President Donald Trump announced Monday that the United States will assume control over the Strait of Hormuz, declaring America the “Guardian of the Hormuz Strait” and imposing a 20% fee on all cargo shipped through the strategic waterway .
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the U.S. is reinstating what he called the “Iranian blockade,” restricting Iranian vessels and customers from entering or leaving the strait while allowing all other countries “fair and open use” .
“The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,’ but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World,” Trump wrote.
The announcement follows a weekend of heavy exchanges between U.S. and Iranian forces. This came just few weeks after both countries signed an agreement to open the strategic passage.
Iran attacked a container ship in the strait on Sunday, prompting multiple U.S. airstrikes on Iranian targets. In a Fox News interview earlier Monday, Trump said the U.S. had “guarded the strait for 50 years and never got paid for it” and that other nations “made all the money” . “We’re going to get paid for guarding it. A lot of money,” he said.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps swiftly pushed back, asserting Tehran’s continued authority over the waterway. The IRGC declared that Iran “will not, under any circumstances, allow the United States to interfere in the management of the Strait of Hormuz”.
Iranian state media had declared the strait closed “until further notice” on Saturday, a claim Trump rebuffed .
It remains unclear how the proposed 20% fee would be implemented, under what legal authority, or how international shipping operators and other nations would respond . Oil prices rose nearly 5% following the announcement before easing back.
Before the war began on February 28, approximately one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas passed through the strait .
The move further strains a fragile 60-day ceasefire deal signed in mid-June, which explicitly prohibited Iran from imposing tolls but left the strait’s future administration to Iran, Oman, and other Gulf states. Trump declared the ceasefire “over” last week amid repeated attacks in the region .
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