White House press secretary Leavitt said President Trump reserves the right to use military force if necessary.

On the afternoon of the 29th local time, Iran’s military ordered that all vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz may only use the corridor south of Larak Island. On the 28th Iran said ships must still coordinate passage with the IRGC and advised that the safest route for vessels entering the Persian Gulf is south of Hormuz Island, while vessels leaving the Gulf should use the corridor south of Larak Island.

The New York Times reports a multibillion-dollar US–Kazakhstan agreement opened access to one of the world’s largest undeveloped tungsten deposits for a group of US investors close to President Trump and Commerce Secretary Lutnick. In September Lutnick met Kazakhstan’s president in New York; Trump joined by phone and, the paper says, helped persuade Kazakhstan to allow a little-known US company to develop the deposit. Weeks later investors in Dominari Securities — based in Trump Tower and partly owned by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump — acquired a 20% stake in an entity tied to the Kazakh project.