Trump scraps Strait of Hormuz toll, announces Iranian ship blockade
President Trump abandoned his plan to impose a 20% toll on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz and instead announced a blockade on Iranian ships, escalating tensions in the region.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
President Donald Trump has abandoned his plan to impose a 20% toll on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, just 24 hours after announcing it. Instead, he has said the United States will replace the fee with trade and investment deals from Gulf states. The blockade on Iranian ships, however, remains in place.
Trump announced the change on social media, saying: "Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I've decided to replace the 20% United States reimbursement fee with trade and investment deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States." He later told reporters in the Oval Office that calls from Arab allies, including kings and emirs, had changed his mind. "The Gulf states are going to invest a tremendous amount of money into the United States," he said. "And that was very satisfactory to me. I think it's actually much better."
The original plan, floated on Tuesday, would have charged a levy of 20% of the value of cargo passing through the strait. It was widely criticised as illegal under international maritime law and logistically unworkable. The U-turn came as US forces carried out a third night of strikes on Iranian targets, and Iran continued to attack commercial shipping.
Iranian forces struck two Emirati supertankers and a Dutch-Norwegian chemical tanker, killing at least one Indian crew member and wounding others. Iran also launched missile attacks on US bases in Bahrain and Jordan, triggering air defences in Kuwait. The US military said it had used a sea drone for the first time in combat, targeting an Iranian submarine and port. US Central Command reported striking targets across Iran in a five-hour mission, with Iranian media saying three people were killed.
The renewed violence has shattered a fragile ceasefire agreed in mid-June. Before the war, an average of 130 vessels crossed the strait daily. After the memorandum of understanding, crossings rose to a peak of 77, but the latest attacks have reversed those gains. Oil prices have surged again, and the EU's aviation safety agency has advised against flights over several Gulf states.
Analysts say the U-turn highlights a lack of coherent strategy. The White House has not outlined a clear plan C or D after military strikes failed to secure the strait and diplomatic talks collapsed. A satirical protest group in Washington unveiled a 10-foot-tall golden trophy awarded to Trump for his "enthusiastic participation in a war with Iran without military strategy." The White House dismissed the criticism.
The US Navy will now resume stopping ships carrying Iranian oil, a tactic that previously failed to produce a different result. The situation remains a stalemate, with international shipping unable to move freely and the two nations stuck between war and peace.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | BBC NEWS | BBC One | Channel 4 | Sky News |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iran attacked oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, including two UAE supertankers, killing crew members. | ||||
| President Trump proposed a 20% fee on cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, but later reversed the plan after oil prices surged and calls from Gulf leaders. | ||||
| An American sea drone struck an Iranian submarine in port, marking its first use in combat. | · | · | · | |
| The EU's aviation safety agency advised against flights over Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and the Gulf of Oman. | · | · | · | |
| Trump announced a full blockade on Iranian ships. | · | · | · | |
| Trump claimed oil is flowing like never before due to US military power. | · | · | · |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky News focused on the dramatic nature of Trump's social media post and the speed of the U-turn. The correspondent, James Matthews, provided sharp analysis, describing the announcement as a "stunning climb down" and a correction of a mistake. The tone was critical, highlighting the lack of strategy and the president's tendency to make policy on the hoof.
- “Oil is flowing like never before, thanks to the awesome power of the United States military.”
- “the stunning climb down slap bang in the centre.”
- “Donald Trump appears to be riffing on this conflict, making it up on the hoof and is posting on social media with much explanation still to be made.”
BBC ONE West framed the story as a clear U-turn and emphasised the military stalemate. The report included details of ongoing strikes, the use of a sea drone for the first time, and a satirical protest. The tone was factual but highlighted the lack of a clear way forward, ending with the question of what plan C or D might be.
- “Another u-turn from President Trump tonight”
- “It's back to stalemate in the strait”
- “if there is a plan C or a plan D No one in Washington seems to know what it is”
Channel 4 highlighted the speed of the U-turn and the economic consequences, such as rising oil prices and UK government borrowing. The report also noted the broader impact on aviation and the continued conflict. The tone was analytical, pointing out that the war had not gone as Trump wanted and that the strait was not a problem before the war.
- “Even for Donald Trump, the speed of the Volfas was startling.”
- “It demonstrates that the war has not gone the way that President Trump wanted it to.”
- “with the strait backing up once more, the economic consequences starting to build.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.