{"id":412,"date":"2026-07-15T11:34:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T11:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homemovechronicle.com\/?p=412"},"modified":"2026-07-15T11:34:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T11:34:59","slug":"trumps-iran-bluster-this-week-revealed-the-only-thing-that-really-matters-to-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homemovechronicle.com\/?p=412","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Iran Bluster This Week Revealed the Only Thing That Really Matters to Him"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Trump\u2019s decision to resume and escalate the war in Iran makes even less sense than his decision four and a half months ago to start the war in the first place. More jarring still, Trump announced on Monday that he would also take control of the Strait of Hormuz and charge a 20 percent toll to all ships passing through\u2014which, besides defying credulity, blows to bits the tiny shred of moral claim that he had held against Iran\u2019s government.<\/p>\n

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On Tuesday, just hours later, Trump walked back his demand for a toll\u2014perhaps he was advised that it could double global shipping costs (if it could be enforced)\u2014but supplied no details on how the U.S. would take control of the waterway. Nonetheless, both declarations, as well as the backpedaling, amplify what has been loud and clear for some time\u2014that Trump makes major decisions off the cuff, often with no discussion of their implications, and that nothing he says should be taken seriously.<\/p>\n

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The war with Iran has been back on for a while now. The ceasefire, signed on June 17, was always shaky and collapsed entirely three weeks later, on July 6, when, in response to Iranian attacks on merchant ships, U.S. forces attacked 80 Iranian military targets, including more than 60 small boats manned by the Revolutionary Guard, and, the next day, struck 90 more targets, including air defense systems, missile and drone storage sites, and supply lines along Iran\u2019s coast.<\/p>\n

Then, on Tuesday, Trump restored the naval blockade on Iran, which he had lifted as part of last month\u2019s ceasefire.<\/p>\n

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A statement issued by Central Command claimed the purpose of all this was to \u201cdegrade\u201d Iran\u2019s ability to attack commercial ships in the strait and various installations inside allied countries in the region.<\/p>\n

But \u201cdegrade\u201d is one of those slippery words in military jargon, signifying that an attack would do a lot of damage but acknowledging, sotto voce, that nobody knows how much damage\u2014or, more to the point, what effect the damage might have on the course of the war, much less the likelihood of victory.<\/p>\n

To put it another way: If striking more than 13,000 targets in the 38 days from Feb. 28 to April 7 wasn\u2019t enough to accomplish any of Trump\u2019s stated war aims (re-obliterating Iran\u2019s nuclear materials, destroying its military, or changing its regime), it\u2019s hard to imagine how hitting a few hundred more would tip the scales.<\/p>\n

In some ways, the war to date has been counterproductive. The killing of the entire top echelon of Iran\u2019s leadership on the first day opened the way for the Revolutionary Guard\u2014much more militant, oppressive, and anti-Western\u2014to take full control of the country. The bombing of many civilian structures\u2014including a girls\u2019 school (an accident, but no American has yet taken responsibility or apologized)\u2014has only hardened many Iranians\u2019 loyalty to the regime or at least deadened some dissidents\u2019 hopes that Washington would be on their side.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s main goal now is to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the transit for a quarter of the world\u2019s petroleum. It\u2019s worth recalling that, before Trump started the war, the strait was free and open\u2014not even an issue of discussion. Now it is the fulcrum of Iran\u2019s leverage in a strategy of \u201casymmetric warfare.\u201d Iran will never blunt the massive edge in firepower held by the United States and Israel, but it can exert tremendous counterforce as long as it controls the Strait of Hormuz\u2014and it doesn\u2019t take much for it to keep control. Just a few drones or missiles or dynamite-packed small boats can dissuade shipping companies from entering the narrow waterway.<\/p>\n

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A month ago, in announcing the pending ceasefire, Trump wrote on social media, \u201cI hereby fully authorize the toll-free opening of the Strait of Hormuz. Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!\u201d Trump\u2019s claim was pretense\u2014the Iranians still controlled the transit\u2014and it appeared even more out of whack with reality when the U.S.\u2013Iran memorandum of understanding, the 14-point document that set the ceasefire\u2019s terms, were published a few days later. On the opening of the strait, the MOU obligated Iran only to \u201cmake arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial ships with no charge for 60 days only.\u201d This suggested that Iran would remain in charge of the strait\u2014a privilege it did not enjoy before the war but that Trump and his underqualified negotiators were now enshrining.<\/p>\n

The Iranians cite this aspect of the MOU to justify their attacks on certain commercial vessels. Their rationale is dubious and their behavior reprehensible, but they are right in criticizing the U.S. and Israel for failing to live up to other articles in the document (e.g., the U.S. lifting frozen Iranian assets and Israel observing a ceasefire in Lebanon).<\/p>\n

Here is where Trump\u2019s recent statements only worsen our standing in the war\u2014and the world. On Monday morning, in an interview on Fox & Friends<\/em>, he said, \u201cWe will become guardians of the strait. We\u2019re going to hit [Iran] very hard and keep the strait, and probably run it.\u201d As part of this guardianship, the U.S. will charge a toll of \u201c20 percent on all cargo shipped.\u201d<\/p>\n

First, he did not explain how the U.S. would take control of the strait, mainly because there is no way it can, short of stationing ground troops along its shores on Iranian soil, which Trump isn\u2019t likely to do, in part because his \u201cbase\u201d would go nuts.<\/p>\n

But the assertion of tolls, however briefly advocated, is more telling. The ironies are multiple. First, in late March, when Iran talked about charging a toll for ships entering the strait, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the idea of anyone\u2014not just Iran\u2014turning the strait into a \u201ctolling system\u201d would be \u201cillegal\u201d and \u201cdangerous to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

More devastating, Iran\u2019s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, mocked Trump\u2019s plan to charge tolls. \u201cPOTUS is absolutely right,\u201d he wrote on social media. \u201cWhoever provides secure and safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz should be compensated for this service. Iran has always been the GUARDIAN of the Strait and will remain so FOREVER.\u201d But, he added, Iran will charge less than Trump would, noting, \u201c20% is of course too much. We will be fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump backpedaled on the toll plan one day after posting it, but, like many of his offhand remarks, it revealed his true state of mind. Rubio and others might tout the fine principle of free passage on open seas and even claim that this is why the U.S. needs to renew its military pressure on Iran. But to Trump, everything is all about money and almost nothing but money. The war with Iran, as he now sees it, is over who controls the strait and who collects the money from that control. He may have been dissuaded from imposing a toll, but this is the way he thinks, and this is how he defines U.S. interests. The old notion that the U.S. acts to preserve certain ideals\u2014which, yes, serve its own interests but also preserve a system that benefits others\u2014is no longer believed by the rest of the world. Trump has told them, after all, that he\u2014the man twice elected to be president of the United States\u2014doesn\u2019t believe it either.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more A Judge Officially Confirmed What Everyone Knows About Todd Blanche and Donald Trump<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Like many of his offhand remarks, Trump’s Strait of Hormuz toll plan revealed his true state of mind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[10,39,55],"class_list":["post-412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-war-stories","tag-donald-trump","tag-iran","tag-war"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump\u2019s Iran Bluster This Week Revealed the Only Thing That Really Matters to Him - 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=412\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump\u2019s Iran Bluster This Week Revealed the Only Thing That Really Matters to Him - 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