Trump’s tarmac comments sit awkwardly against the news flow of the past several days, with Iran’s top security official reiterating the strait stays closed until Washington meets its conditions, continued Houthi and blockade related shipping attacks, and Brent and WTI both grinding higher on that same uncertainty. One reading traders may take from the remarks, delivered with unusual confidence given that backdrop, is a jawboning attempt aimed at talking down oil and, by extension, US gasoline prices rather than a literal description of current control over the waterway. If markets treat it that way, the practical impact is likely to be limited and short lived, since shipping data and mediator commentary from Qatar and Pakistan carry more weight for pricing than a single presidential soundbite. Still, the comments are a reminder that verbal intervention on energy prices remains a tool the administration is willing to use, and any repeat or escalation of that rhetoric around the November mid-terms is worth watching as a standalone catalyst separate from the underlying supply picture.
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Earlier:
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Trump says the US “owns” Hormuz, which would be news to the tankers still avoiding it.
Summary:
- Speaking on the tarmac after a trip to Ohio, Trump said the situation with Iran is going fine, absolutely fine
- He rejected any suggestion he trusts Iran, saying he is the last person to do so and that Iran has lied to him constantly
- Trump claimed the US has total control over the Strait of Hormuz, saying Iran does not have control and that the US owns it
- He said Iran might at some point do something, in which case they would get blown away, but described the US as currently in a very good position
- The remarks come despite Iran’s top security official saying the strait remains closed until the US meets Tehran’s conditions, and despite continuing Houthi and blockade related attacks on shipping in the region
- The comments could plausibly be read as an attempt to talk down oil and gasoline prices given how sharply they diverge from the on the ground picture reflected in recent shipping and price data
President Trump offered an unusually upbeat assessment of the standoff with Iran on Tuesday, telling reporters on the tarmac after returning from a trip to Ohio that the situation is going fine, absolutely fine. Pressed on whether that framing implied he trusted Tehran, Trump pushed back firmly, saying he is the last person who would trust Iran and that the country has lied to him constantly throughout the conflict.
The most striking claim came on the status of the Strait of Hormuz itself. Trump said the United States currently has total control over the waterway, insisting that Iran does not have control and that the US effectively owns it. He added that Iran might eventually attempt something, in which case they would get blown away, but characterised the US as sitting in a very good position right now.
Those comments land oddly against the broader news flow of the past several days. Iran’s top security official has repeatedly said the strait will remain closed until Washington accepts Tehran’s conditions, including the release of frozen Iranian assets and an end to conflicts across the region. Shipping data has shown traffic through Hormuz running at a fraction of pre-war levels, and separate attacks on vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Oman have continued this week, developments that have helped push both Brent and WTI crude higher over the past several sessions rather than lower.
Given that gap between rhetoric and reported reality, one plausible reading of Trump’s remarks is that they are less a literal claim about military control of the strait than an attempt at jawboning, aimed at talking down oil prices and, by extension, US gasoline prices, a lever the administration has shown a willingness to pull before. Whether the market treats the comments that way or largely ignores them will likely depend on whether they are followed by anything more concrete, since shipping data and statements from mediators such as Qatar and Pakistan have so far carried far more weight with traders than individual presidential remarks. For now, the disconnect between the confident tone of Trump’s comments and the tightening physical market underscores how much of the current oil narrative is still being shaped by competing signals rather than a single, coherent picture from either side of the conflict.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.
