The Supreme Court issued an opinion in Chiles v. Salazar on Tuesday, ruling against a Colorado law banning conversion therapy for children.

The court holds that a Colorado law banning conversion therapy, particularly with regard to talk therapy, regulates speech based on viewpoint.

The justices ruled the lower courts should have applied a more rigorous standard of review. They remanded the case back to the 10th Circuit for further arguments, requiring the court to use strict scrutiny review, the most challenging judicial review process.

The justices ruled 8-1, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as the lone dissenter.

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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the U.S. is open to having soldiers on the ground in Iran and that it won’t take that, or any other, option off the table so that Iran doesn’t know what to expect.

“We’re not going to foreclose any option. You can’t fight and win a war if you tell your adversary what you are willing to do or what you are not willing to do, to include boots on the ground,” he said when asked by a reporter about the possibility.

“Our adversary right now thinks there are 15 different ways we could come at them with boots on the ground, and guess what, there are,” he said.

Hegseth added that “the point is to be unpredictable in that. Certainly not let anyone know what you’re willing to do or not do.”

His comments follow thousands of U.S. soldiers and Marines arriving in the region.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday said "there are many more vessels flowing through" the Strait of Hormuz "today than there were" previously, while doubling down on President Donald Trump's calls for allies to be prepared to take action to keep the key waterway open.

"It's not just the United States Navy. Last time I checked, there was supposed to be a big, bad Royal Navy that could be prepared to do things like that as well," Hegseth said. Trump is "pointing out this is an international waterway that we use less than most. In fact, dramatically less than most. So the world ought pay attention and be prepared to stand up."

"President Trump's been willing to do the heavy lifting on behalf of the free world to address this threat of Iran. It's not just our problem set going forward, even though we have done the lion's share of preparation to ensure that that strait will be open," Hegseth added.

Iran has moved to effectively close the strait in an effort to put pressure on the U.S. and damage the global economy following the U.S.-Israeli military operation against the country. About 20% of the global oil supply passed through the strait before the war.

Meanwhile, Iran's parliament this morning approved a plan to apply tolls on ships passing through the strait, Iranian state media reported, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said negotiations with Iran on the ongoing war “are very real,” after Iran denied reports that they are underway.

“They are very real, they are ongoing, they are active, and I think gaining strength,” he said when asked by reporters Tuesday.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry hours earlier said there have been no direct or indirect talks since the war began.

The U.S. has requested to negotiate with a set of proposals that have been communicated through third-party channels, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday said "regime change has occurred" in Iran even though the country's clerical and military establishment remains intact.

"If Iran is wise, they will cut a deal. President [Donald] Trump doesn't bluff and he does not back down," Hegseth said, suggesting that the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is proof of the president's resolve.

"The new Iranian regime should know that by now. This new regime, because regime change has occurred, should be wiser than the last," Hegseth added.

Hegseth's comment echoes Trump, who recently said regime change in Iran is complete.

"The one regime was decimated, destroyed, they’re all dead. The next regime is mostly dead," he said, according to The New York Times.

@realDonaldTrump via Truth Social

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said U.S. allies that did not join his war against Iran and are now struggling to get jet fuel as a result of the conflict should move to take control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has effectively closed the key waterway as it seeks to wreak havoc on the international economy as an act of retaliation against the U.S.-Israeli military operation.

But Trump shared what he described as two suggestions for U.S. allies amid the deepening energy crisis.

"Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT," he wrote on this Truth Social platform. "You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!"

Trump's message follows a Wall Street Journal report saying the president is entertaining ending the operation against Iran even if the strait remains closed after assessing that reopening the waterway could push the war beyond the timeline of four to six weeks that he had originally planned. The Journal added that the U.S. would try to pressure Tehran to reopen the strait through diplomacy but would count on allies in the Gulf and Europe to keep it open if the push fails.

While Trump is suggesting the U.S. is immune from the disruption caused by the strait's closure, the impact it's having on the global economy is already affecting U.S. consumers, as evidenced by the rise in gas prices.

In a follow-up post on Truth Social, Trump singled out France for blocking planes headed to Israel, loaded up with military supplies, from flying over its territory.

"France has been VERY UNHELPFUL with respect to the 'Butcher of Iran,' who has been successfully eliminated! The U.S.A. will REMEMBER!!!" he wrote.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth encouraged President Donald Trump to join Israel in striking Iran in the days leading up to the war, downplaying the dangers of the military operation, CNN reported on Tuesday, adding that the conflict has allowed the Pentagon chief to raise his profile within the administration.

Hegseth has assumed a prominent role in defending the president's actions and lashing out at critics of his war in the Middle East, apparently improving his standing after a series of missteps, including his involvement in the Signal group chat fiasco, had troubled the White House, per CNN.

A source familiar with the secretary's thinking told CNN that Hegseth believes "blowing s**t up" is the best way for him to ensure his job remains safe.

Meanwhile, Hegseth and Dan Caine, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are expected to brief reporters on the state of the Iran war on Tuesday morning.

Read more at CNN:

A Massachusetts man who was pardoned by President Donald Trump over his Jan. 6, 2021, actions has been sentenced to four years in prison for possessing an "enormous child pornography collection," NBC News reported on Tuesday.

Daniel Tocci had over 100,000 images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of minors in his possession, as well as more disturbing images on his laptop, including of a female being shot in the head, a cat in a blender and a dog being beaten to death, according to a Justice Department press release that did not reference his ties to Jan. 6.

Read more at NBC News:

The Trump administration is organizing an international summit focused on countering the left-wing movement antifa and other groups, three sources familiar with the matter said, an effort that highlights the shift in the U.S. government’s counterterrorism priorities over the past year.

The conference, tentatively planned for June or July, will convene officials from various nations to discuss strategies for battling antifa and encourage intelligence sharing, said the sources, who requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Read more at Reuters:

The International Monetary Fund on Monday said "all roads lead to higher prices and slower growth" as the Iran conflict continues to disrupt economies in the Middle East and beyond.

"Although the war could shape the global economy in different ways, all roads lead to higher prices and slower growth," reads a blog post penned by the IMF's main department heads. "A short conflict might send oil and gas prices soaring before markets adjust, while a long one could keep energy expensive and strain countries that rely on imports. Or the world may settle somewhere in between—tensions linger, energy stays costly, and inflation proves hard to tame—with ongoing uncertainty and geopolitical risk."

"Much depends on how long the conflict lasts, how far it spreads, and how much damage it inflicts on infrastructure and supply chains," it continues.

Read the full post on the IFM's website.

Iran has warned that U.S. universities in the Middle East are "legitimate targets" following a string of military attacks on Iranian academic institutions, The New York Times reported.

The semiofficial news agency Fars said about 20 universities and dormitories have been hit across Iran since the war broke out, per The Times.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps over the weekend advised staff, students and professors at American universities in the Gulf to stay "at least one kilometer away from these universities to ensure their safety," in a post on social media.

While many U.S.-affiliated universities in the region had already moved to online learning, some are now taking further measures in light of the new warning. For instance, NYU said it was closing down its Abu Dhabi campus "out of an abundance of caution."

U.S. gas prices soared past an average of $4 per gallon on Tuesday, marking the first time the threshold has been surpassed since August 2022, as President Donald Trump's Iran war continues.

The AAA motor club said the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is now $4.018, up more than one dollar since the war began in late February.

Parents, students and educators are speaking out against Education Secretary Linda McMahon’s tour commemorating the country’s 250th birthday, forcing the cancellation of multiple appearances, The Washington Post reported.

The “History Rocks!” tour is sponsored by a coalition of conservative and religious groups and includes appearances around the U.S. However, stops in Alabama, Connecticut and Massachusetts were cancelled in the wake of protests from local community members.

“I just found it hypocritical,” Red Zellner, a senior at Murphy High School in Mobile, Ala., told The Washington Post. “They tried to say their tour was apolitical while being very publicly supported by strongly political groups.”

Read more in The Washington Post:

The Associated Press officially called another special election for Democrats on Monday, adding to their roster of wins this election cycle.

Brian Nathan, a 45-year-old Navy veteran and electrical workers union leader, defeated former state Rep. Josie Tomkow and flipped the Republican-held state Senate seat in Florida.

Nathan’s win in the west Tampa district was the Democrats’ latest victory in a typically Republican-leaning area.

Read more in The New York Times:

Federal agents will be deployed at graduation events at a Marine Corps base in South Carolina this week, raising concerns that service members’ undocumented family members could be targeted if they attend, NBC News reports.

Under heightened security protocols that Marine Corps bases have imposed since the start of the U.S. war on Iran, visitors must provide REAL IDs, U.S. passports or U.S. birth certificates in order to gain entry. Federal agents will conduct enhanced security screenings—and “lawful immigration status inquiries”— during commencement events, according to a statement on the Parris Island Marine Corps website.

That message has spurred fears that people’s family members could be handed over to federal agents if they don’t provide the required forms of identification.

DHS disputed the possibility that agents would apprehend attendees. "ICE will not be making arrests at the basic training graduation in Paris Island, SC,” a DHS spokesperson claimed to NBC News.

Read more at NBC News:

Majid Saeedi via Getty Images

A resident weeps while talking on the phone near a residential building that was hit in an airstrike Monday, in the west of Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

According to Al Jazeera, at least 1,937 people in Iran have been killed, and another 24,800 have been injured since the war began a month ago.

President Donald Trump took to his social media site earlier today and threatened to destroy vital infrastructure in Iran if a ceasefire deal was not reached “shortly” and if the Strait of Hormuz was not immediately reopened.

“This will be in retribution for our many soldiers, and others, that Iran has butchered and killed over the old Regime’s 47 year ‘Reign of Terror,’” Trump wrote.

However, the president privately told his aides that he’s willing to end the U.S. war on Iran even if the Strait remains largely closed, administration officials told The Wall Street Journal. The decision to change tactics reportedly occurred after administration officials determined “that a mission to pry open the chokepoint would push the conflict beyond his timeline of four to six weeks.”

Iran shut down the strait after the U.S. and Israel launched their initial attack on Feb. 28. Leaders in Tehran vowed to target ships that pass through it and mine the waterway. Its closure has driven up oil prices worldwide and put political and economic pressure on Trump to end his war sooner rather than later.

Read more in the WSJ:

Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images

Human Rights Watch, an organization dedicated to calling out human rights abuses, urged U.S., Israeli and Iranian officials to commit to protecting civilian infrastructure. Leaders from all three countries recently made increasingly inflammatory threats.

In letters sent on Monday, the organization sought to remind officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, that the laws of war generally prohibit targeting facilities such as power plants if they serve only civilian purposes.

The letters were sent after American and Iranian representatives suggested that energy facilities and water desalination plants could be attacked as part of the ongoing conflict.

ObturadorMX via Getty Images

During a Monday press conference, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum signaled that the country was prepared to press the U.S. over the number of fatalities in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

“We’re now going to take further action. We’re going to take several steps to protest the death of yet another Mexican national in the United States,” Sheinbaum said in the wake of a 51-year-old man's death last week, according to Reuters.

On Monday, ICE announced that Jose Guadalupe Ramos-Solano had died in detention on March 25 after staff found him unconscious and unresponsive in his bunk. Ramos-Solano was the 14th Mexican national to die in ICE detention during Trump’s second term, according to the country’s Los Angeles consulate.

ICE also stated that Ramos-Solano had multiple medical conditions, including diabetes and hypertension, and claimed that he had received constant medical care.

U.S. detention facilities, including the Adelanto ICE Processing Center where Ramos-Solano was held, have been criticized for poor conditions and inadequate medical care in multiple reports.

Mexican leaders will raise their concerns with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and Congressional lawmakers, according to The Guardian. They also plan to file an amicus brief backing a lawsuit against the GEO Group, a private contractor that runs the Adelanto detention facility for ICE.