President Trump’s announcement of his intent to declare the Strait of Hormuz a United States territory following the defeat of the Iranian regime has fueled significant geopolitical volatility, with oil prices rising over 5% this week amid market uncertainty regarding control of the strategic waterway. This aggressive geopolitical posture complements the President’s newly signed national security memorandum aimed at revitalizing U.S. shipbuilding capacity and industrial competitiveness to address fleet maintenance and design failures. On the domestic front, the Department of Health and Human Services released a report identifying nearly $120 million in potentially fraudulent hospital billings for gender-transition procedures on minors since 2019, a finding that coincides with the administration’s push to terminate federal funding for such interventions by October. In financial markets, institutional activity remains high: Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth funds disclosed a combined $763.7 million position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, while the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial secured preliminary federal bank charter approval. Market participants are simultaneously navigating significant firm-level corrections, including a $15 billion loss incurred by trading firm Jane Street tied to the hedge fund Situational Awareness, alongside Intel’s realization of a $150 million paper gain from its holdings in Joby Aviation and Mobileye. Meanwhile, the regulatory landscape remains active, marked by the SEC’s $74 million fraud charges against a boiler room operator and a new investor lawsuit alleging fraud against Selena Gomez’s mental health startup, Wondermind Global.