President Donald Trump shocked Gulf allies and many of his own aides with his plan to impose a toll on the Strait of Hormuz, touching off an international scramble to convince him to reverse course on his demand.

Background

The abrupt announcement came despite months of warnings from Trump’s own advisers not to pursue the idea, for fear it would undermine the US’ own war aims — as well as validate Iran’s purported plans to charge fees in the strait, which the administration repeatedly characterized as illegal.

Trump had threatened to impose a toll on the strait at previous flashpoints in the war, amid frustration with the outsized importance of a shipping route that he’s complained about having to secure alone despite the US itself not relying on it for oil.

Reversal

By Tuesday morning, the flurry of appeals from nations — including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Qatar — had succeeded. Instead of the US collecting tolls, Trump announced that the countries had pledged to pour new, undefined sums into US investments.

A White House official echoed Trump’s public remarks, saying that given Iran’s violations of the agreement to keep the strait open, the president “has always kept all options on the table, and he wisely determined that the United States should be reimbursed for our many years of protecting ships transiting this waterway. Ultimately, our Gulf allies offered to provide investments into the United States, which the President found preferable.”

Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.