'We'd handle them very easily': Trump doubles down on Oman over Hormuz talks
hours after threatening military strikes, Trump says he'd "handle Oman very easily" pic.twitter.com/DbH9fneWx4
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 17, 2026
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump on Monday, August 17, doubled down on his threat toward Oman, saying the US would “handle them very easily” if the country interfered in a potential deal over the Strait of Hormuz.
Oman is negotiating with Iran over the vital shipping route, after Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency reported that the countries had reached an agreement on a traffic plan.
Trump made the remark to reporters in the Oval Office after Fox News reported an earlier threat in a phone interview with chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst.
Trump says Oman could face US action
.@POTUS on parallel talks between Iran and Oman on the Strait of Hormuz: "If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the shit out of them." pic.twitter.com/5dEXDOdAN4
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 17, 2026
Asked about comments he reportedly made earlier about Oman, Trump said, “I don’t think they behaved very well, but we’d handle them very easily.”
Trey Yingst reported that Trump told him, “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the s*** out of them,” during a phone interview about the Strait of Hormuz and Oman.
Yingst said the comment came in response to questions about talks between Oman and Iran over the waterway.
He later relayed the quote on air. No audio of the interview was provided.
The comments place Trump’s warning directly alongside Oman’s negotiations with Iran over the Strait, which has become the focus of the president’s efforts to assert US control over the waterway.
Oman is near the Strait of Hormuz and borders Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Talks come as US-Iran deadline expires
Monday also marked the end of a 60-day deadline the US and Iran agreed to in June to end the war and reach an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz nearly ground to a halt over the weekend, NBC News reported.
Maritime traffic tracker MarineTraffic recorded only 13 ships passing through the waterway, including three on Sunday.
Hormuz Traffic Falls, Red Sea Resilient
— MarineTraffic (@MarineTraffic) August 17, 2026
Maritime traffic diverged across two critical chokepoints last week. Strait of Hormuz crossings fell 19.5% to 95 from 118, with daily traffic declining from a peak of 19 on 11 August to just three on 16 August. Of the total, 51 crossings… pic.twitter.com/gMyMSA8N7I
Trump has separately said the US already controls the Strait.
Last week, he floated the idea of declaring it US territory, and on Monday he was asked to elaborate.
“We have total control over the Strait,” Trump said, adding that a US-imposed blockade “has been very effective.”
He also said, “Now maybe that will stop, or maybe it’ll open up even further,” while describing the US as taking out millions of barrels of oil a week.
Trump says the Strait remains open
Trump said the waterway was open and that oil prices were coming down, while warning that prices would continue to fall unless the US decided to take more drastic action.
The president said, “The Strait is open, and the oil prices are coming down, and they will continue to come down unless we decide to do something far more drastic than we’re doing.”
As Trump made the comment, Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, broke above $90 per barrel and rose 2.7% to its highest level of the day.
