US politics live updates: Royals pay respects, meet victims’ families at 9/11 memorial; Iran war has cost $US25 billion to date, Pentagon confirms

Thank you for joining our continuing live coverage of the conflict in the Middle East and King Charles and Queen Camilla’s state visit to the United States, as well as developments in Australia.

Here’s what you need to know this morning:

• King Charles III and Queen Camilla have met with families of victims and first responders at the 9/11 memorial in New York City before separate events at a community organisation in Harlem and a celebration of literature at the New York Public Library on the third day of their four-day state visit to the US.
• The war in Iran has cost the United States $US25 billion ($35 billion) to date, the Pentagon has confirmed.
• US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone on Wednesday (US time), discussing the wars in Ukraine and Iran. “I suggested a little bit of a ceasefire, and I think he might do that,” Trump said. “Even if it’s a little ceasefire, there’s so many people being killed, it’s ridiculous.”
• Trump told US news site Axios Iran was “choking like a stuffed pig”, amid reports he is preparing to oversee an extended naval blockade on Iranian ports. In a Truth Social post, including a mock-up of him holding a machine gun, he declared: “No More Mr. Nice Guy.”
• Foreign Minister Penny Wong has confirmed China has agreed to take a “first step” to resume critical exports of jet fuel to Australian businesses. The news came after an earlier incident, when Chinese officials attempted to usher Australian media out of a room at The Great Hall of People before Wong had completed her remarks.

At least one Australian sailing with the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza has been intercepted by Israel in international waters west of Crete.

The vessel carrying Sydney law student Ethan Floyd, 22, was boarded by Israel’s Defense Forces at about 8.30am (AEST), after a warship approached and launched an inflatable tactical boat for interception.

Newcastle activist Zack Schofield, aboard a separate vessel nine hours from Greece’s territorial waters, is anticipating interception soon. He has lost contact with at least 11 vessels of the 100-strong flotilla so far, and says drones have been flown above their ships and warships are on the horizon.

“I am absolutely shocked that the Israeli navy feels such impunity to start essentially kidnapping humanitarian volunteers in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea,” Schofield, 26, told this masthead from his vessel shortly before 2am local time.

Donald Trump said the US is reviewing its troop levels in Germany and will decide shortly whether to reduce that number, escalating tensions between the allies over the war in Iran.

“The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time,” Trump said in a social media post on Wednesday.

Trump’s announcement comes with Washington and Berlin increasingly at odds over Iran.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz earlier this week criticised the US handling of the conflict, saying that American negotiators were being “humiliated” by Iran’s leadership as talks drag on, with little sign that the conflict is nearing an end.

The US is seeking forfeiture of two Iran-linked oil tankers seized by naval forces enforcing a blockade against the Islamic Republic, according to a senior White House official.

The US Department of Justice has initiated the forfeiture process, the official said, without elaborating on what that entails or whether it signals an intent to seize the crude on board.

The official, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive operations, declined to detail what will ultimately happen to the vessels or comment on their current routes, citing operational security.

US forces boarded the vessels Tifani and Phonix – the latter also known as the Majestic X – last week in the general vicinity of Sri Lanka, according to the Pentagon.

While in New York on day three of his US tour, King Charles toured an after-school, urban farming effort in Harlem that works with young people affected by food insecurity.

At Harlem Grown’s 134th Street Farm, Charles planted lavender and mustard seeds with primary school children and visited a chicken coop. He watched a live food demonstration that educated children about food and nutrition while showcasing vegetables harvested at the farm.

“I like your hair,” a student told the king, who replied, “Do you? Good.”

Queen Camilla, meanwhile, visited the New York Public Library, where she chatted quietly with actress Sarah Jessica Parker. They walked through the building together as a massive crowd of onlookers watched from behind barricades across Fifth Avenue.

Israel has begun taking control of aid ships bound for Gaza far from Israeli shores, Israeli army radio cited a source as saying on Wednesday.

The report did not specify the number of vessels involved or their exact location.

On April 12, a second flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza sailed from the Spanish port of Barcelona, aiming to try to break the Israeli blockade.

Reuters

A US government court filing has raised questions about officials’ initial assertions that a gunman shot a Secret Service officer while allegedly attempting to assassinate Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

The suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, fired a shotgun “in the direction of the stairs leading down to the ballroom” where Trump, other administration officials and members of the press were gathered on Saturday night, according to the pre-trial detention motion, which offered the government’s most extensive account yet of the incident.

In the motion, prosecutors referred to an officer firing five times, but the document does not mention that officer, or any other, being shot.

A spent cartridge was found in the suspect’s shotgun, according to Wednesday’s motion.

Donald Trump said the United Arab Emirates’ decision to leave OPEC would help lower energy prices, which have spiked due to the war in Iran and continue to climb.

“I think it’s great,” Trump said Wednesday (Washington time) at the White House, when asked about the move.

“It’s a good thing for getting the price of gas down, getting oil down, getting everything down.”

There was little evidence to back up Trump’s argument, as oil continued to rise even after the UAE announced its exit from the cartel of oil-producing nations.

US President Donald Trump has issued a veiled warning to Iran as he shared a mock-up image of himself in dark glasses and wielding a machine gun with the caption “No more Mr. Nice Guy”.

“Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a non-nuclear deal,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“They’d better get smart soon! President DJT”

The price of Brent crude oil shot up more than 7 per cent overnight to nearly $US120 ($168), rising for the eighth consecutive day.

In the US - which is less impacted by soaring global oil prices than most countries - the national average price of petrol climbed above $US4.20 a gallon.

It comes amid reports US President Donald Trump is preparing to oversee an extended naval blockade targeting ships transiting to and from Iranian ports, as he seeks to squeeze Tehran into submission.

Trump told US news site Axios on Wednesday (US time): “The blockade is somewhat more effective than the bombing. They are choking like a stuffed pig. And it is going to be worse for them.”

While Trump said he would stick with the blockade, US military commanders have prepared a plan for a short and powerful wave of strikes on Iran to raise pressure on the regime, Axios said, citing people with knowledge of the preparations.

with Bloomberg