Never mind?
Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
For weeks, President Trump has been issuing bellicose threats to Iran over its de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Reopening the strait and relieving the pressure its closure has had on the global energy market has been one of the few (revised) war goals Trump has been consistent about, and the Pentagon has been reportedly preparing for ground operations to that end. But now that the Iran war threatens to stretch on for far longer than Trump expected, and despite the price of gas rising over $4 in the U.S., he’s apparently considering abandoning the strait entirely and letting the rest of the world figure out how to clean up his big mess. That’s if they can see through the fog of his mixed messaging.
Last night, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump has been telling aides that he’s willing to end U.S. military operations without addressing Iran’s control of the strait, which would mean just leaving the resolution of that massive problem to a later date and/or other countries. Secretary of State Marco Rubio conspicuously omitted the strait from his list of U.S. war goals Tuesday morning, and Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said this week that it would be reopened “over time.” But Trump also posted an early morning Truth Social message in which he vowed to blow up Iran’s electric, oil, and desalinization infrastructure if the regime didn’t cut a deal and unblock the strait.
Then on Tuesday morning, Trump posted a new Truth Social message instructing “all of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz” to sail their warships down and “go get your own oil!”
All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT. You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!
“The U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore” may sound like an announcement of departure from the entire war, but Trump and Defense secretary Pete Hegseth were quick to clarify — sort of — that he didn’t mean that.
During Hegseth’s Tuesday press briefing, he claimed that “the president was clear this morning in his Truth” that other countries “ought to be prepared to step up on this critical waterway” and also that reopening the strait is “an outcome that the president has been very clear on.”
CBS News called Trump to ask about whether he meant that he was pulling U.S. forces from the fight, and he told them, “At some point I will, not quite yet.”
The New York Post spoke with Trump, too, and he told them, “We’re not going to be there too much longer … but we have more work to do in terms of killing their offensive, whatever offensive capability they have left.” He said that he doesn’t think about the strait and that it would somehow be automatically reopened after the U.S. pulls out:
“Well, I think it’ll automatically open, but my attitude is, I’ve obliterated the country. They have no strength left, and let the countries that are using the strait, let them go and open it … because I would imagine whoever’s controlling the oil will be very happy to open the strait,” he said …
Pressed on a Wall Street Journal report that said he was willing to end the war without reopening the strait, Trump said: “I don’t think about it, to be honest. My sole function was to make sure that they don’t have a nuclear weapon. They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon. When we leave the strait will automatically open.”
On Tuesday evening, Trump told reporters that the war would continue for a few more weeks, gas prices would automatically go down afterward, and countries will have to “fend for themselves” in the strait:
We will be leaving very soon, and if France or some other country wants to get oil or gas, they will go up through the … Hormuz Strait. They’ll go right up there and they will be able to fend for themselves. I think it will be very safe actually. But we have nothing to do with that. What happens in the strait — we aren’t going to have anything to do with, because these countries — China — China will go up and fuel up their beautiful ships and they’ll leave and they’ll take care of themselves. There is no reason for us to do it.
So across less than 48 hours, Trump has said Iran must reopen the strait or kiss its critical infrastructure good-bye; he’s told aides he’s fine with it not reopening; he’s insisted it’s up to other countries to reopen it; he’s claimed it will reopen automatically when the U.S. leaves; and he’s warned that anyone using it will have to fend for themselves.
Even if this is a preview of some pending peace deal in which Iran agrees to end the war in exchange for control of the reopened strait, whether other countries like it or not, it’s quite a bit less than clear. And though Trump has repeatedly said the war is already won, there are a number of reasons why abandoning the strait to Iran would be a major strategic defeat.
This post has been updated.
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