President Donald Trump said Monday that he has asked other nations to help secure the Strait of Hormuz amid fighting involving Iran and Israel, while also signaling that his planned trip to China could be delayed. Trump said he has “strongly encourage[d]” countries whose economies depend on the strait to come and help, and he named Japan, China, South Korea and several European countries as examples.
Trump said the administration has asked China and “roughly a half-dozen” other countries to send warships to reopen the waterway. He said so far none has committed, and he argued that the strait is not something the United States needs because of its own access to oil. The White House also pointed to the broader strategic context, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt telling reporters that “This is something not just the United States but the entire Western world has agreed with for many, many years,” as she responded to questions about why other nations would be asked to put troops at risk.
Trump’s comments also tied the Hormuz request to the prospect of diplomacy with Beijing. He indicated he would use a planned trip to China to pressure Xi Jinping’s government to help with a new coalition aimed at getting oil tanker traffic moving through the strait, though Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later downplayed that framing. In a Sunday interview with the Financial Times, Trump said he “would like to know” whether China would help secure the strait because of its reliance on Middle Eastern oil and added that “We may delay.” On Monday, Trump said in the Oval Office that he had asked China to delay the trip “a month or so,” adding, “We’re speaking to China. I’d love to, but because of the war … I have to be here, I feel.”
Bessent said Monday that any rescheduling would be due to logistics and urged investors not to react negatively if Trump puts off the China meeting. “If the meeting for some reason is rescheduled, it would be rescheduled because of logistics,” Bessent said on CNBC from Paris, where he met with China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng for new round of trade talks.
In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian did not respond directly to questions about Trump’s call for outside help in the strait, instead emphasizing the effect on goods and energy trade and repeating China’s call for an end to the fighting.
Trump’s request has met resistance from a range of potential partners. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday that Britain was working with allies on a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but “will not be drawn into the wider war.” Starmer said Britain is discussing with the U.S. and allies in Europe and the Gulf the possibility of using mine-hunting drones in the region, but he signaled the U.K. is unlikely to dispatch a warship.
Other officials made similar signals. Australia’s Transport Minister Catherine King told Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Monday that “we won’t be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz,” and said she was not aware of a request from the U.S. Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told reporters in Brussels on Monday that he does not think the Red Sea missions Europe is backing can be expanded to include the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump has also argued that he expected other countries to be hesitant, linking his requests to his long-running views about alliance commitments. He said Monday that he “always felt that was a weakness of NATO,” explaining, “We were going to protect them, but I always said when in need, they won’t protect us.” He described the reluctance of others to help secure the strait as evidence that they would not be there if the United States needed help.
The push for outside assistance comes as markets react to the conflict’s broader economic effects, including rising oil prices. Bessent downplayed the war’s impact on prices and accused the media of “trying to make it into some crisis that it’s not.” On CNBC, he said, “I don’t know how many weeks it will be, but on the other side of this, the world will be safer, and we will be better supplied.” Trump was asked at the White House how long gas prices would remain high and dismissed the question by saying, “I don’t need advisers to tell me that,” adding, “I know what it is.”