President Donald Trump leaves the stage with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) after speaking at a campaign rally in Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Friday. [Getty Images]
President Donald Trump leaves the stage with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) after speaking at a campaign rally in Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Friday. [Getty Images]

The Herald Business international desk delivers a daily briefing on Trump issues through its "One Day, One Trump" newsletter and series. Click "Original Article" below the headline and byline at the top of this article to read more.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday (local time) that he had just received a report from the US Navy confirming that all mines in the international waters of the Strait of Hormuz had been removed and detonated.

Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post, adding that Iran had been notified that "any vessel that attempts to lay new mines will be immediately and systematically destroyed." He said the United States maintains a "total and effective zero-tolerance policy" against mine-laying.

The remarks were widely interpreted as a signal that US forces have established control over the Strait of Hormuz and that free and safe passage through the waterway is now possible.

Trump also said the United States is monitoring "every corner of the strait" through the Space Force, adding that the same surveillance applies to Pickaxe Mountain and other nuclear facilities that have already been destroyed.

Pickaxe Mountain is a site the United States and Israel suspect Iran is using to develop a new underground nuclear facility. The reference to "other nuclear facilities already destroyed" appeared to point to the nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, which US forces struck in airstrikes last June.


yckim6452@heraldcorp.com