President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to muse about who gets to charge ships for passing through the Strait of Hormuz — and landed on an answer that put the United States, and himself, at the center of it.
In a post Wednesday, Trump declared there would be “NO TOLLS in the Hormuz Strait for 60 days” during what he called the “Cease Fire Period,” and “NO TOLLS after the 60 day period has expired” — with one sweeping exception. The carve-out: tolls “imposed by and for the United States of America,” should the underlying deal collapse.
The justification he offered was pretty clear. The fees, he wrote, would be compensation “for services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East,” covering “past, present, and future reimbursement of costs.” He signed off, as he often does, with “Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!”
The post recasts a fragile ceasefire — one Trump secured only after threatening that Iran’s “whole civilization will die tonight” — as a kind of protection arrangement, with Washington positioned to bill the region for the privilege of safe passage.
His latest post openly contemplates American tolls rather than ruling them out.
Iran, for its part, has confirmed it won’t collect tolls for 60 days but, per semiofficial outlet Tasnim, plans to start charging “for services” once the window closes — leaving both Washington and Tehran eyeing fees on the same waterway.
The stakes behind the bravado are real. Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil — about 20 million barrels a day — moves through the Strait of Hormuz, alongside much of the globe’s liquefied natural gas.
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