Politics
JUST IN: Trump Takes Back Strait Of Hormuz As US Pounds Iran With New Strikes
President Donald Trump announced Monday that the United States will begin charging a fee for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, declaring America the new guardian of the critical oil route as U.S. forces carried out fresh strikes against Iran.
The move marks a dramatic escalation in the standoff with Tehran, which has tried to assert control over the narrow waterway that once carried roughly 20% of the world’s oil trade.
Trump said on Truth Social that the U.S. is serving as the “Guardian of the Hormuz Strait” and deserves “fair” compensation for keeping the waterway open.
He also announced the return of the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports.
“The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran. We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran’s ships or customers from entering or leaving. All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait,” Trump wrote.
“The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,’ but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World. The process and formation will begin immediately,” he added.
The announcement came as U.S. and Iranian forces exchanged a new round of strikes Monday, deepening fears that the already battered ceasefire is collapsing for good.
Fox News’ Mike Tobin reported on the latest strikes between the U.S. and Iran as tensions over the Strait of Hormuz continued to climb.
Hudson Institute senior fellow Rebeccah Heinrichs also joined Fox News to analyze the conflict after Trump declared the U.S. the “guardian of the strait.”
Trump later doubled down in a Fox News interview, saying the U.S. would not allow Iran to choke off the waterway.
“We’re going to keep the strait, and we’ll probably run it,” Trump told Fox News.
Oil prices climbed Monday morning as markets reacted to the latest U.S.-Iran escalation.
Stocks fell as investors watched the standoff in the Persian Gulf, where a disruption to shipping can ripple through the global economy almost instantly.
Trump made clear that while the U.S. may protect the strait, American taxpayers will not be expected to do it for free.
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“We’ll become the guardian of the strait — maybe we’ll call it the guardian angel of the strait,” Trump told Fox. “And we should be reimbursed for that.”
“We can’t be expected to do that for nothing, unlike we had for many years,” he added. “We guarded it for nothing, and now we’re going to guard it, we’re going to get paid for guarding it. A lot of money.”
The Strait of Hormuz has been the central flashpoint in the renewed conflict between Washington and Tehran.
Iran has claimed authority over the strait and signaled it wants to charge tolls or impose other fees on ships moving through the waterway.
The U.S. has rejected that power grab.
A temporary ceasefire deal signed in mid-June barred Tehran from charging commercial vessels to transit the strait.
But the agreement has been battered by repeated attacks in the region, including strikes on commercial vessels and U.S. military targets.
Donald Trump declared last week that the ceasefire was “over.”
RELATED: NEW: Trump Stuns Iran With Jaw-Dropping Change Of Plans In Strait Of Hormuz
U.S. officials have said the latest military operations are aimed at keeping the strait open and preventing Iran from using global oil supplies as leverage.
The president’s new plan also fits his long-running America First argument that the United States should not bankroll global security while other nations reap the benefits.
For decades, American forces have helped protect shipping routes in the Middle East without collecting direct payment from the cargo moving through them.
Trump is now making a different calculation.
If the U.S. is expected to secure one of the world’s most valuable waterways, the ships using it are going to help pay the tab.
Iran wanted leverage over the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump just turned it into an invoice.
