‘They are the ones that rely on it’: Trump demands 7 countries to send warships to keep Strait of Hormuz open | World News

4 min readUpdated: Mar 16, 2026 12:06 PM US President Donald Trump said that  he is in talks with other countries to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil shipments, which is affected the escalating tensions amid the war between Israel, Iran and the United States.
He also opined that the oil prices would come “tumbling down” once the war is over, which he said, “will be over pretty quickly”.
Without naming the nations that he has approached, Trump indicated that he was calling out the nations that were heavily dependent on Middle Eastern oil supplies and that they should take greater responsibility for policing the route of Strait of Hormuz
“We had some very good results today in Iran, very strong results militarily. We are talking to countries about policing the Strait of Hormuz because they are the ones that rely on it for oil. The US gets very little oil from there, about 1 or 2 per cent, but China, for example, gets about 90 per cent of its oil through the strait of Hormuz. It would be good if other countries helped police it with us, and we will work with them,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

“Militarily, as far as I am concerned, we have essentially defeated Iran. They may have a little bit of fight back left, but not much. We have taken out their air force, navy and air defence. We attacked Kharg Island but left one small area where the oil pipelines come in. We can take that out within five minutes if we want, everything is locked and loaded and ready to go,” he said.

VIDEO | Onboard Air Force One: US President Donald Trump says, “We had some very good results today in Iran, very strong results militarily. We are talking to countries about policing the Strait of Hormuz because they are the ones that rely on it for oil. The US gets very little… pic.twitter.com/yS7PDzPDiO
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 16, 2026
‘They use AI and fake news,’ Trump accuses Iran of spreading misinformation amid war
Trump accused Iran of spreading disinformation amid the war with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI), stating that the Islamic Republic disseminates “fake news” to misrepresent its wartime successes.
“Iran spreads disinformation. They use AI and fake news,” Trump said aboard Air Force One while talking to the reporters.

VIDEO | Onboard Air Force One: US President Donald Trump says, “Iran spreads disinformation. They use AI and fake news. USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) was never attacked. Their Kamikaze boats are AI-generated, they don’t ex, they are fake.”
(Source: Third Party)
(Full video… pic.twitter.com/vFfFyxzpwv
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 16, 2026
He said that USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) was never attacked and Iran showed “kamikaze boats” in their videos, which “do not ex”.Story continues below this ad
“USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) was never attacked. Their Kamikaze boats are AI-generated, they don’t ex, they are fake,” he said.
He further said that Tehran put out clippings of people supporting Khamenei, which was “totally AI-generated”.
“Iran showed around 250,000 people at a square supporting Khamenei; it was totally AI-generated. It never took place; the rally was fake,” POTUS said.
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