United States President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the U.S. military will seize control of the Strait of Hormuz, reinstating a naval blockade against Iran and demanding a 20% reimbursement fee on all commercial cargo transiting the vital global energy route.
The sweeping foreign policy declaration, made during a Fox & Friends interview and followed by an official social media directive, marks a dramatic escalation in the ongoing conflict between Washington and Tehran.
Trump declared that the United States will now officially be recognized as “THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT”. He emphasized that the U.S. will no longer secure the critical choke point—through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil flows—without direct compensation from foreign nations.
“We guarded the strait for 50 years or more, and we never got paid for it,” Trump stated during his television appearance. “Now we’re going to guard it, and we’re going to get paid for guarding it. A lot of money… we just want to be reimbursed for doing all of this, for putting our people in danger.”
According to reports published by Al Jazeera and Bloomberg, the 20% tariff will be levied on all shipping cargo to offset the operational costs of American naval forces. Trump clarified that the newly enforced blockade will selectively target Iranian vessels and their customers, allowing other nations “fair and open use” of the corridor.
The aggressive naval strategy follows the abrupt collapse of intensive weekend negotiations. Trump revealed that U.S. representatives and Iranian negotiators had engaged in an 11-hour marathon session on Sunday and reached a comprehensive agreement, only for Tehran to backtrack hours later.
“Everything was agreed to yesterday,” Trump said. “And they leave the room, and they call back, and they say we had to make a couple of changes… They always break it. We’re just going to hit them very hard.”
The announcement coincides with a heavy exchange of missile and drone strikes across the region. Over the weekend, U.S. forces pounded at least 140 targets along the Iranian coast, hitting key port cities such as Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island. In response, Iranian forces and regional proxy groups launched retaliatory strikes, triggering air defense alerts in neighboring Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) previously declared the waterway closed and warned that continued American military intervention risks devastating the global energy sector. Iranian command centers have issued warnings that sustained U.S. actions could engulf the entire Middle East in an uncontainable war.
According to BBC News, the White House intends to begin the implementation and formation of the maritime collection process immediately. However, the administration has not yet clarified the exact legal mechanisms or logistics required to enforce a 20% tariff on international shipping lanes.
