Trump claims total control of Hormuz, demands Iran pay reparations as standoff deepens

Livestream Menu Trump said the U. Navy has swept the Strait of Hormuz clear of mines and now holds "100%" control of the waterway. Trump also escalated his demand forreparations, arguing that Iran should compensate the U. The impasse leaves Washington treating its naval presence as a permanent fixture guaranteeing access, while Tehran treating that same presence as the primary obstacle to normalizing traffic. @CL.1 @LCO.1 US President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order calling for more research and flexibility on vaccines, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 10, 2026. Jim Watson | Afp | President Donald Trump said Monday the U. Navy had swept the Strait of Hormuz clear of mines and now holds "100%" control of the waterway, with reparations emerging as the latest flashpoint between Washington and Tehran. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said the U. Navy now has full control of the waterway. "It's open now," he said, adding that the U. S. was "the only one that has control of the Strait of Hormuz right now." He described the U. S. posture as a "steel wall" and said sporadic Iranian mine-laying hasn't changed that. "They will, on occasion, drop a mine, and we find the mine," he said. S. has maintained a naval blockade of Iranian ports since mid-April. Iranian officials have insisted that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until the U. S. agrees to its demands including lifting their naval blockade, while its discussions with Oman over a shipping arrangement would not lead to the waterway being fully reopened. In an attempt at turning the tables on Iran, Trump in a Truth Social post early Tuesday stateside said Tehran's demand for war-damage reimbursements gave him "an interesting idea" — that Iran should instead compensate the U. S. for the people killed or wounded in roadside bombings and other attacks linked to Iran, as well as Iranian protestors that he said have been killed over the past 50 years 's regime. Trump's reparations demand has introduced a new sticking point after Iran laid out its own conditions for reopening the strait on Saturday, a vital waterway that carried roughly a fifth of the world's oil before the war. Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Saturday the strait won't reopen until Washington lifts its naval blockade and sanctions, withdraws American forces from the region, pays war reparations and releases frozen Iranian assets.