For months, global energy markets have been gripped by fears that the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed by the war with Iran. Traders, investors, and governments watched as commercial shipping traffic collapsed and reports of attacks on vessels raised concerns about a historic supply shock. Those fears helped push oil prices sharply higher.
Now President Donald Trump is making a remarkable claim. According to Trump, the United States quietly conducted a secret operation that moved more than 100 million barrels of oil and helped more than 200 commercial ships pass through the Strait of Hormuz despite the conflict. If accurate, the revelation could significantly change how markets view the security of global oil supplies.
Trump Reveals a Secret Mission
Speaking in the Oval Office and later posting on Truth Social, Trump said he ordered the U.S. military last month to carry out a covert effort to assist commercial shipping through one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints.
“Last month, I directed our Great U.S. Military to execute a secret mission to support Oil Tankers and other Commercial Ships through the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote.
He then disclosed the scale of the operation.
“Today, I am pleased to announce that this effort has resulted in more than 100 MILLION Barrels of Oil making its way through the Strait, and into the Open Market. More than 200 Commercial Ships have safely traveled through the Strait.”
Trump portrayed the operation as proof that American military power, not Iran, ultimately controls access to the vital waterway.
“This wildly successful effort is because the UNITED STATES of AMERICA CONTROLS the Strait of Hormuz — NOT Iran,” Trump said.
How Important Is the Strait of Hormuz?
Before the conflict escalated, roughly 20 million barrels of petroleum moved through the Strait of Hormuz every day. That represented about 20 percent of global petroleum supplies.
After the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran in late February, Tehran retaliated by attacking ships and mining the sea lane. Commercial traffic plunged. Analysts estimated that the disruption resulted in the loss of more than 1 billion barrels of oil from normal market flows, making it the largest supply disruption in history.
Those disruptions helped fuel fears of a severe energy shortage. At various points, analysts warned that oil prices could surge dramatically if the strait remained effectively closed.
Trump provided some dramatic details about how at least part of the operation was conducted.
“We’ve been taking out millions of barrels of oil. Nobody knows it,” Trump told reporters.
He said that on one occasion the United States moved 22 ships through the strait at night.
“We took out the other night 22 ships late at night with no lights, because they don’t have any radar, because we blasted the crap out of it,” Trump said.
Reports cited in the material indicate that many vessels turned off their transponders, making them harder to track publicly and helping them avoid detection. U.S. officials also described a coordination effort in which commercial shippers could communicate with U.S. Central Command to receive guidance on safe transit routes through the strait.
While Project Freedom, an earlier publicly announced tanker escort initiative, was quickly suspended, officials later acknowledged that the U.S. military was helping facilitate safe passage in other ways. The effort reportedly focused on communication, coordination, and protection rather than traditional naval escorts.
The Market May Have Been Missing Part of the Story
One of the most intriguing aspects of Trump’s revelation is that some analysts had already begun to suspect that more oil was moving through Hormuz than publicly visible shipping data suggested.
JPMorgan reported last week that approximately 2 million barrels per day might have been moving through the strait on tankers operating with transponders switched off.
“Despite the ongoing naval blockade and the steep decline in commercial traffic, surprising volumes of crude and petroleum products still appear to be transiting the Strait,” JPMorgan analysts wrote.
That observation now appears consistent with Trump’s claim that a substantial amount of oil was quietly reaching world markets despite the perception that the strait was largely shut down.
ABC News also reported that, as of late last month, roughly 70 commercial ships had already been guided through the strait under the U.S.-led coordination effort.
Trump argues that the secret operation prevented a catastrophic spike in energy prices.
He credited the clandestine movement of oil with keeping crude prices around current levels rather than allowing them to soar.
According to Trump, oil could have risen above $200 per barrel if those shipments had not been getting through. Instead, he pointed to prices around the mid-$80s range as evidence that significant supplies were still reaching global markets.
His argument is straightforward. Markets were pricing oil based largely on the belief that Hormuz was severely restricted. If millions of barrels were actually moving through the strait under U.S. protection, then the real supply picture may have been stronger than many traders assumed.
Not everyone agrees that the crisis is over. Helima Croft of RBC Capital Markets noted that traffic remains well below prewar levels and that significant volumes of oil are still being lost every day.
Still, Trump’s announcement sends a powerful signal to energy markets. The president is effectively arguing that the United States has demonstrated it can keep oil flowing through Hormuz even during wartime conditions. More than 200 ships and over 100 million barrels of oil have reportedly made the journey safely.
If investors accept that the United States has established operational control over the shipping lanes and can continue facilitating large-scale oil movements, the risk premium that has been built into crude prices could begin to fade.
For months, fear drove the narrative. The prevailing assumption was that oil was trapped behind a blockade and that global supplies were being strangled. Trump’s disclosure suggests a different reality. While the Strait of Hormuz remains dangerous and traffic remains below normal, substantial quantities of oil have apparently continued reaching world markets under U.S. protection. If that perception takes hold, oil prices could face increasing downward pressure as traders adjust to a market that may be better supplied than previously believed.
