Trump can’t make his mind up about the Strait of Hormuz. It’s more important than he lets on | CNN Business

“The United States imports almost no oil through the Hormuz Strait and won’t be taking any in the future. We don’t need it. We haven’t needed it and we don’t need it.” That was President Donald Trump last Wednesday during his primetime address from the White House. “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH!” That was Trump Sunday in a Truth Social post. US oil surged more than 11% on Thursday, the day after his speech, to settle above $111 a barrel – its highest price in four years and one of the biggest single-day gains in history. West Texas crude had traded around $100 a barrel just before Trump’s speech and less than $70 a barrel before the war started. Trump is correct that the United States relies very little on Middle Eastern oil delivered through the Strait of Hormuz – the narrow waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil typically travels. America gets only about half a million of the 20 million barrels of crude it consumes each day from the strait – a very low amount that it could substitute with oil from other locations. But Trump’s latest four-letter-word-laden threat underscores the stark t