Washington: US President Donald Trump signalled a potential shift in American policy on securing the Strait of Hormuz, suggesting that other countries may need to take responsibility for protecting the critical shipping lane once US operations wind down.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House that Washington may not continue its role in safeguarding the strategic waterway after concluding its current military engagement with Iran.
“What happens to the Strait we’re not going to have anything to do with,” he said, indicating a possible withdrawal from security operations in the region.
The Strait of Hormuz is a vital corridor for global energy supplies, with a significant portion of the world’s oil shipments passing through it daily.
Trump suggested that nations benefiting from the route should take on greater responsibility. “That’ll be for France… that’ll be for whoever’s using the strait,” he said.
He also pointed to major energy consumers. “China will go up and they’ll fuel up their beautiful ships… and they’ll take care of themselves,” Trump said.
The President argued that the US had already addressed immediate threats in the region. “We hit them hard. We got rid of a lot of the radicalized lunatics along the Strait,” he said.
Trump expressed confidence that maritime conditions would stabilise after US forces withdraw. “When we leave, probably that’s all cleared up,” he said.
He added that shipping activity was already improving. “Today, I heard tremendous numbers of ships were sailing through,” Trump said.
At the same time, he acknowledged the vulnerability of the waterway to disruption. “A guy can take a mine, drop it in the water and say, oh, it’s unsafe,” he said.
The remarks signal a potential recalibration of US naval commitments in one of the world’s most strategically sensitive regions.
(IANS)
