Trump backtracks on Strait of Hormuz tolls, seeks Gulf-funded investments in U.S.

By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times - Tuesday, July 14, 2026

President Trump said Tuesday he is backing off his plan to charge a 20% toll on foreign ships using the Strait of Hormuz.

Instead, he wants the U.S. to be reimbursed for its security efforts through investment deals sponsored by Gulf-region nations that stand to benefit from a reopened strait.

“Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, 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,” Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social. “Those Investments will be MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future.”

Mr. Trump said he changed his approach after emirs and other regional leaders called him and said they would like to invest in the U.S.

“I like that, actually,” Mr. Trump said, adding that no country should be charging tolls, but he did want reimbursement for security. “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.”

Mr. Trump frequently points to foreign investments in U.S.-based factories, saying it is proof that his tariffs and “America First” agenda are paying off.

“These new Investments will make that Number even larger, and we will see Factories, Plants, and Equipment pour into the United States at Historic levels, which will create additional millions of High Paying AMERICAN Jobs!” Mr. Trump wrote on social media.

The president’s plan to charge tolls on foreign ships, which he floated on Monday, was problematic because it conflicted with his own administration’s stance that no country could charge tolls on shipping in an international waterway.

The Strait of Hormuz was open to commercial traffic before the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran began on Feb. 28. Iran clamped down in retaliation.

The U.S. and Iran were unable to fulfill a mid-June memorandum of understanding designed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and usher in lasting peace.

Now, the countries are jockeying over control of the strait and exchanging airstrikes, threatening to upend energy markets and drag the Gulf region back into war.

Mr. Trump plans to reimpose his blockade of Iranian ports at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

“The Strait of Hormuz is open to ALL Ship traffic except for Iran — and that is because of their lying, violent, malicious leadership, which is taking them down the path of TOTAL DESTRUCTION,” he posted. “We will therefore have a FULL Blockade, but only on Ships coming to and from Iranian ports, or carrying anything have to do with Iranian cargo.”