The United States will be “taking over” the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump told Fox News on Monday.
“We’re taking over the strait. They [the leaders of the Iranian regime] have nothing,” Trump said in a phone interview.
“Yesterday, they had an 11-hour meeting. Everything’s 11 hours with these guys,” the president continued. “Everything was agreed to yesterday. And they leave the room, and they call back, and they say, ‘We had to make a couple of changes.’ I said, ‘Changes? They’re going to make changes? We’re not going to make changes.’
“For 47 years, they’ve been tapping presidents along. Every president got tapped along, didn’t do anything, and they became more and more powerful. This should have been done 47 years ago. It shouldn’t have been allowed to start,” Trump said.
"It looks like they're back at their business trying to take over the Strait..."@POTUS: "We’re taking over the Strait. They have nothing... yesterday, they had an 11-hour meeting... and everything was agreed to yesterday, and they leave the room, and they call back and they… pic.twitter.com/kvVbrTS3yD
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 13, 2026
In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump declared the strait open and that from “this point forward” the United States will be known as “the guardian of the Hormuz Strait.”
He said that America is reimposing the Iranian blockade, “so named because it is only stopping Iran’s ships or customers from entering or leaving. All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait.”
However, Washington will charge 20% on all cargo shipped, plus “costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World,” Trump added.
The U.S. military has carried out four rounds of strikes against Iran since the Islamic Republic resumed attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz on July 7.
Overnight on Sunday, the American military struck dozens of targets across Iran. Precision munitions were deployed against “dozens of targets at multiple locations” to degrade Tehran’s ability to disrupt international shipping in the strait, U.S. Central Command said.
The targets included Iranian air-defense systems, coastal radar sites, missile and drone capabilities, and small boats, according to the statement.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday there was “no doubt” that the June 17 Memorandum of Understanding with the United States had entered a “crisis.”
“Whenever the other side violated its commitments, we also did not implement ours,” the spokesman told reporters, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency. “Going forward, as long as the other side violates its commitments, Iran will also refrain from implementing its obligations.”
