Hormuz again
Open? Closed? Half-open?
You be the judge. See this:
The U.S. military has quietly established a shipping corridor in and out of the Strait of Hormuz to transport millions of barrels of oil each day — a notable success even as the broader war remains at a stalemate, two U.S. officials told Axios.
Under the operation, which has been underway for the last several weeks, 15–20 tankers have entered and exited the strait each night through a southern channel along the coast of Oman.
About 10 million barrels of oil a day — roughly half the pre-war volume — are being transported out of the strait and injected into the global energy market, the officials said.
And there’s this:
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has already enacted numerous sanctions and economic punishments against the Islamic Republic of Iran as the conflict with the U.S. grinds on, but President Trump took to Truth Social Wednesday evening to announce he’s taking things to a whole new level.
Using his trademark all-caps style, he promised to unleash an “ECONOMIC D-DAY” that will be the “MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY!” He also warned other nations that if they throw any lifelines to the mullahs, they will pay a steep cost courtesy of the U.S.
Seems to me we’ve heard this before.
Well, the Washington has arrived on station and replacing the Lincoln, so the firepower is there. I don’t understand what Trump is doing. He just seems unwilling to finish them off. I agree with Derek Hunter:
https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2026/08/20/heres-trumps-problem-with-iran-n2681542
VDH’s latest podcast points out the dichotomy of how effective DJT’s policies have been compared to the record-scratch moments of ridiculousness he puts out in the media/Twitter/etc. I really wish he’d shut up more, but I remain 90+% on board with the actions.
Let’s just call it Schrödinger’s Straits…Open? Closed? It all depends.
We’ve seen this claim before — I hear your skepticism.
I believe the bigger picture puts things right.
YouTuber Steve Turley builds on the story late last afternoon from Axios (top link).
But Trump has reworked the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf using a Southern route, using night cover.
Over 80% of the half+ pre-war volume of traffic now goes through it, astonishing the experts and flooring Trump’s flying monkeys in the establishment. COVERED 4-8m HERE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vclXus0qR0c
Turley then covers the new economic isolation of Iran, Trump just announced yesterday. This means the UEA stops trading with Iran. Can he get China to fall in line? (SEE 8-10m ABOVE LINK.) This remains a task yet to be completed to starve Iran, financially.
And before 14m (after a promotional advert), Turley uses a map of oil trade routes to widen the lens of attention on his ultimate analysis.
The President is either absorbing or neutralizing or bypassing global oil energy chokepoints. For example, US based refineries are now processing half of Venezuela’s oil output!
Trump is thereby resetting the terms of trade in the Master Resource, oil and hydrocarbons.
He’s making trade to reach markets more secure for the US and the world abroad, just as Europe — after the start of Putin’s Ukraine War 4 years ago — has left energy dependence on Russia, now replaced by US Liquid Natural Gas!
Amazing geopolitical work. But does the deal-maker Meistro get credit? Hell no — NEVER!
I think that Trump hopes the blockade will bring Iran down. In my view, Iran is running out of time and soon will need to do something dramatic. My prediction: in the next month or two, Iran will start releasing videos of innocent children starving in Tehran because of the blockade. America’s enemies, such as the UN and Democrats, will accuse Trump of genocide. The Democrats will promise to send Trump to the Hague for war crimes prosecution once they regain power. You heard it here first.