Trump declares Strait of Hormuz open as commercial traffic tells a different story

President Donald Trump declared the Strait of Hormuz “very functioning” on August 27, claiming the US has established greater control over the critical waterway and dismissing Iran’s response to the situation as mild. The only problem with that framing: an oil tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile in the strait on the same day he made those comments. Commercial traffic through the world’s most important oil chokepoint has collapsed to roughly a dozen vessels per day. That’s down from a pre-conflict norm of around 130 daily transits, a decline of more than 90%. What Trump actually said Speaking on August 27, Trump described the strait as operational and insisted that any mines in the waterway had been cleared. He acknowledged limited drone and rocket threats but framed them within a broader narrative of US naval dominance in the region. A day later, on August 28, Trump doubled down. He stated the US maintains control over the strait and has no intention of entering into renewed talks with Iran. Iranian officials have insisted they will not fully reopen the strait until the US lifts sanctions and ends what Tehran characterizes as a blockade on Iranian ports. A deal that had...