Trump can’t make up his mind about tolls on the Strait of Hormuz | About That

Why can't Trump just settle on one position?This was on Truth Social yesterday.The U .S.is the guardian of the Hormuz Strait, and as a matter of fairness, will be reimbursed at the rate of 20 % on all cargo shipped through the strait.Not a toll, didn't say the word toll, but he's been thinking about charging one for a very long time.

What about us charging tolls?Is that something you're considering?Why shouldn't we?We're the winner.We won.

Yeah, ever since Iran started charging a toll for passage through one of the world's most heavily traveled shipping lanes, that lightbulb over Trump's head has never really fully gone away.It dims sometimes.

We want it open.We want it free.We don't want tolls.

But even then, that light keeps turning back on.There will be no tolls, he insisted twice in the same post about a month ago, unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America for services rendered as the guardian angel to the countries of the Middle East.

Yeah, I want to be reimbursed because we're protecting a very rich portion of the world.We're spending money.

This is the tension of the U .S.position.Charging a toll for passage through an international waterway is illegal.The U .S.

reminds Iran of this all the time.So Trump has started playing this little word game where he solves the legal contradiction using the power of semantics.Because When is a toll not a toll?When it's simply a reimbursement fee.Trump feels he can charge a rate of 20 % on the value of a ship's cargo to cover the cost of security.That is to say, the U .

S.going to war with Iran, triggering the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and then fighting like hell to get it reopened.Iran plays this word game too, mind you.It talks all the time about managing the Strait.And to the surprise of absolutely no one, there's a management fee attached to that.But here's the twist.

Maybe all of this was always just smoke and mirrors to begin with.or fees or whatever you want to call them, literally one day after Trump announces this 20 % fee, I have 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.Ah, so maybe all this talk of tolls and the upending of the world trade order always missed the point, because maybe this was just leverage.Just another maximalist, world -bending, spur -of -the -moment declaration to knock everybody off balance while the U .S.extracts value from the chaos.

Or maybe the tolls will just be back on tomorrow.