Tipsheet

Trump Just Unveiled a Huge Change for the Strait of Hormuz

The United States is bringing back a blockade against Iran in the Strait of Homruz and will ask for a 20% reinbursement charge for cargo going through the waterway, President Donald Trump announced on Monday morning. 

"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 posted to Truth Social, doubling down on nicknaming the U.S. 'THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT.'

The president added that "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." He further stated that "the process and formation will begin immediately."

Earlier on Monday, the president said that the United States held an 11-hour long meeting with Iranian negotiators on Sunday.

The United States launched more strikes against Iran on Sunday in response to the numerous attacks from the Middle Eastern nation on cargo ships in the strait. 

“So, something that nobody knows, yesterday, they had an 11-hour meeting – everything’s 11 hours with these guys,” the president told “Fox & Friends” on Monday morning. 

“We had a deal. It was a done deal, and then they broke it […] so we’re just going to hit them very hard,” he also said during the interview. 

CENTCOM said in a statement on Sunday that multiple different types of Iranian military targets were hit, and stressed that “the Strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime corridor for global trade” that Iran “does not control.”

“And we’re gonna keep the strait. And we’ll probably run it […] maybe we’ll call it 'the guardian angel' of the strait,” he said, saying that there should be reimbursement for from other countries who use it as a transportation corridor. 

“We guarded the strait for 50 years, more, and we never got paid for it,” he added. 

“And everything was agreed to yesterday, and they leave the room, and they call back and they say, 'we had to make a couple of changes.’ I said, ‘Changes? They gotta make changes?’ We’re not gonna make changes.’ Always changes, you know they’re professional negotiators. That’s all they are,” he said, adding that the Iranians have gotten “nothing” from the U.S.

The U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding last month, but the ceasefire has been scrapped despite talks continuing between the two countries. 

Last week, Trump referred to Iranian negotiators as “scum” and suggested that the U.S. “ just finish the job” against Iran – with the ultimate goal of assuring that they will not build a nuclear weapon.