NEW: US Navy Warships Cross Strait of Hormuz For First Time

Well, this should make for a pleasant ice-breaker in Islamabad. Negotiating teams from the US and Iran had a meeting scheduled for the morning in Pakistan, in large part focused on Iran’s pledge to allow unfettered traffic in the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for [checks notes] not getting bombed back to the Stone Age. Instead, Iran attempted to force shippers to pay exorbitant “tolls” in cryptocurrency while continuing to export its own oil. 

We’ll get back to the opening session in a moment. The US Navy decided to enter the chat – as well as the Strait of Hormuz:

Several U.S. Navy ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, a U.S. official told Axios.

Why it matters: The move was not coordinated with Iran. It is the first time U.S. warships crossed the strait since the beginning of the war.

• The operation was aimed at increasing confidence for commercial ships to cross, sources say. It came as peace talks between the two sides kicked off in Pakistan.
• “This was an operation that focused on freedom of navigation through International waters,” the U.S. official said.

Driving the news: The official said the Navy ships crossed the strait from east to west to the Gulf, and then made their way back through the strait to the Arabian Sea.

Was this a demonstration for commercial shipping? Well, sure, because the Iranians no longer have a navy to impose a formal blockade. Donald Trump wants to send a signal that the Strait is open for business no matter what the IRGC says. 

Donald Trump made that point clear enough on Truth Social. He claimed that Iran could no longer lay mines and that the US Navy would clear any that may exist quickly, but that their passage showed that commercial shippers had little to fear:

The Fake News Media has lost total credibility, not that they had any to begin with. Because of their massive Trump Derangement Syndrome (Sometimes referred to as TDS!), they love saying that Iran is “winning” when, in fact, everyone knows that they are LOSING, and LOSING BIG! Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti Aircraft apparatus is nonexistent, Radar is dead, their Missile and Drone Factories have been largely obliterated along with the Missiles and Drones themselves and, most importantly, their longtime “Leaders” are no longer with us, praise be to Allah! The only thing they have going is the threat that a ship may “bunk” into one of their sea mines which, by the way, all 28 of their mine dropper boats are also lying at the bottom of the sea. We’re now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favor to Countries all over the World, including China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, and many others. Incredibly, they don’t have the Courage or Will to do this work themselves. Very interestingly, however, empty Oil carrying ships from many Nations are all heading to the United States of America to LOAD UP with Oil. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP

This, however, was also clearly a signal to Abbas Araghchi and Mohammed Ghalibaf in Islamabad. The Strait of Hormuz is the only leverage Iran has left, or so they believe. The US, however, has at least five carrier groups in that theater and plenty of sea power to force open the Strait. Trump would prefer to leave that to the Europeans who need access to the oil and gas, but since our allies in Western Europe have proven impotent and feckless, Trump apparently decied to do them a “favor,” as he put it. 

But that wasn’t the signal Trump sent. This was intended to demonstrate to Iran’s negotiators that they have no leverage, and that we came to Islamabad to negotiate the terms of their capitulation. If they are not interested in that process, well, Trump has other options:

The WSJ: the US is reinforcing as it talks with Iran. More fighter jets are in theater. 1,500–2,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne are deploying. The USS George HW Bush carrier strike group is coming from the Atlantic. From the Pacific: the USS Boxer & the 11th Marine… pic.twitter.com/6qFFq077Ab

— Mike (@Doranimated) April 11, 2026

Trump warned yesterday that he would decide within 24 hours whether the Iranians were serious about peace talks, or whether we would need to impose the “world’s most powerful reset.” Did the Iranians learn a lesson from six weeks earlier, when Trump gave them the same warning?

Apparently not:

As the meeting kicked off, Tehran publicly stuck to its demands that Israel end the war in Lebanon and the U.S. unfreeze blocked Iranian funds. The direct talks are the first Iran has acknowledged with the U.S. in years, though both sides have previously interacted indirectly. …

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaie insisted Israeli strikes on Lebanon should stop as part of the ceasefire agreed between the U.S. and Iran.

Iran also insists the U.S. must unfreeze billions of dollars of its oil revenue held abroad, something the U.S. has previously refused to do without Iranian compromises on its nuclear program.

The 24 hours Trump mentioned will elapse at about the time that night falls over Tehran. Perhaps Trump will leave a little more room for Iran to recognize that it’s not holding any cards at all, not even a “strait,” as my friend Olivier Knox quipped yesterday. Trump is not known for patience in these situations, however. He plans to reopen the Strait one way or the other, and the Iranian regime will have to decide which version of Iran looks better: 1979 or the Stone Age. 

Editor’s Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.

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