Trump Orders Navy Blockade of Strait of Hormuz
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Trump announced on his social media site that the US Navy will blockade the Strait of Hormuz beginning 10 AM ET Monday, April 13, interdicting "every vessel in International Waters" that has paid a toll to Iran — a directive described in the piece as "piracy" under international maritime law.
- China has a Type 055 cruiser, a Type 052D destroyer, and a surveillance ship stationed in the Gulf of Oman, and roughly 80% of China's oil imports transiting the Strait are carried by Chinese-owned or Chinese-connected vessels.
- Russia signed a comprehensive military/security agreement with Iran in January 2025, mirroring China's 2021 strategic partnership, and has been running electronic warfare systems that degrade US radar and communications by up to 80% while reportedly providing targeting intelligence to Iran's military.
- Netanyahu's fraud, bribery, and breach-of-trust criminal trial was halted by Israel's wartime court emergency rules when the war began February 28; the trial is now resuming this week, even as Trump has publicly pressured Israel's president to pardon him "today."
- Péter Magyar and his Tisza party won a decisive victory over Viktor Orban in Hungary with 78% turnout — the highest since the fall of communism — collapsing a key node in the autocratic network the piece ties to Putin and to Trump's own elections.
- Iran's military has killed over a dozen American troops, wounded hundreds, and downed multiple US aircraft using targeting information the article reports Putin has been providing throughout the 44-day war.
Why it matters: The blockade forces an immediate confrontation with China, which has warships in the Gulf of Oman and whose state-linked tankers carry roughly 80% of its Strait oil imports. With Russia already providing targeting and electronic warfare support that degrades US radar and communications by up to 80%, a US interdiction of a Chinese-flagged vessel creates a direct flashpoint between nuclear-armed powers — the same cascading-alliance dynamic the piece argues triggered World War I.
