Good afternoon. This is the Final NOTUS newsletter for May 5, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!
THE LATEST
The U.S. war with Iran is over, Marco Rubio said at a White House press briefing this afternoon — but an entirely new U.S. operation has begun to put the Strait of Hormuz “back the way it was.” The secretary of state was filling in for Karoline Leavitt, who is on maternity leave.
Pete Hegseth also insisted during a separate Pentagon press briefing this morning that the battle for control over the strait is a “separate and distinct” conflict — and that this week’s renewed hostilities fall “below the threshold of restarting major combat operations.”