Trump Claims Key Waterway Is ‘In Great Shape’ as Iran Reportedly Attacks Ships in It

The state of the strait is “great,” according to President Donald Trump.

The president painted a rosy picture of the Strait of Hormuz, even as Iran has struck multiple vessels and traffic has been significantly restricted.

Iran has sought to inflict severe economic pain after the U.S. and Israel began bombing the country 11 days ago. Given Iran’s proximity to the strait and its ability to conduct strikes in the waterway from land, the strait, through which 20% of the world’s oil flows, is an obvious point of leverage. On Wednesday morning, three cargo ships were struck with projectiles.

According to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, there have been 22 reported incidents in the strait since the attacks on Iran began on Feb. 28.

On Wednesday, Trump took questions from reporters at Joint Base Andrews after he returned from a rally in Kentucky.

One reporter noted that the administration is supposedly considering intervening in the oil futures markets in a longshot attempt to bring down oil prices, which have predictably spiked.

“Are you considering having the U.S. Treasury Department buy oil futures as a means to keep the oil prices down?” she asked.

The president replied that the situation in the straits is far from dire:

Well, we’re gonna be in very good shape. You see what’s happening. They are pretty much at the end of the line. Doesn’t mean we’re going to end it immediately, but they are– they’ve got no Navy, they’ve got no air force, they’ve got no anti-air traffic nything. They have no systems of control. We’re just riding free-range over that country.

And now we’re gonna look very strongly at the straits. The straits are in great shape. We’ve knocked out all of their boats. They have some missiles, but not very many. I think we’re in very good– we’re in very good shape.

Last week, a longtime energy trader noted on MS NOW that oil prices have been relatively stable for years, but Trump’s “stupid” war “was the only way to screw it up – and he found it.”

Watch above via CNN.

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