President Donald Trump and members of his administration made an unusual visit to the Lincoln Memorial on Thursday, driving the presidential motorcade through the empty reflecting pool that the president recently ordered contractors to renovate.

When pressed with questions about why he was focused on an ornamental project when gas prices are soaring because of the Iran war, President Trump castigated ABC News reporter Rachel Scott.

The president claimed the memorial had previously been “disgusting” and that truckloads of trash had been removed since the pool project began last month.

US president Donald Trump insisted the fragile ceasefire with Iran remained in place on Thursday despite a dramatic exchange of strikes in the Strait of Hormuz that threatened to derail ongoing peace talks.

He said “trifled with us”, referring to an Iranian missile and drone attack launched against US Navy destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz Thursday.

“They trifled with us. We blew them away”, Trump told reporters Thursday night, Washington time. “If there’s no ceasefire, you’re not going to have to know. You’re just going to have to look at one big glow coming out of Iran”.

Trump did note that the US is continuing to negotiate with Iran. He said if

Trump later described the incident as a “love tap” and branded Iran’s leaders “lunatics”, warning Tehran it would face a far more violent response if it failed to sign a deal to end the conflict quickly.

When asked how close the US was to making a deal with Iran, Donald Trump said, “It could happen any day, and it might not happen”.

“I believe they want the deal more than I do”, the US president told reporters Thursday night, Washington time.

Iran’s English-language state broadcaster Press TV said the situation in Iranian islands and cities along the Strait of Hormuz has “returned to normal” as Donald Trump said great damage was done to the Iranian side.

“Three World ‌Class American Destroyers just transited, very successfully, out ‌of the ‌Strait of Hormuz, under fire. There ⁠was no damage done to the three Destroyers, but great damage done to the Iranian attackers,” Trump wrote ‌on Truth Social.

“They ​were completely ‌destroyed along ⁠with numerous small boats,” ⁠he said.

The United Arab Emirates said its air defences are “actively engaging” with a missile and drone attack early Friday as the Iran war’s shaky ceasefire was again challenged.

The defence ministry said on X that sounds rang out across the country due to “ongoing engaging operations of missiles and UAVs”.

“The public is urged to remain calm and follow the safety and security instructions issued by relevant authorities.”

The ministry advised residents not to approach, photograph or touch “any debris or fragments that have fallen as a result of successful air interceptions.

“Hours earlier, the US military said it had intercepted Iranian attacks on three Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz Thursday night and “targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking US forces.”

US president Donald Trump has threatened to knock out Iran “more violently” if a peace deal is not signed following attacks on US ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

The US military announced Thursday it intercepted “unprovoked Iranian attacks” in the key oil waterway.

Trump later boasted about how the US Navy guided-missile destroyers were able to fight off the Iranian attack, writing on Truth Social, “Drones came, and were incinerated while in the air. They dropped ever so beautifully down to the Ocean, very much like a butterfly dropping to its grave!”

The president warned, “Just like we knocked them out again today, we’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don’t get their Deal signed, FAST!”

• US president Donald Trump brands Iran’s leadership “lunatics” after three US destroyers come under attack in the Strait of Hormuz in one of the most serious confrontations since the fragile ceasefire began
• US military says missiles, drones and small boats targeted warships during their transit through the strait, though all attacks were intercepted and none of the destroyers were hit
• Washington later carry out retaliatory strikes on what it described as Iranian military facilities responsible for the assault, including launch sites and command centres
• Iran, however, described the incident as an “exchange of fire” between Iranian armed forces and the “enemy” even as Trump said the ceasefire was holding