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President Trump said Monday he is considering a U.S. takeover of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which roughly 20 percent of the world's oil supply passes, as commercial shipping through the corridor has effectively ground to a halt amid the ongoing military campaign against Iran.
"I have been thinking about taking it over," Trump told CBS News in a phone interview from his Doral, Florida, golf club, while also claiming that some ships have already begun entering the strait. He warned Iran against any interference with the passage. "They've shot everything they have to shoot, and they better not try anything cute or it's going to be the end of that country," he said. "If they do anything bad, that would be the end of Iran and you'd never hear the name again."
The Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, is one of the most strategically critical maritime chokepoints on earth. Its disruption has immediate implications for global energy markets and international trade. Trump said the U.S. "could do a lot" about the strait but did not specify what a takeover would look like or whether it would involve a permanent military presence.
The president's comments on the strait came alongside a broader declaration that the military campaign against Iran is all but finished. "I think the war is very complete, pretty much," he said, citing the destruction of Iran's navy, air force and communications infrastructure. "If you look, they have nothing left. There's nothing left in a military sense."
The U.S. military reported striking more than 3,000 Iranian targets in the first week of operations, a tempo Trump said has put the campaign well ahead of his original estimate of about one month. "We're very far ahead of schedule," he told CBS News.
He described Iran's remaining capacity as minimal, saying its missiles are "down to a scatter" and its drone manufacturing facilities are being destroyed across the country.
Yet on the same afternoon the president suggested the war is winding down, the Department of Defense posted on X the phrases "We have Only Just Begun to Fight" and "no mercy," striking a markedly more aggressive tone that appeared to diverge from Trump's near-victory rhetoric.
Asked whether the conflict could wrap up soon, Trump made clear the decision belongs to him. "Wrapping up is all in my mind, nobody else's," he said.
Late Sunday, Iran announced that Mojtaba Khamenei would succeed his father as the country's supreme leader, a transition that keeps power within the Khamenei family. Trump was unequivocal in his dismissal. "I have no message for him. None, whatsoever," the president said, adding that he has someone else in mind to lead Iran, though he did not elaborate.
Seven Americans have died in combat since the campaign began. Later Monday, Vice President JD Vance was set to attend a dignified transfer for U.S. Army Sgt. Benjamin Pennington, who died from injuries sustained in the March 1 attack at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
The gap between Trump's language of near-completion and the Pentagon's posture of escalation left unanswered how much longer the campaign will last, and whether a U.S. move on the Strait of Hormuz would mark a dramatic new phase in the conflict.
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