US president claims key shipping route in Gulf back open

US President Donald Trump has said that the Strait of Hormuz has reopened and that vessels are once again able to freely enter and exit the strategic waterway.

Speaking in an interview with Fox Business, Trump said that the waterway was “opening” and that ships were now moving in both directions, while rejecting suggestions to rename it after him, saying he did not like the idea of calling it the “Strait of Trump,” Clash Report said.

US forces say they continue to enforce a maritime blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran has threatened to fully block access to ports in the Persian Gulf if Washington maintains its pressure campaign. Trump has previously suggested the possibility of renewed negotiations with Iran, warning of what he described as “an amazing two days.”

In a separate interview with Maria Bartiromo, Trump said relations with Italy and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni remain tense, describing her as negative. He also criticized US contributions to NATO,  questioning, “why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars a year on NATO if they’re not going to be with us?”

By Vafa Guliyeva