by WorldTribune Staff, June 22, 2026 Non-AI Real World News
The United States maintains control of the Strait of Hormuz and the naval blockade could be back in place within 30 minutes, President Donald Trump said on Monday.
“As long as they respect us, we’re not going to have any trouble,” Trump said of the Iranian regime before stating that “we have total control of the strait.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is believed by many to be heading up what is left of Iran’s top leadership, had claimed Saturday it was shutting down the strait due to the continued fighting in Lebanon.
Amid talks in Switzerland, attended by Vice President JD Vance, on Sunday, Trump warned Iran’s diplomats about closing Hormuz: “You won’t even make it back to your f–king country.”
“You close it, and you won’t have a country,” Trump told Fox News. “We may take over the Strait, if we have to. I’ll blow the s–t out of them.”
Addressing the issue of Iran’s frozen assets, Trump said the topic came up during discussions on Sunday:
“One of the things that we are doing also, and it came up last night, is money that’s being unfrozen is going to be used to buy food, and the food is going to be bought exclusively through the United States from our farmers. And corn, soybeans and all of the things they need are going to be bought from our farmers. So our farmers are very happy. I’ve had a lot of calls.”
Along with dealing with a fractured Iranian leadership, Trump is also fending off American legacy media outlets which continue to insist that Iran somehow has the upper hand in negotiations.
The president wrote in a post to Truth Social on Sunday:
The headline in the Corrupt and Failing New York Times: “What Changed After Almost 4 Months of War? Analysts Say Not Much.” REALLY? Their Military is DONE, their Navy is GONE, their Air Force is GONE, their Launching Pads, Missiles, Drones and Manufacturing of same, is almost GONE, their top two sets of Leaders are GONE, their Inflation is at 250%, their Economy is BROKEN, their Soldiers aren’t being paid, the Hormuz Strait is OPEN, THE OIL IS GUSHING, and the U.S. Stock Market and Jobs are at record HIGHS. That’s what’s CHANGED, you corrupt and unethical cowards, and MORE!!! President DJT
In a second post, Trump wrote:
The way the Corrupt and Failing New York Times is covering stories on a very battered and beat up Iran, through FAKE & MADE UP “FACTS” is, in my opinion, “TREASONOUS.” I will be adding all of their false and ridiculous reporting to my multi Billion Dollar lawsuit against them. They are Criminals! President DJT
And Trump answered media critics who claim the Switzerland meetings were set up out of U.S. desperation, Trump responded:
“We didn’t meet out of desperation, Iran did. They are FINISHED! We’ll play out the 60 days. They get no money, not ten cents!”
Turning to the new mechanism established under the new framework agreement, Trump discussed the impact of the blockade that was lifted June 17.
“I think the blockade was more impactful than dropping bombs, if you want to know the truth,” he said.
“It was like I said, they call it the steel wall. Nobody got through it. Not one ship got through, able to go to Iran.”
“They got through if we wanted them to go through, and we could set that up again in about 15 minutes. I would say one phone call. How long would it take? Maybe half an hour,” he added.
Trump also contrasted the new agreement with the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by former President Obama.
“Obama gave them a road to a nuclear weapon. I gave them a wall against another. They’ll never, under this agreement, even think about building a nuclear bomb,” Trump told reporters
Vance on Thursday pushed back against Republican criticism of Trump’s Iran agreement, arguing it is “fundamentally different” from then-President Barack Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal because it prohibits uranium enrichment and comes after Iran’s nuclear program was destroyed.
“You have to remember, in 2015 Iran had built a sophisticated nuclear weapons program with a nuclear weapon stockpile. So the perspective that we came at as the United States was, ‘You already have a really nice nuclear program; we’re going to bribe you with American money in order to stop it,'” Vance said.
“Our perspective — and where we’re coming at it — is, ‘We already destroyed your nuclear program; and so if you promise and show verifiable pathways to not rebuild it, then we are willing to give you some sanctions relief, and things like that.’ ”
The vice president continued: “Now, there are all these substantive differences as well. The Obama nuclear deal allowed enrichment; ours will not.
“The Obama deal allowed the accumulation of stockpiled weapons-grade material. Ours is actually leading to the destruction of that stockpile of enriched material.
“The Obama deal gave them over a billion dollars of American money. The deal gives them $0 of American money.
“A lot of substantive differences, but I think the most important differences are where we’re coming at it from: a position of strength, and the fact that our [Persian] Gulf Coast partners love this deal.”
