Trump Drops Retaliation Threats as Iran Keeps Hitting Ships in Strait
The president now calls attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz mere 'nuisance value,' a shift from his earlier vows of heavy military retaliation.
President Donald Trump appears to have abandoned his tit-for-tat military strategy against Iran over attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, despite earlier threats of heavy retaliation.
On Wednesday, Trump downplayed the ongoing strikes on vessels in the strait, saying they carried only "nuisance value." That marks a break from the standard the United States had set throughout the summer, when it regularly struck back to protect freedom of navigation in the waterway.
Trump declared the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding "over" on July 7 and threatened heavy strikes on Iran whenever commercial vessels were hit in the Strait of Hormuz or the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. On July 22, he posted that "from this point forward," any Iranian attack on a ship in the strait would be met with the U.S. bombing "ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT," including sites near or in Tehran.
But U.S. Central Command has not announced any military response since its last publicized strikes on Iranian targets on July 29. Since then, 11 commercial vessels have been hit in the Strait of Hormuz or the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, causing multiple crew casualties, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre.
Trump continues to insist the U.S. has "complete control" of the strait, even as attacks continue and commercial shipping traffic has dropped sharply. Crossings of the strait fell 17% on Tuesday from the previous day, to 10 vessels, according to ship tracker Kpler.
The restraint contrasts sharply with Trump's approach earlier in the summer. From when he declared the memorandum dead to the last U.S. strike on July 29, roughly 17 commercial vessels were struck in the two waterways, and the U.S. responded on 16 separate days, including a stretch of 13 consecutive nights of strikes on Iran.
"We just hit them very hard, and I say we hit them 20-1. Every time they hit us, we're going to hit them 20," Trump told reporters on July 7. "And when they hit, we hit back much harder."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed that stance on July 22 at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in the Philippines, saying, "The president's policy is a head for an eye... they will pay a very heavy price." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also reiterated the retaliatory strategy at the time.
This article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), in accordance with our editorial policy.
