In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the “Iranian blockade” would prevent only Iranian ships or customers from entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz, while vessels from all other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait.
“The Strait of Hormuz is open, and will remain open, with or without Iran,” Trump said, adding that the US would act as the “Guardian of the Hormuz Strait.”
“We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran’s ships or customers from entering or leaving… The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as “THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,”” – President Donald J. Trump ???????? pic.twitter.com/9iKOWCPq06
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 13, 2026
Trump also said the US would be reimbursed 20% on all cargo shipped to cover the costs of providing safety and security in the Strait of Hormuz, describing the region as highly volatile. He added that the process and framework for implementing the measure would begin immediately.
Earlier, in an interview with Fox News, Trump had said Iran “hasn’t gotten anything” from negotiations with Washington and asserted that the United States would “control the Strait” of Hormuz, as tensions between the two countries continue to escalate.
Trump described Iran’s leaders as “professional negotiators” but said, “Iran didn’t get anything from me.”
He also accused Tehran of reneging on a previous agreement, saying, “We had a deal and they broke it,” and called Iran’s leadership “a bad group of people.”
Trump added Washington should be “reimbursed” for protecting the Strait of Hormuz, adding that the United States could become the “guardian” of the strategic waterway.
Trump further claimed the US had “hit Iran very hard last night” and said Washington would be “paid for guarding” the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically important energy shipping routes.
Notably United States on Sunday night launched a series of missile attacks against Iran, as the two countries issued conflicting declarations over the status of the Strait of Hormuz.
At 5 p.m. ET today, U.S. Central Command forces began launching more strikes against Iran to continue degrading their ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The Commander in Chief has directed the strikes to hold Iranian…
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 12, 2026
The fresh attacks were the fourth from US this week. The US Central Command said that the strikes over the weekend were in response to Iran’s attacks on a Cyprus-flagged container ship.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the US military strikes, describing them as a “gross violation” of the United Nations Charter, particularly Article 2, Paragraph 4.
The article states the prohibition on use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of a state. The ministry said the strikes threatened international peace and security and had undone months of efforts to reduce tension in West Asia.
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(Edited by : Prashant)
First Published: Jul 13, 2026 6:14 PM IST