OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
7:40 AM – Thursday, April 23, 2026
President Donald Trump has issued a directive for the U.S. Navy to shoot to kill any boat that lays naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, and has “tripled” the clearance of existing explosives in the area.
Trump made the announcement on Thursday morning, while also acknowledging, as he has mentioned before, that Iran’s navy has been decimated by the U.S. military.
“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be (Their naval ships are ALL, 159 of them, at the bottom of the sea!), that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “There is to be no hesitation.”
“Additionally, our mine ‘sweepers’ are clearing the Strait right now. I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled-up level!” he added.
Meanwhile, the commander in chief questioned the validity of the leadership structure in Iran weeks after several high-ranking officials, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were killed by U.S. and Israeli strikes.
“Iran is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is! They just don’t know!” Trump remarked in a subsequent Truth Social post. “The infighting is between the ‘Hardliners,’ who have been losing BADLY on the battlefield, and the ‘Moderates,’ who are not very moderate at all (but gaining respect!), is CRAZY!”
“We have total control over the Strait of Hormuz,” he declared. “No ship can enter or leave without the approval of the United States Navy. It is “Sealed up Tight,” until such time as Iran is able to make a DEAL!!!”
These comments came after the president extended the ceasefire his administration had reached with Iran as diplomatic teams from both countries prepare to continue negotiations past the initially allotted two-week timeframe.
However, military activity has continued through the ceasefire. Iran‘s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards had attacked three cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier, capturing two of them. On state media, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for attacks on the MSC Francesca, under the Panama flag, the Epaminondas, under the Liberian flag, and the Euphoria, under the Panama flag.
The Department of War also released video footage on Thursday of U.S. forces on the deck of a Guinea-flagged oil tanker named Majestic X, which was seized in the Indian Ocean this week. This marks the third ship seized by the U.S. in the past week, in addition to the Botswana-flagged Tifani oil tanker in the Indian Ocean and the Iranian-flagged Touska container ship in the Arabian Sea.
“As we have made clear, we will pursue global maritime enforcement efforts to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran–anywhere they operate,” a statement from the Pentagon said.
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