‘Nothing to Be Afraid Of’ Trump Encourages Tankers to Sail Through Hormuz, Says Iran’s Navy Has Been Crippled
President Donald Trump is encouraging commercial oil tankers to continue traveling through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz despite growing tensions with Iran, saying there is “nothing to be afraid of” following U.S. military strikes that he says significantly weakened Iran’s naval capabilities.
The comments from the commander-in-chief came as energy markets reacted sharply to the escalating conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran.
Global oil prices surged more than 17% on Sunday, pushing past $100 per barrel for the first time since the initial phase of U.S. military operations targeting Iran.
In a post on Truth Social, President Trump acknowledged that higher oil prices could occur in the short term but argued the impact would be temporary and necessary to eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat.
“Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace. ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!” Trump wrote.
During an interview with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, the president also urged shipping companies and tanker crews to continue operating in the region.
Kilmeade later relayed the president’s comments on Fox & Friends, saying Trump encouraged vessels to keep moving through the key shipping corridor, arguing that Iran’s naval forces had been largely neutralized.
According to Kilmeade, Trump said ships should “go through the Strait of Hormuz and show some guts,” adding that Iran’s naval power had been severely diminished.
The president also noted that the region remains volatile but said U.S. forces have already destroyed a large portion of Iran’s missile launchers and naval assets.
Speaking Saturday to Latin American leaders at the Shield of the Americas Summit in Florida, President Trump said U.S. forces had inflicted significant damage on Iranian military infrastructure.
“We are doing very well in Iran, you see the result,” Trump said. “It’s been amazing—we’ve knocked out 42 navy ships, some of them very large, in three days. That was the end of the navy.”
Meanwhile, maritime monitoring groups report that some commercial vessels are temporarily turning off their transponders while passing through the Strait of Hormuz, only reactivating them after leaving the area.
Ships are reportedly crossing the strait of Hormuz. They are reportedly turning off their transponders before passing through, and switch them back on afterward.
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 9, 2026
Tracking data suggests ships are disabling their Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals during the most sensitive part of the journey. Doing so prevents their positions from appearing on public tracking platforms while they move through the narrow waterway.
According to the BBC, signal interference and disabled transponders have made it more difficult to monitor ship movements in real time around the Strait of Hormuz. As a result, vessels sometimes disappear from tracking systems until they reappear on satellite data days later.
Because ships can travel significant distances without AIS signals, analysts are compiling position data across a wide region—including the Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, and Red Sea—to identify vessels entering or leaving the Persian Gulf.
Once potential voyages are detected, experts examine signal histories to determine whether movements are legitimate or the result of electronic spoofing, where interference can make a vessel appear to be in a different location.
Some ships may remain undetected for extended periods if their tracking signals are not reactivated quickly. Iran-linked tankers have previously used similar tactics, traveling from the Persian Gulf without AIS signals until reaching the Strait of Malacca roughly ten days after leaving the region.
The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints, with roughly 20% of global oil supplies passing through the narrow channel between Iran and Oman.
President Trump has acknowledged that the conflict could bring short-term economic strain, including higher fuel prices, but argues that the broader goal is preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons and expanding its influence across the region.
According to the president, allowing Tehran to strengthen its position would pose a far greater long-term threat to global stability than temporary disruptions in energy markets.
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