President Donald Trump pivoted Tuesday from his proposal for the U.S. to charge a 20% fee on the cargo carried by ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
“Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The U.S. resumed its naval blockade of the strait at 4 p.m. ET, according to U.S. Central Command, which indicated that a significant presence of U.S. assets has returned. The blockade had been lifted during the ceasefire that has since been breached.
“There are currently more than 20 U.S. Navy warships and hundreds of military aircraft operating across the Middle East. American forces remain vigilant, lethal, and ready,” it said.
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In the hour before the blockade resumed, CENTCOM reported launching additional strikes against Iranian capabilities to prevent attacks on ships in the strait.
Trump elaborated on the change in his fee proposal to reporters ahead of a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, saying that countries in the region offered to enact investment deals with the U.S. instead of paying fees. He said those proposals changed his mind.
“I was called by different people, different countries, kings and emirs, and all of the people that we all know and we all love,” Trump said. “And they said we’d love to do it a different way. We’d love to invest in the United States with billions and billions of dollars.”
Trump did not mention any new commitments from Gulf countries such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which the White House says have already pledged trillions of dollars in investments collectively.
In the reversal, Trump aligned his statements with those of his advisers, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that no country, including the U.S., should place a fee on vessels in the strait.
“I don’t think anybody should be able to charge a fee for the strait or for any other strait relationship in terms of other sections of the world,” Trump said. “I don’t think anybody should be really in that position, but we were doing it as a reimbursement. The Gulf states are going to invest a tremendous amount of money into the United States, and that was very satisfactory to me.”
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