July 14 (UPI) — President Donald Trump backtracked on his stated plan to charge a 20% toll on cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz and said he would accept trade and investment deals with Gulf states.
Trump posted on Truth Social Monday that he would charge a 20% toll on ships crossing the strait.
On Tuesday, he said Gulf states will instead invest in the United States.
“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 posted on his social media platform.
He also claimed, “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. We will therefore have a FULL Blockade, but only on Ships coming to and from Iranian ports, or carrying anything have to do with Iranian cargo.”
The U.S. military Central Command said the blockade of ships to and from Iran would begin at 4 p.m. EDT.
“I think [the strait is] international waters, and there shouldn’t be a toll put on ships by anyone,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., who has defended the administration’s Iran strategy.
Tuesday afternoon, Trump said leaders in the Gulf states changed his mind.
“They said we’d love to do it a different way,” Politico reported Trump told reporters. He said Gulf state leaders told him, “We would like to invest tremendously in the United States, as opposed to charging a fee.”
“By doing it that way, there’s no fee. They’re investing and they’re getting a return on their money and it’s good. But, they’re going to be making massive investments into the United States and I like that much better,” Trump said.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., spoke out against controlling the strait.
“If we’re suddenly going to be the guardian of the strait, that’s not going to just be accepted lying down. That’s going to put more troops at risk and impose more damage on the American economy and raise the costs of this war,” Kaine said.
