00:00U.S. President Donald Trump has backed away from his plan to impose a 20% charge on cargo shipments
00:07through the Strait of Hormuz after allies in the Gulf urged him to drop it.
00:12Trump reversed course just a day after threatening to impose the fee, saying that the expected revenue would be replaced
00:19by forthcoming direct investments in the U.S. from Gulf states.
00:24As Trump dropped that plan, the U.S. announced it had resumed its blockade on Iranian shipping to and from
00:31its ports and coastal areas.
00:33U.S. Central Command said in a post on X that it completed a seven-hour wave of strikes against
00:39dozens of targets near the Strait of Hormuz and along Iran's coast.
00:43When asked by reporters why he abandoned the proposal, Trump said Gulf leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and
00:52UAE urged him to pursue investment commitments instead.
