“Whoever rules the waves rules the world” – Alfred Thayer Mahan.

Would Donald Trump have attacked Iran on February 28 if the Supreme Court had not ruled against his tariffs on February 20?

The two issues may seem unrelated. Yet, as a fascinating piece by Captain John Konrad has pointed out, a closer inspection of Trump’s international agenda reveals his administration’s intense focus on trade, energy and maritime control – and that might help explain the otherwise inexplicable folly of the situation in the Strait of Hormuz. 

Trump is determined to bring about an American Golden Age. That involves controlling gas and oil, aggressively reducing China’s expanding control of shipping lanes, and establishing US dominance over key maritime chokepoints.

Trump knows all too well that crisis represents opportunity

Trump knows all too well that crisis represents opportunity

In April last year, Trump signed an Executive Order called “Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance.” In December, at around the same time his National Security Strategy was unveiled, he also announced a new US initiative to build a “Golden Fleet” of “Trump-class” carriers with the aim of out-classing the Chinese navy long into the future.

The move was widely scoffed at by military analysts who tended to ignore how a Golden Fleet might fit into Trump’s broader agenda of disrupting global trade through tariffs to advance America’s strategic and long-term economic interests.

First on that agenda: the western hemisphere. In the inaugural address of his second term, Trump declared that America had given away the Panama Canal: “Above all, China is operating the Canal and we’re taking it back.” His administration promptly pressed Panama to pull out of China’s belt and road initiative, and has since introduced the “Shield of Americas,” a US-led military alliance which aims to counter drug-trafficking by controlling the Caribbean.

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Iran........

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