{"id":204231,"date":"2026-03-16T01:05:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T01:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-wants-other-countries-to-help-reopen-the-strait-of-hormuz-that-might-not-be-so-easy-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T01:05:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T01:05:07","slug":"trump-wants-other-countries-to-help-reopen-the-strait-of-hormuz-that-might-not-be-so-easy-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-wants-other-countries-to-help-reopen-the-strait-of-hormuz-that-might-not-be-so-easy-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump wants other countries to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. That might not be so easy. – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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U.S. allies and rivals responded cautiously after President Donald Trump<\/a> said they should police the Strait of Hormuz, as Iranian threats<\/a> to strike shipping on the vital trade route continue to cause chaos in global markets.
\u201cMany countries, especially those who are affected by Iran\u2019s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships\u201d to secure the shipping route<\/a>, he posted Saturday on Truth Social, listing China, France, Japan, South Korea, the U.K. and \u201cothers\u201d among the nations he hoped would provide support.
\u201cThe U.S. will also coordinate with those Countries so that everything goes quickly, smoothly, and well. This should have always been a team effort, and now it will be,\u201d he added in a subsequent post.
The Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, which links the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, is a key trade artery through which around a fifth of the world\u2019s oil passes, carried by about 3,000 ships sailing through the corridor each month. But numerous ships have come under attack in the area since the war began two weeks ago, all but bringing a halt to the trade and leading to a dramatic rise in oil prices.
In a phone interview with NBC News<\/a> on Saturday, Trump said several countries would help secure the strait. \u201cThey\u2019ve not only committed, but they think it\u2019s a great idea,\u201d he said. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told NBC News\u2019 \u201cMeet the Press\u201d on Sunday<\/a> that he expects China to be a \u201cconstructive partner\u201d in reopening the strait.
But the nations Trump listed in his original post, which have all been affected by the strait\u2019s closure, have so far responded tepidly to Trump\u2019s request for support.
Tokyo, a close ally of the U.S., has not officially responded to Trump\u2019s call. Its foreign ministry told Japanese outlet NHK that Japan would not immediately dispatch naval vessels at Trump\u2019s request, saying: \u201cJapan decides its own response, and independent judgment is fundamental.\u201d
The French government did not immediately respond to the request. While it has already deployed ships to reassure allies in the wider region, and French President Emmanuel Macron has previously raised the prospect of escorting ships through the strait in the future, its foreign ministry said on X Saturday that its ships would remain in a \u201cdefensive\u201d posture in the eastern Mediterranean.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington told CNN that China is calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities, without any direct response to Trump\u2019s request.
British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband<\/a> told NBC News\u2019 British broadcasting partner Sky News on Sunday that \u201cthe best and most conclusive way to get the Strait reopened is to get this conflict to come to an end,\u201d though he said the U.K. was \u201ctalking to our allies, including the U.S.\u201d on any help that could be provided.
He said there are \u201ca range of things\u201d being looked at, including the provision of \u201cautonomous minehunting equipment.\u201d
South Korea\u2019s presidential office said Sunday that it would carefully review the request.
\u201cWe are taking note of President Trump\u2019s remarks on social media. South Korea and the United States will continue to communicate closely and carefully review the matter before making the decision,\u201d South Korean\u2019s presidential office told NBC News on Sunday.
While it remains to be seen what action these nations could eventually take in response to any looming economic crises, their lukewarm response appears to pour cold water on any hopes Trump may have had for a quick resolution to the blockade.
\u201cThe countries Trump named have all gone quiet, which is quite telling,\u201d H.A. Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London, told NBC News. France is \u201cthe closest thing to a yes,\u201d he said, though even Macron is talking about something \u201cpurely defensive.\u201d
\u201cThat\u2019s a long way from an actual mission, and I don\u2019t expect one to happen. More investment will go into de-escalation efforts in my opinion,\u201d he added.
Hellyer said that even if a coalition did form, \u201csafe passage isn\u2019t guaranteed,\u201d with mines, drones, boats and anti-ship missiles all a threat, thoughts echoed by Michael A. Horowitz, a geopolitical and security analyst.
\u201cProtecting ships is a very big gamble,\u201d he said. \u201cOn the operational side, you\u2019re putting military assets inside a very narrow corridor, giving Iran multiple opportunities to hit at short distance.\u201d
To suppress these threats, Horowitz told NBC News, \u201cyou need more than aerial and naval power: You\u2019d need boots on the ground, along key areas of the coast.\u201d
In any case, Horowitz said he was skeptical that such a force could stabilize markets. \u201cJust one attack is enough to suspend traffic,\u201d he said. \u201cThe bar is really high to create enough confidence to lift the de facto closure.\u201d
Some countries, meanwhile, appear to be attempting to negotiate safe passage with Iran.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed to CBS News on Sunday that “we have been approached by a number of countries who wants to have a safe passage for their vessels.” He said: “This is up to our military to decide, and they have already decided to let, you know, a group of vessels belonging to different countries to pass.”
Trump, who has previously been bullish about reopening the shipping route through military might as the U.S. bombs Iran, appeared to acknowledge Saturday that it would be more challenging to stop Tehran from attacking ships.
\u201cWe have already destroyed 100% of Iran\u2019s Military capability, but it\u2019s easy for them to send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close range missile somewhere along, or in, this Waterway, no matter how badly defeated they are,\u201d he wrote on Truth Social.
The acknowledgement came a day after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested that the blocked strategic waterway was not a major concern. \u201cWe have been dealing with it and don\u2019t need to worry about it,\u201d he told a press conference on Friday.
Trump\u2019s call on European allies for support in the war, meanwhile, comes a week after he told the U.K.\u2019s Prime Minister Keir Starmer that British aircraft carriers were not needed in the region.
In a Truth Social post addressing Starmer last Saturday, Trump said: \u201cWe don\u2019t need them any longer \u2014 But we will remember. We don\u2019t need people that join Wars after we\u2019ve already won!\u201d
Tensions with European allies have been high amid the conflict, with Trump having earlier clashed with the U.K. and Spain over the use of their military bases.
\u201cThis is not Winston Churchill<\/a> that we\u2019re dealing with,\u201d Trump said after Starmer refused to allow the U.S. to use British bases as part of its initial strikes, only later allowing the use of its bases for \u201cdefensive\u201d actions.
A day later, after Spain barred U.S. military planes from using its jointly operated bases in Andalusia, Trump said the U.S. would seek to \u201ccut off all trade with Spain,\u201d a member of the European Union\u2019s single market.
Freddie Clayton is a freelance journalist based in London.\u00a0
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeU.S. allies and rivals responded cautiously after President Donald Trump said they should police the Strait of Hormuz, as Iranian threats to strike shipping on the vital trade route continue to cause chaos in global markets.\u201cMany countries, especially those who are affected by Iran\u2019s attempted closure of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":204232,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-204231","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}