods fell in late-morning trading in New York after The Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department’s antitrust division has opened a criminal probe into major meatpackers.

The report follows President Trump’s push for an investigation into meatpackers as supermarket beef prices remain near record highs.

Criminal antitrust cases are typically brought for alleged price-fixing, collusion, or bid-rigging. While the DoJ previously disclosed an investigation into beef companies after Trump called for action, it had not provided details on whether it was criminal.

In early November, Trump publicly stated, “I have asked the DOJ to immediately begin an investigation into the Meat Packing Companies who are driving up the price of Beef through illicit collusion, price fixing, and price manipulation.”

“We will always protect our American ranchers, and they are being blamed for what is being done by majority foreign-owned meat packers, who artificially inflate prices and jeopardize the security of our nation’s food supply,” Trump continued.

Beef prices at supermarkets have soared to record highs after years of drought, and elevated input prices led to the smallest U.S. herd in a generation. Trump’s tariffs on Brazil, a major beef exporter, have also curbed imports.

Also, last year, Trump suggested the U.S. would buy Argentine beef to increase domestic supplies and curb higher prices for Americans. This, in turn, angered U.S. cattle ranchers.

Shares of top publicly traded meatpackers, including Tyson Foods and Smithfield Foods, fell after the WSJ report hit.

Tyson Foods

Smithfield Foods

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has pointed out that “Four meat packers control 85 percent of the meat processed in the U.S.”

Meanwhile, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and 12 other senators have proposed legislation that would force the nation’s largest meatpackers to break up their operations across beef, pork, and poultry.

Related:

The Problem Of The Meatpackers

Drought Engulfs 60% Of U.S. As Farmers Begin Spring Planting

The DOJ’s criminal investigation into beef companies comes as the Trump administration attempts to push forward with affordability policies as the K-shaped economy continues hammering the working poor.

President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh, will appear before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday at 10AM ET in what is shaping up to be one of the most politically charged confirmation hearings in the central bank’s modern history.

Warsh, a former Fed governor who has spent years criticizing the institution as directionless and in need of “regime change,” now has the chance to outline his vision for remaking the world’s most powerful central bank. But he faces a delicate balancing act: signaling loyalty to Trump’s push for lower interest rates while reassuring markets, lawmakers, and global observers that he will safeguard the Fed’s independence and keep inflation in check.

The hearing arrives against a backdrop of extraordinary tension. Trump has repeatedly attacked current Chair Jerome Powell, attempted to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook (a move now before the Supreme Court), and backed a Justice Department criminal probe into Powell and the Fed over a $2.5 billion headquarters renovation project. Powell has called the investigation politically motivated.

Markets continue to price in meaningful confirmation risk. As of this writing, Polymarket currently assigns roughly 33% odds that Warsh will be confirmed in time to replace Powell when his term expires on May 15.

Kevin Warsh confirmed as Fed Chair by May 15?
Yes 33% · No 68%
View full market & trade on Polymarket

ANZ Research expects him to affirm his commitment to the Fed’s independence and resistance to political pressure on rates, while arguing that strong productivity growth – aided by artificial intelligence – and the government’s deregulation agenda are structurally disinflationary forces that could support easier policy over time. Warsh has long described the Fed’s roughly $6.7 trillion balance sheet as “bloated” and views its reduction as central to restoring a sound monetary policy regime.

Warsh, 56, served on the Fed Board of Governors from 2006 to 2011, the youngest person ever appointed to the role at age 35. A Stanford public policy graduate and Harvard Law alum, he previously worked in mergers and acquisitions at Morgan Stanley and as an economic policy adviser in the George W. Bush White House. During the 2008 financial crisis, he acted as the Fed’s key liaison to Wall Street, helping navigate the Bear Stearns and AIG rescues.

After leaving the Fed, Warsh became a vocal critic, arguing the central bank had strayed from its core mandate through over-reliance on complex models, opaque communication, excessive regulation, and a bloated $6.7 trillion balance sheet that distorts markets. He has long called for shrinking that balance sheet to reduce moral hazard and free up resources for the real economy.

His views appeared to evolve in 2025 as Trump’s return loomed and Powell’s term wound down. In July interviews on Fox Business and CNBC, Warsh advocated for rate cuts, citing potential productivity gains from artificial intelligence, deregulation, and housing disinflation. He has argued that aggressive quantitative tightening (QT) could offset the stimulative effect of lower rates, allowing the Fed to ease policy without reigniting inflation.

The Economic Backdrop: Iran War Fuels Inflation Uncertainty

Warsh’s testimony comes at a fraught economic moment – as the US-Israel war on Iran has driven a sharp surge in energy prices, pushing up inflation and prompting the Fed to pause further rate cuts after three reductions in late 2025. The federal funds rate currently stands at 3.5%–3.75% – with officials largely expected to hold steady at their next meeting.

Wholesale prices jumped 4% in the latest month, with energy costs up sharply. Fed officials, including Governors Christopher Waller and others, have stressed a “wait-and-see” approach, noting that a swift resolution to the conflict could reopen the door to cuts later in 2026 – but prolonged disruptions risk embedding higher inflation.

Warsh has previously pitched a multi-pronged case for eventual rate cuts centered on productivity surges and balance-sheet reduction. Analysts say he may argue for lower rates a year out while cautioning against premature easing now.

Political Hurdles Cloud Confirmation Path

Even as the hearing proceeds, Warsh’s path to confirmation remains uncertain. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a key Republican on the Banking Committee, has repeatedly vowed to block any Fed nominee—including Warsh—until the DOJ probe into Powell is fully resolved. Trump has signaled he wants the investigation to continue.

Democrats are united in opposition. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the committee’s top Democrat, met with Warsh last week and emerged with “new concerns,” citing incomplete financial disclosures. All 11 Democratic members of the panel have called for delaying the hearing until the DOJ investigations end.

Senator Elizabeth Warren Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

Warsh’s financial disclosures, released earlier this month, show joint assets with his wife, Jane Lauder (of the Estée Lauder fortune), totaling at least $130 million – $192 million or more, depending on valuation ranges. He has pledged to divest conflicting holdings if confirmed, but transparency questions persist.

What to Watch Tuesday

According to Bloomberg, lawmakers from both parties are expected to press Warsh on:

His commitment to Fed independence – how will he respond to Trump pressuring him on rates?
How he hopes to shrink the balance sheet without disrupting money markets or liquidity.
Banking regulation amid a broader deregulatory push.
Greater Fed-Treasury coordination.
Updates to the Fed’s economic models and public communication.

Experts like former Kansas City Fed President Esther George have welcomed Warsh’s ideas but stressed the need for clarity to preserve credibility. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde recently warned that perceived political interference anywhere undermines global central bank trust.

Investors will scrutinize every word for signals on future policy. A misstep – either appearing too deferential to Trump or too dismissive of inflation risks – could roil bond markets and push long-term yields higher. Deutsche Bank chief U.S. economist Matthew Luzzetti noted that Warsh must thread the needle: outline a credible path to lower rates over time while forcefully defending independence. Luzzetti also points out that Warsh’s argument for rate cuts is driven by a belief in disinflationary forces from deregulation and AI. 

Although we have not heard from Warsh recently, his comments prior to his nomination indicated support for rate reductions based primarily on a forecast that anticipates strong disinflationary forces from deregulation and AI. While we expect he will maintain this narrative about the economy, recent developments have weakened the case for lower rates – labor-market data have stabilized, PCE inflation has surprised to the upside, and the war in Iran poses further upside risks to inflation. -Matthew Luzzetti, DB

Powell’s term ends May 15. Whether Warsh is in place by then hinges on resolving the Tillis standoff and navigating Senate dynamics. Republicans are growing impatient with the delay, with some quietly urging the administration to drop the probe.

Warsh has described the Fed as needing fundamental reform to better serve its dual mandate of price stability and maximum employment. Tuesday’s hearing will reveal whether senators believe he is the right person to deliver it—or whether the institution’s independence will emerge intact from one of its most turbulent periods. The stakes, as one political scientist put it, could hardly be higher.

By Monday morning US Central Command had released fuller video showing the dramatic night vision footage of Sunday’s capture of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, after it refused to follow US orders to withdraw from its planned passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

The Pentagon soon after the interdiction and boarding released a very brief, limited clip of a US warship firing on the vessel from afar – or also what might have been a warning shot. Later it released short footage of the actual Marine boarding, which occurred in the dead of night:

The footage shows American special forces helicopters surrounding the stricken vessel as an elite team of Marines rappel onto its deck. The ship has since been identified as the Touska, already under Washington sanctions. The vessel could now become the “spoils of war” as the US effectively takes control of its contents.

CENTCOM in releasing the footage described in greater detail: “U.S. Marines depart amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7) by helicopter and transit over the Arabian Sea to board and seize M/V Touska. The Marines rappelled onto the Iranian-flagged vessel, April 19, after guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) disabled Touska’s propulsion when the commercial ship failed to comply with repeated warnings from U.S. forces over a six-hour period.”

The boarding operation went down a little after midnight in Iran, and the particular destroyer that initially fired on the Touska was the USS Spruance. It has used its 5-inch (127 mm) MK 45 gun to hit the ship’s engine room.

The Iranian vessel tried to cross from the Arabian Sea through the Strait of Hormuz and was headed to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas when it was intercepted.

On Sunday President Trump had written on social media, “Our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room.”

As of Monday, Trump is warning that he could order renewed major attacks and bombardment of the Islamic Republic, if it refuses to negotiate or if it doesn’t compromise in talks, especially on the contested enriched uranium issue. Tehran has vowed never to transfer its stockpile to the US or outside the country.