- By Priyanka Koul
- Tue, 14 Jul 2026 11:02 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
A day after US President Donald Trump made the shocking claim of "taking over" the Strait of Hormuz, he announced a transit fee that all ships would have to pay 20 per cent of their cargo. In a fresh claim, Trump said the Strait of Hormuz is open to all ship traffic except for Iran and that he had decided to replace the 20 per cent toll with trade and investment deals that various Gulf states would make with the United States.
Trump told reporters that Gulf countries preferred to invest billions of dollars in the United States instead of paying a toll for using the Strait of Hormuz. “They said, we’d love to do it a different way. We’d love to invest in the US with billions and billions of dollars," Trump said. “I don’t like the concept of a fee."
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said there would be a full blockade only on ships travelling to and from Iranian ports or carrying cargo linked to Iran. He accused the country's leadership of leading it towards total destruction.
He accused Iran's leadership of "lying" and being "violent, malicious".
The US President praised the country's top military officials, naming Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine, and Commander of the United States Central Command Admiral Brad Cooper.
"Oil is flowing like never before, thanks to the awesome Power of the United States Military. A special salute to Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, and Commander of the United States Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper. Because of them, and all members of the Most Powerful Military anywhere in the World, BY FAR, the Strait of Hormuz is open to ALL Ship traffic except for Iran -- and that is because of their lying, violent, malicious leadership, which is taking them down the path of TOTAL DESTRUCTION," Trump said.
"Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States. Those Investments will be MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future," he added.
"As everyone is aware, we have the largest dollar investment into the United States of any country in history, but these new investments will make that number even larger, and we will see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the United States at historic levels, which will create additional millions of high-paying AMERICAN jobs! America is WINNING again – winning like never before. The days of Iran killing hundreds of thousands of people, including 52,000 protestors, are OVER, and, most importantly, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!" he concluded.
Trump's Big U-Turn on Hormuz Playbook With 20% Transit Fee Plan
Trump's reversal of his 20 per cent toll plan came a day after he announced the proposed fee. The US president on Monday made the shocking claim of "taking over" the Strait of Hormuz as the "Guardian Angel of the Strait" and suggested that he could charge wealthy nations a fee in the future.
He said, "We're taking over the strait. They've got nothing." He also asserted that the closure of Hormuz had remained a threat from Iran for 47 years and that the US should have addressed it "47 years ago".
He also accused Iran of being responsible for the breakdown of negotiations, stating that leaders from Tehran took part in an 11-hour round of discussions during which "everything was agreed to" before they began requesting changes.
"We're going to keep the strait, and we'll probably run it. We'll become the guardian of the strait. Maybe we'll call it the guardian angel of the strait. And we should be reimbursed for that," he said.
He emphasised that the US had been guarding the crucial waterway without compensation until now, indicating a plan to charge for providing security. "We're going to get paid for guarding it. A lot of money, but we just want to be reimbursed for doing all of this, for putting our people in danger," he said in the interview.
Meanwhile, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority of Iran said on Tuesday in a post on X that during the three weeks following the signing of the MOU and prior to the recent hostile actions by the US forces that led to the closure of the Strait_of_Hormuz, "over 200 non-Iranian vessels coordinated with #PGSA to receive passage permits and insurance coverage".
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Fresh tensions have emerged in West Asia, with strikes involving Iran and the United States casting a shadow over the interim peace deal between the two countries. The conflict started on February 28, with Iran on one side and the US and Israel on the other. The conflict has affected maritime transit and energy supply chains.