Donald Trump claims the US Navy has started the process of reopening the Strait of Hormuz
Saturday, Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that the United States had officially started “the blockage process” of the Strait of Hormuz. This operation, presented by the president as a “favor” granted to third countries like China, Japan, France, or Germany, aims to restore free navigation in waters that Washington considers international.
According to several American security sources cited by Axios and the Wall Street Journal, two missile destroyer ships from the US Navy actually crossed the passage on Saturday. This military maneuver is intended to reassure merchant ships, whose traffic has been almost completely interrupted by Iranian activities since the beginning of the conflict. Donald Trump also targeted Iran, claiming that the threat of naval mines belonged to the past, as he believed the majority of the Iranian mine-laying fleet had been sent “to the bottom of the sea” by recent American strikes.
In his message on Truth Social, Donald Trump also criticized the media, claiming that they suggest Iran is winning the war against the United States, “when in reality everyone knows that they are LOSING, and losing BIG.”
On the other hand, Iranian state television relayed the statements of a senior military official formally denying any passage of American warships in the strait. At the same time, maritime tracking services like MarineTraffic note only a very timid resumption of traffic for now, limited to a few dry bulk carriers, far from the return to normalcy expected by energy markets.
Focus on the nuclear dossier
This show of force comes as a high-ranking American delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance, Jared Kushner, and special envoy Steve Witkoff, arrived in Islamabad, Pakistan, to start peace negotiations with Tehran. The complete and unconditional reopening of the strait is one of the central demands of the White House to ensure the sustainability of the two-week ceasefire concluded last Tuesday. Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the presidency, firmly rejected any Iranian intention to impose taxes on ships or require prior military coordination for passage.
Besides maritime security, Donald Trump reiterated that the top priority of these negotiations remains the nuclear issue. “No nuclear weapons. That’s 99% of the agreement,” he declared before his team’s departure for Pakistan. Without providing details, the American president also claimed that “empty tankers from many countries are all heading towards the United States of America to BE LOADED with oil.”
