President Donald Trump has reversed course on a proposal to charge "20% fees" for cargo moving through the Strait of Hormuz, in favor of what he claimed would be a "massive" series of investment deals with Gulf nations.
In a July 14 post to his Truth Social platform, Trump cited "highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership," following his initial fee proposal the prior day.
"Those Investments will be MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future," Trump said, without sharing specifics regarding what exactly those investments would entail, or how they would be distributed. Trump also reiterated that the U.S. will resume its blockade of ships calling Iranian ports.
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz had briefly started to ramp back up in the days since a temporary ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran in June. However, a fresh wave of attacks between the U.S. and Iran has brought renewed uncertainty, culminating in Trump's threat to reinstate the U.S. blockade of the strait, and to charge cargo fees in exchange for "providing safety and security" to the waterway. It was not clear what the 20% referred to.
