Trump threatens Strait of Hormuz takeover, seizing 20% of oil revenue

President Donald Trump threatened to seize the Strait of Hormuz and impose tolls on oil shipments, escalating a confrontation that risks disrupting 20% of global crude flows.

Trump said the US may take over the Strait of Hormuz and charge tolls, claiming the move would capture 20% of oil revenue, in a Fox News interview that marked a sharp escalation in the standoff with Tehran.

"I told the Iranians that if they close the strait, they will have no country," Trump said, adding that he used profanity during an overnight phone call with Iranian officials.

The threat came hours after Iran's military said it had again closed the waterway, citing Israeli violations of a ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon that was part of a framework deal signed June 15. US Central Command said 55 vessels carrying 17 million barrels of oil passed through Saturday, denying the strait was shut.

The standoff threatens to unravel the 60-day ceasefire memorandum signed Wednesday, which was meant to reopen the strait and pause hostilities. With 20% of global oil and 30% of fertilizer trade transiting the chokepoint, any sustained closure would send crude prices surging and test already strained global supply chains.

Ceasefire unravels as Israel, Hezbollah trade fire

The framework agreement's centerpiece — a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon — began fracturing almost immediately. Israel said Hezbollah fired more than 50 projectiles at its forces in southern Lebanon overnight, while Israeli airstrikes killed at least 35 people in Lebanon on Saturday, according to local authorities. Five Israeli soldiers died in separate incidents over the past two days.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to withdraw from a self-declared security zone in southern Lebanon, saying the military will remain "for as long as Israel's national security demands it." The Lebanese government considers the territory illegally occupied under international law.

Talks proceed as mutual distrust deepens

Vice President JD Vance departed for Switzerland on Saturday for negotiations with Iran, with special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner already on the ground handling technical elements. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghai said negotiators were heading to Switzerland but warned that "if the other side refuses to meet its obligations, Iran will not do so either."

Trump's Truth Social post Saturday barred Iran from charging tolls during the 60-day period but left open the possibility that the US could impose them "should the deal not be completed," framing the charge as compensation for acting as the region's "guardian angel."

The confrontation echoes the period before the February 28 outbreak of war, when Iran first used the strait as a pressure point. The previous closure sent global fuel costs soaring and tested agricultural markets dependent on fertilizer shipments through the waterway, while investors piled into safe-haven assets including gold and the US dollar.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.