U.S. President Donald Trump: The Strait of Hormuz Belongs to the U.S. in a Real Sense, Ships Can Only Enter with U.S. Permission
U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the Strait of Hormuz belongs to the U.S. in a real sense, and ships can only enter with U.S. permission. This statement was summarized by the White House on August 14. In the same month, he also mentioned that currently, only the U.S. Navy controls the strait, describing the blockade as a steel wall with 100% control.
On September 30, he revised his statement at a Hispanic Heritage Month event to say that the U.S. has almost complete control, claiming that more oil has passed through the strait in the past three days than at any time in its history. He also stated that the Iranian military has been completely defeated and that the war will end soon in one way or another. In October, he reiterated on the Glenn Beck show that the strait is operational, with occasional drones or rockets, but it is usable.
The war began in late February. Trump initially expected it to last four to five weeks. The U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran, which retaliated against Israeli and U.S. military targets in the region, leading to a ceasefire in April. In June, Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum on freedom of navigation in the strait, but it did not materialize due to security disagreements. The White House stated that after the blockade was reinstated in July, Iran's coastal oil exports dropped to zero, with 75 ships attempting to break through being turned back.
The figures released by the White House on August 28 indicated that international shipping lanes have been cleared of mines, with nearly 1,500 merchant ships passing through under U.S. military protection, exporting 750 million barrels of crude oil. Gulf oil exports have returned to two-thirds of pre-war levels and continue to rise. Before the war, this waterway accounted for about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas. The main part of the waterway is located in the territorial waters of Oman and Iran.
On April 7, when asked if he could accept Iran charging tolls, he retorted why it shouldn't be the U.S. that collects them, claiming the U.S. is the winner. The Associated Press recorded that he sometimes included reopening the strait and ending the blockade of Iranian ports in proposed agreements, while at other times referring to the waterway as U.S. territory and implying that tolls could be charged to passing ships. Reopening the strait was not the original goal at the start of the war in February.
This is a re-pricing of passage rights, not the production of new oil fields. The buyers are countries that still need Gulf crude oil and liquefied natural gas, while the sellers are Iran, whose coastal exports have dropped to zero due to the blockade, and shipowners who must pay for war risks, reroute, or wait for clearance. The beneficiaries are Gulf oil-producing countries that can ship under U.S. military clearance, while the pressured parties are Iran, which has lost revenue from the strait, and importing countries that anchor the costs of refined oil and fertilizers to this waterway.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
The dispute over passage rights in the Strait of Hormuz did not begin with this speech. During the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, tankers were attacked in the Gulf, and the U.S. provided escort for Kuwaiti tankers. In 2019, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard seized a Gulf tanker, and the UK seized an Iranian tanker. After 2023, Houthi forces harassed shipping in the Red Sea, causing ships to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope. Trump applied the same logic to the Strait of Hormuz this time, changing the wording from escort to ownership and tolls.
Resource mobilization is embedded in the blockade and clearance. The White House stated that after July, Iran's coastal exports were zero, with nearly 1,500 merchant ships and 750 million barrels of crude oil passing under U.S. military protection, and Gulf exports returning to two-thirds of pre-war levels. The freedom of navigation memorandum from June did not materialize. In April, he had already discussed taking tolls from Iran. If the money is collected as he claims, it is for passage rights, not mineral rights. The maritime boundary between Oman and Iran has not changed due to this statement.
This can be compared to the tolls after the nationalization of the Suez Canal in 1956 and the tolls charged by ship type after the expansion of the Panama Canal. Trump has previously stated he wants to regain influence over the Panama Canal. The industry position is wartime control, not the peacetime international strait transit regime. Before the war, about 20% of oil and liquefied natural gas passed through here, and this proportion has already become invalid since the war began.
Structurally, there is a transfer of pricing power. The passage rights of international straits were originally enforced by navigation rules and coastal states, with insurance costs determined by war risks. The U.S. military's clearance, interception of ships, and toll collection ideas shift the price from tanker insurance to passage permits. Oil-producing countries must accept clearance conditions to ship, while importing countries must accept the added passage costs and supply disruptions. The claim of ownership does not complete the transfer of sovereignty; what is completed is who decides whether ships can pass.