U.S. President Donald Trump said the Strait of Hormuz’s role in energy transportation would decline because of alternative routes and pipelines, and announced that new sanctions against Iran were being prepared.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said the sanctions would be “strong” but did not give a date for when they would take effect.
Oil transportation through the Strait of Hormuz
Trump claimed that the Strait of Hormuz was entirely under the control of the U.S. Navy and that only ships approved by the United States could pass through it. He said large quantities of oil were transported to world markets through the strait.
Listing Texas, Alaska and Louisiana, along with other routes, among the alternatives for transporting oil, Trump claimed that numerous new pipelines were being built. He said these developments would reduce the Strait of Hormuz’s strategic importance compared with the past.
Debate over exercises with South Korea
Trump said his relations with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un were good and that large-scale joint military exercises with South Korea were no longer necessary.
Describing the exercises as “humiliating” for North Korea, Trump claimed that Pyongyang had treated the United States well. He said Kim Jong-un had not established good relations with former U.S. presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden but had been able to reach an understanding with him.
Trump said there had been no problems between Washington and Pyongyang during his presidency and also expressed his displeasure that South Korea had refused to help the United States in the war against Iran.