Trump's Strait of Hormuz problem

Trump’s Strait of Hormuz problem
Oil prices surge as the Trump administration shows no clear plan for the world’s most critical shipping lane

By Heather Digby Parton
Columnist
Published March 15, 2026 9:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) Donald Trump has made many audacious claims during his political career, and he has shown a remarkable talent for convincing people that up is down and black is white. But his latest attempt at gaslighting the nation is his most brazen yet. In the midst of a hike in gas prices the likes of which we haven’t seen in decades, Trump took to Truth Social to lecture and scold the American people. “Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace. ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!”

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Trump certainly didn’t listen to any of his military advisers who told him that war with Iran would not be a cakewalk. And none of Trump’s briefers drew him any pictures about what would happen if the regime blocked access to the Strait of Hormuz, the choke point at the end of the Persian Gulf through which 30% of the world’s oil flows. Since the war began on Feb. 28, over 1,000 cargo ships, the majority of which are oil and gas tankers, have not been allowed to pass through the strait.

By Friday night, with frustration mounting, Trump announced the U.S. had bombed military sites on Kharg Island, which is also home to Iran’s most important oil terminal. While its oil infrastructure was left intact, he threatened to destroy the facilities if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened. Hours later, without providing specifics, he said on Truth Social that “Many Countries” would soon be sending “War Ships…to keep the Strait open and safe.” The president urged Britain, China, France, Japan and South Korea to help reopen the waterway, promising that “One way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE!”

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Trump was an adult in 1973 when OPEC (the Arab state members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) cut production in protest of America’s support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War. In an attempt to keep inflation low, then-President Richard Nixon instituted rationing. The country was already entering a period of stagflation — simultaneous recession and inflation — an economic condition that played no small part in weakening Nixon during the same period that Watergate was unfolding, which eventually led to him resigning in disgrace. .....................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/03/15/trumps-strait-of-hormuz-problem/