Lindsey Graham demands Trump send US troops to seize the Strait of Hormuz “by force” if the Iran deal collapses!
In yet another “what could possibly go wrong?” escalation, the ultra-hawk Sen. Lindsey Graham said on national television Sunday that if the shaky Iran ceasefire framework falls apart, President Trump will simply take the Strait of Hormuz by military force and start charging countries for passage.
“Graham, who said he spent more than four hours with Trump yesterday, said he believes Vance’s upcoming negotiations will fail.
“If this deal fails, President Trump is going to take the Strait of Hormuz over by force. The United States will control the Strait of Hormuz,” the South Carolina Senator told Face the Nation’s Margaret Brennan.
“We’ll charge a fee for all those who go through to pay for the operation. We’re going to get Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords, which is the biggest change in 5,000 years in the Mideast.
“If this deal fails, Trump is going to take the Strait over by force,” Graham said on Face the Nation. “The United States will control the strait. We will charge a fee for those who go through.”
Graham’s helpful prognostication comes as Vice President JD Vance is supposedly in Switzerland trying to negotiate with Iran. That should do wonders for Vance’s negotiating position; some old fool threatening on behalf of the United States to invade and occupy one of the world’s most critical shipping chokepoints while talks are literally underway.
Graham issued another blunt threat to Tehran: If Iran uses Hezbollah to hit Israel, the U.S. will directly attack them again. “It’s the new policy,” he said.
This is MAGA foreign policy in a nutshell – someone not even involved with the negotiations threatening to blow up global oil markets, risk a wider war, and play pirate on one of the most important waterways on Earth because their “ultimate deal” is already in danger of falling apart even before Vance gets to work on the details.
Trump himself floated the same harebrained idea on Truth Social, talking about charging tolls as “services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the Middle East,” because guardian angels always bomb and blockade their way to respect while they negotiate win-win compromises.
Graham and his ilk have obviously learned nothing from the last disastrous adventure, which ultimately presented no viable “out” short of capitulation. They’re already lining up to start the next gambit destined to end in misery for Trump, his administration, and 340 million hapless Americans along for the ride.
Lindsey Graham’s latest failure to shut his fat face portends a further clown show in terms of extricating the U.S. from Iran, one we are tired of having to cringe through.
America deserves leaders who pursue peace, not unhinged warmongers ready to bungle us into the next war.
“If Iran contests control of the Strait of Hormuz by the United States, we’ll obliterate them,” he said. “If this diplomatic effort fails, President Trump is going to take the Strait of Hormuz. We’re going to run it.