WASHINGTON — President Trump declared Monday that the US will be “taking over” the Strait of Hormuz following another round of airstrikes against Iran overnight.
“We’re taking over the strait. They have nothing. They’ve got nothing,” Trump, 80, told “Fox & Friends” when asked about Iran’s claims to have closed the critical waterway.
“So we’re just going to hit them very hard, and we’re going to, we’re going to keep the strait, and we’ll probably run it,” the president later added. “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 … We guarded it for nothing, and now we’re going to guard it — we’re going to get paid for guarding it.”
Before the beginning of Operation Epic Fury Feb. 28, nearly a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil flowed through the Strait of Hormuz annually.
The White House had brokered an extended cease-fire with Iran in early April, followed last month by a preliminary peace deal known as a memorandum of understanding, but the pact has fallen apart amid contention over the status of the strait.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
