POLITICO — 2026-07-13
News from Brussels
President Donald Trump on Monday said the U.S. will take over the Strait of Hormuz — and will be reimbursed “at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped” for overseeing one of the world’s most critical oil passageways that has been at the center of the U.S.’s re-escalating war with Iran.
“We will become guardians of the strait,” Trump said during an interview with “Fox & Friends” on Monday morning. “We’re going to hit [Iran] very hard and keep the strait, and probably run it.”
His comments arrive on the heels of fresh strikes in the Gulf, where Iran and the U.S. exchanged heavy fire over the weekend.
Trump followed his Fox News interview with a Truth Social post that said the U.S. will reimpose a blockade on Iran.
“All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait,” he said, but added that “as a matter of FAIRNESS, [the U.S.] 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.”
Trump said the “process and formation will begin immediately.”
“We guarded the strait for 50 years and never got paid for it,” Trump said on Fox. “We want to be reimbursed for this, for putting our people in danger.”
Iranian state media declared the strait closed “until further notice” on Saturday — a claim that Trump later rebuffed, telling NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that the waterway was “open” and the U.S. “bombed the hell out of them last night.”
Later on Monday, U.S. forces launched additional strikes against Iran “at the Commander in Chief’s direction,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
“These strikes will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM’s statement read.
Monday’s strikes mark the third consecutive day the U.S. has launched an attack on Iran, a significant escalation of the war after Trump declared the ceasefire “OVER” on Friday.
Although diplomatic talks have continued between the two nations, they appear to be on the ropes. Earlier Monday, an Iranian military spokesperson said the country “will not, under any circumstances, allow the United States to interfere in the management of the Strait of Hormuz, and we will not do so in the future,” according to a state-run news agency.
U.S. crude oil futures rose again Monday on the tensions, climbing more than 5 percent to about $75 a barrel.