President Donald Trump reportedly told aides that he’s willing to end the U.S. military operation against Iran regardless of whether the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, according to information from administration officials gathered by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Monday.
According to the officials, President Trump and his aides evaluated that a mission to force the opening of the maritime chokepoint would extend the military campaign beyond the president’s anticipated timeline of four to six weeks.
Administration personnel told WSJ that, “He decided that the U.S. should achieve its main goals of hobbling Iran’s navy and its missile stocks and wind down current hostilities while pressuring Tehran diplomatically to resume the free flow of trade.”
Should diplomatic efforts fail, officials shared that the U.S. would call on its allies in Europe and the Gulf to take charge of reopening the strait.
“There are also military options the president could decide on, but they are not his immediate priority, they said,” WSJ reports.
Other Trump Administration Personnel's Statements on Iran
On Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the U.S. was “working towards” normal operations in the waterway without acknowledging it as part of Washington’s core military objectives.
Additionally, State Secretary Marco Rubio spoke with Al Jazeera on Monday, affirming that the U.S.’s military efforts to achieve its objectives will conclude within weeks.
“Then we’ll be confronted with this issue of the Straits of Hormuz, and it will be up to Iran to decide,” Secretary Rubio stated, “or a coalition of nations from around the world and the region, with the participation of the United States, we’ll make sure that it’s open, one way or the other.”
Over the past month, President Trump’s public rhetoric on the handling of the Strait’s closure has varied substantially, with the president threatening to bomb civilian energy infrastructure if the chokepoint remains closed by a date, while also playing down its significance to the U.S. on separate occasions, affirming that the closure is solely crucial to other nations.
