Published July 13, 2026 at 12:53 PM ET · Updated July 13, 2026 at 6:05 PM ET
President Trump announces national address Thursday as Iran war intensifies and Navy blockade resumes
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President Trump announced a national address for Thursday evening as military operations against Iran intensified. The United States resumed a naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, launched additional strikes on Iran, and Trump declared the U.S. would take over the strait and impose tolls.
Patriot Watch first flagged this story 7 hr ago, when NPR reported it. Coverage has since grown to 5 independent outlets, including 5 wire/mainstream feeds. The most recent report came 2 hr ago from NBC News. Verification tier: Confirmed — reported independently by wire/mainstream and conservative outlets.
⚖ The Constitutional Angle
The Prize Cases held a President may institute a blockade without waiting for Congress to declare war, which gives the Strait blockade legal footing. But Learning Resources v. V.O.S. Selections held IEEPA does not authorize presidential tariffs and the duty power belongs to Congress, making unilateral tolls constitutionally suspect. Youngstown frames the inquiry: emergency creates no new power; it must come from Congress or the Constitution.
The Prize Cases (The Brig Amy Warwick; The Schooner Crenshaw; The Barque Hiawatha; The Schooner Brilliante) 67 U.S. (2 Black) 635 (1863)
Vote: 5-4 · Opinion: Grier
The President had the right, jure belli, to institute a blockade of ports held by states in rebellion — which neutrals were bound to respect — without waiting for a congressional declaration of war.
Learning Resources v. V.O.S. Selections 607 U.S. 229 (2026)
Vote: 6-3 · Opinion: Roberts (C.J.)
THE ANSWER TO THE LITIGATED QUESTION: the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. The Constitution vests the power to lay taxes and duties in Congress; the Executive has no inherent authority to impose peacetime tariffs (a point the government conceded), so any presidential tariff power must come from a congressional delegation. IEEPA's grant of authority to 'regulate ...
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (The Steel Seizure Case) — CROSS-REFERENCE ENTRY 343 U.S. 579 (1952)
Vote: 6-3 · Opinion: Black
SHORT FORM (full apparatus lives in the presidential-immunity entry): President Truman's Korean War seizure of the steel mills was unlawful — the President's power 'must stem either from an act of Congress or from the Constitution itself,' and neither source supplied it, particularly where Congress had considered and withheld seizure authority. Youngstown supplies the Jackson framework through which Dames & Moore, Zivotofsky, and the 2026 IEEPA tariff decision were all argued: emergency does not create power; it marks the occasion for exercising powers that must already exist.
Precedent facts from the PW Law Library — primary-source verified & independently audited
