Trump Dubs USA ‘GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT’ and Relaunches Blockade Against Iran

President Donald Trump on Monday morning said the USA will immediately become the “GUARDIAN” of the Strait of Hormuz — and as such, will be setting a few new rules.

Trump posted on Truth Social the first change is that the blockade against Iranian ships is back on, while all other countries are free to enter and exit the strait. The second change is that the U.S. will now be reimbursed “at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped” through the strait, which Trump said is a matter of “FAIRNESS” because the United States is the country guarding passage.

Read Trump’s full post below:

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.

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. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP

Trump’s post came shortly after he told Fox & Friends the U.S. will “keep” the Strait and will “probably run” it. He floated calling the USA the “guardian angel” of the strait during that appearance, but pivoted slightly a few hours later.

The president also told Fox News that the U.S. will be getting paid “a lot of money” for guarding the strait — something he said is warranted for putting Americans in danger.

That all comes after Iran fired on a Cyprus-flagged merchant ship this weekend in the strait, which led to retaliatory strikes from the U.S. military. Iran claimed it was closing the strait, but U.S. Central Command and Trump both said that was nonsense and that the U.S. was really in charge.

Trump told Fox News on Monday that the U.S. was once again close to a long-term peace deal with Iran before it violated the ceasefire over the weekend.

“We had a deal, it was a done deal and then broke it. They always break it,” Trump said. “We’ve had 10 deals with these people, and so we’re just going to hit them very hard and keep the strait, and probably run it.”

Watch above via Fox News.

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