{"id":398,"date":"2026-07-13T22:06:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T22:06:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homemovechronicle.com\/?p=398"},"modified":"2026-07-13T22:06:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T22:06:56","slug":"trumps-latest-iran-escalation-comes-with-a-corrupt-new-twist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homemovechronicle.com\/?p=398","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Latest Iran Escalation Comes With a Corrupt New Twist"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This story is adapted from the Slatest newsletter. You can\u00a0sign up here\u00a0to get it in your inbox every day.<\/p>\n

Read more Lindsey Graham\u2019s Greatest Delusion<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Four and a half months after Donald Trump said his war against Iran would last a matter of weeks, the conflict continues to spiral. After a tenuous ceasefire deal collapsed, Trump announced today that he would reimpose a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports\u2014but with a new twist that looks more than a little corrupt. Let\u2019s get you up to speed.<\/p>\n

Back up. What\u2019s the latest on the fighting?\u00a0<\/strong>
As we explained last week, the ceasefire fell apart after Iran reportedly shot at commercial ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, a key trade route it claims control over. The U.S. fired back, and exchanges continued into the weekend. Now Trump says the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports along the strait, which he lifted after the two countries reached their ceasefire deal last month, is back on.<\/p>\n

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So we\u2019re back to where we were before the ceasefire?<\/strong>
Not quite. Trump\u2019s blockade comes with a destabilizing new caveat: He wants the U.S. to collect a 20 percent fee on cargo passing through the strait. As of last week, the Navy had secretly been helping ships navigate a southerly route farther from Iran\u2019s coast, apparently for free. But on Fox News this morning, Trump vowed that the U.S. would \u201cget paid for guarding\u201d the waterway. Oil prices spiked after Trump\u2019s announcement, which amounts to a new tax on oil shipments. Before the war, about a fifth of the world\u2019s supply traveled through Hormuz.<\/p>\n

Is this actually going to happen?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Fair question. Trump is constantly making promises, proclamations, and demands\u2014only some of which end up coming true. But it\u2019s not the first time Trump has made this threat. Last month, he hinted that the U.S. might seek to toll the strait if Iran refused to make a peace deal. Now he seems to want to collect.<\/p>\n

Extortion seems like a pattern for Trump lately.<\/strong>
Indeed. Since returning to office, the president has deposed Venezuela\u2019s leader and forced the country to export oil to the U.S. He has charged countries $1 billion fees to join his \u201cBoard of Peace,\u201d which is meant to help rebuild Gaza but reportedly receives donations via a JPMorgan account without any transparency requirements. And he jawboned dozens of companies to give the federal government equity, the kind of meddling with private enterprise that Republicans once denounced. Transiting Hormuz used to be free, and Iran\u2019s plan to toll it was previously a sticking point in negotiations. Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared (correctly) that international law forbids countries from levying \u201ctolls or fees on an international waterway.\u201d Now, Trump may just want in on the action.<\/p>\n

How will he enforce this?<\/strong>
That\u2019s part of the mystery! Trump claims the strait is \u201copen\u201d and that \u201ccountries will have fair and open use\u201d of it, for a price. In reality, the strait is neither fully open nor under U.S. control. It\u2019s also unclear whether companies or countries will pay the toll. Will the U.S. escort ships, inviting more attacks? Or does Trump plan to escalate the war to try to wrest the waterway from Iran? \u201cWe\u2019re taking over the strait,\u201d he told Fox. But like many of Trump\u2019s other declarations about this war, it\u2019s hard to know how seriously to take that.<\/p>\n

Read more The Supreme Court Isn\u2019t Even Trying to Hide Its Worst Trait Anymore<\/a><\/p>\n

OK! You\u2019re caught up. It\u2019s time to transition into the rest of your night. Here are some recommendations to keep you from doomscrolling:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Inside the secretive lab shaping America\u2019s retail landscape: <\/strong>At a Florida lab few have ever seen, a team of researchers is trying to stave off a purported epidemic of shoplifting. If you\u2019ve ever noticed those locks on drugstore shelves, you\u2019ve seen their research at work. But who is this really for, and does it make a difference? Slate\u2019s Alexander Sammon paid the lab a visit and learned more than he bargained for.<\/p>\n

A behind-the scenes perspective on the Onion\u2019s gloriously unhinged parody: <\/strong>If you could use a laugh, the absurd comedy on offer at the new Infowars might do the trick. Slate\u2019s Lizzie O\u2019Leary chatted with comedian Tim Heidecker about how he\u2019s turning Alex Jones\u2019 conspiracy empire on its head. (You can also watch their conversation on YouTube!)<\/p>\n

A cleaning tip to liberate your home from sticker tyranny: <\/strong>If you have a kiddo in your life, you know that stickers can magically appear on just about every surface within their arm\u2019s reach. Or maybe you\u2019ve experienced the unique frustration of peeling off a price tag and ending up with a stubborn gooey patch? Thankfully, Jen\u00e9e Desmond-Harris has discovered a satisfying way to get rid of stickers and their gross residue once and for all.<\/p>\n

A World Cup prediction:<\/strong> As Jeremy Stahl has watched this tournament progress, he\u2019s become convinced that he knows how it will end. All signs point to one team winning it all.<\/p>\n

RIP, Sam Neill: <\/strong>The New Zealand actor died unexpectedly today at 78. If you\u2019re going to watch one scene of his, I recommend this iconic one from Jurassic Park<\/em>, the 1993 movie that made Neill famous. His portrayal of a paleontologist suddenly discovering that the creatures he\u2019s studied in rock and bone have come to life is just masterful.<\/p>\n

Read more How Comedian Tim Heidecker Turned Alex Jones\u2019 Conspiracy Empire on Its Head<\/a><\/p>\n

Thanks for reading, and have a great rest of your evening!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s an extortion racket on a global scale, and you\u2019re paying for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[158],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-slatest"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump\u2019s Latest Iran Escalation Comes With a Corrupt New Twist - Home Move Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/homemovechronicle.com\/?p=398\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump\u2019s Latest Iran Escalation Comes With a Corrupt New Twist - Home Move Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s an extortion racket on a global scale, and you\u2019re paying for it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/homemovechronicle.com\/?p=398\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home Move Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-13T22:06:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/?p=398#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/?p=398\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/75d86f25dbb870f24983ccc831d1ec4e\"},\"headline\":\"Trump\u2019s Latest Iran Escalation Comes With a Corrupt New Twist\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-13T22:06:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/?p=398\"},\"wordCount\":979,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/?p=398#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/b7bf0a543cab1be8927e99bf606b36bc.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"The Slatest\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/?p=398#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/?p=398\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/?p=398\",\"name\":\"Trump\u2019s Latest Iran Escalation Comes With a Corrupt New Twist - 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