Truthout is a vital news source and a living history of political struggle. If you think our work is valuable, support us with a donation of any size.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that the U.S. is supposedly going to take control over the Strait of Hormuz and charge a 20 percent fee — just weeks after his own secretary of state said that “no country is allowed” to impose fees on ships passing through the waterway.

In successive statements on Monday morning, Trump said that the strait is “OPEN, and will remain OPEN,” while also saying that the U.S. is reinstating its blockade on Iran and charging anyone else a 20 percent fee on all cargo passing through the strait. He declared that the U.S. will become the “guardian” of the passage, without specifying what this title means or how it is recognized or implemented.

“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The post came shortly after Trump announced the “guardian” title in an interview with Fox News, saying that “we’re gonna keep the strait, and we’ll probably run it.” He claimed the U.S. has “guarded the strait for 50 years, and we never got paid for it.”

It’s unclear what he’s referring to. Iran and Oman have long administered the strait, as they are the two countries that border the two sides of the passageway.

The Investigation Into the Minab Elementary School Bombing Is Done.........

© Truthout