Ankara / Anatolia

U.S. President Donald Trump said that his country will keep the Strait of Hormuz under its control, and that it will "likely manage" transit operations there, in exchange for receiving money.

This came in statements made by Trump on Monday during his appearance on a program on the American Fox News channel, regarding tensions with Iran.

In response to the program host's question about Iran's stance on the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said: "We are taking control of the strait. They (the Iranians) don't have anything."

He added that his country will continue to "hit Iran hard," adding: "We will keep the strait under our control, will likely manage it, and will be its guards."

Trump stated that his country will charge money for "guarding" the strait, adding: "We cannot be expected to do that for free, unlike what we did for many years."

He continued: "We protected the strait for more than 50 years and did not charge any money for that, while they (the Iranians) got all the money."

He noted that his country had undertaken during that period "protecting the Strait of Hormuz for free."

In a related context, Trump claimed that his country had reached an "agreement" with the Iranian side, which later backed out according to him, and that talks between the two sides lasted 11 hours yesterday, Sunday.

He explained: "The agreement was ready, but they backed out later. They always back out. We made 10 agreements with these people."

The night of Saturday/Sunday witnessed mutual strikes between Washington and Tehran, while the Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to maritime navigation until further notice.

The Strait of Hormuz region is experiencing security tensions against the backdrop of the war launched by the United States and Israel on Iran on February 28, 2026.

Washington and Tehran had signed last June a memorandum of understanding that included a ceasefire, following Qatari and Pakistani mediation, ahead of reaching a final agreement to end the war, before U.S. President Donald Trump announced on July 8 of this month the end of the ceasefire on the backdrop of renewed escalation.