Trump: Nobody should ‘be able to charge a fee’ for passage in Strait of Hormuz

US President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in the Oval Office of the White House, July 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
US President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in the Oval Office of the White House, July 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

US President Donald Trump says he doesn’t think anybody should be able to charge a fee for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

“I don’t think anybody should be able to charge a fee,” says Trump, who just yesterday had proposed that the United States would charge a 20% transit fee.

“I don’t like the concept of a fee, but at the same time, it’s not fair that we’re protecting this Strait for the entire world,” he says in remarks to reporters.

Trump says he was called by “kings and emirs” and other leaders who suggested an alternate arrangement.

“They said we’d love to do it a different way. We’d love to invest in the United States with billions and billions of dollars,” Trump tells reporters in the Oval Office.

Trump also says he thinks Iran and Hezbollah will be added to the Russia sanctions bill currently under consideration by Congress.

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