US President Donald Trump said that he has demanded about seven countries send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, as Iranian strikes continued to rain down on Gulf countries early Monday.
“I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their territory,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on the way from Florida to Washington. “It’s the place from which they get their energy.”
Trump said the U.S. is negotiating with countries heavily reliant on Middle East crude to join a coalition to police the waterway where about one-fifth of the world’s traded oil normally flows, but declined to name them. Japan and Australia have refused to collaborate with US to secure Strait of Hormuz route.
Following the lackluster response from countries, Trump has threatened NATO allies in another attempt to urge them to send their forces to secure Strait of Hormuz.
President Donald Trump says that the NATO faces bad future if the allies didn’t collaborate, in a direct threat to European allies.
US President Donald Trump has demanded that other countries should step in to secure the Strait of Hormuz as the Iran war continues.
“Why are we maintaining the Hormuz Strait when it’s really there for China and many other countries?” https://t.co/MfsFZy8nPS pic.twitter.com/hMWQsmc398
— Bloomberg (@business) March 16, 2026
Iran has maintained a strict control on Strait of Hormuz, attacking the oil tankers attempting to pass through the passage, triggering a surge in fuel price anticipated to unfold in a serious economic crisis for world economies.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a staunch Trump supporter, said on Monday her country, constrained by its war-renouncing constitution, has no plan to dispatch naval vessels to escort ships in the Middle East from where it gets 95% of its oil.
Read more: Benjamin Netanyahu Appears in Public Video After Iranian Media Spread Death Rumours
“We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done within the legal framework,” Takaichi told parliament.
Australia too has denied to send its naval forces on the demands of Trump to open and secure the Strait of Hormuz. “We know how incredibly important that is, but that’s not something that we’ve been asked or that we’re contributing to,” Catherine King, a member of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s cabinet, said in an interview with state broadcaster ABC.
The European Union ministers are also expected to have golden meeting on Monday to discuss the prospects of participating and sending their naval forces on the call of Trump, however sources claims that they are unlikely to extend their role in this conflict.
