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President Trump backs off Strait of Hormuz toll less than 24 hours after announcing it
President Donald Trump reversed his proposal to charge ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, citing productive discussions with Middle East leaders, as U.S.-Iran tensions escalate.
Supervising Producer
WASHINGTON —
President Donald Trump has reversed his proposal to charge ships a 20% toll for passing through the Strait of Hormuz, citing highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership.
Trump told reporters that Gulf allies contacted him after his initial announcement Monday, expressing a preference to invest in the United States rather than pay fees for using the strategic waterway. Following these discussions, Trump said he no longer believes anyone should charge a fee for the strait.
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At the same time, tensions in the Middle East are intensifying. Wednesday morning, U.S. Central Command reported it conducted strikes in Iran, targeting missile capabilities, further degrading Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. This followed several hours of strikes on Tuesday. Overnight, Iran attacked neighboring countries that host U.S. military bases.
The U.S. military reimposed a blockade on Iranian ports Tuesday, reversing an earlier decision to lift it.
Trump defended the move, saying, “I gave them a chance. I wanted to give them a chance at making a deal. We had a deal two days ago; it was done. And then all of a sudden, they couldn’t do it — they didn’t like something about the deal, they couldn’t do it.”
During a Fox News interview on Tuesday, Trump said he is considering targeting civilian infrastructure and power plants in Iran next week if negotiations do not progress.
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