I was going to say when I posted about this yesterday that it would be reversed in no time. Everyone treats Trump as a rambling old man, now, who can't be trusted to mean what he says:
President Trump on Tuesday walked back his demand for collecting a 20% toll from ships that transit through the Strait of Hormuz — and instead said Gulf states would make major investments in the U.S.
Why it matters: Trump's Hormuz fee announcement on Monday was deemed illegal by the UN maritime agency and shocked many U.S. allies in the Gulf. It also validated the Iranian demand to collect service fees in the strait — something Trump himself rejected until several days ago.
What they're saying: "Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States," Trump wrote on Truth Social....
Behind the scenes: Two Gulf officials said Trump's announcement on Monday about tolls caught countries in the region by surprise.
- Officials from several Gulf countries asked their White House counterparts for clarification, the sources said.
- On Tuesday, Trump spoke to Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to express his condolences for the death of his father. The issue of the Strait of Hormuz also came up in the call.
Reality check: Before the war with Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Bahrain had already committed to invest more than $2 trillion in the U.S. over the next several years.
As for Qatar: I can only imagine how they scream every time he makes a random decision that hurts them "Geez, I've got to ring him again and remind him about the gold toilets in the airplane bribe."
No comments:
Post a Comment