by Sharon Rondeau
(Jun. 11, 2026) — In a Truth Social post timestamped 8:22 a.m. EDT Thursday, President Trump said the United States will not only “hit Iran VERY HARD TONIGHT,” but also “assume total control” of the country’s “oil and gas markets.”
“At some point in the not too distant future,” Trump wrote, “we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points.”
He likened the planned activity to U.S. action in Venezuela in January after dictator Nicolas Maduro was arrested and brought to the U.S. to face an indictment for allegedly trafficking drugs into the United States.
His decision to make an incursion into Venezuela, Trump asserted, “is working out brilliantly for both Venezuela and the United States of America.”
His resolve to impose further economic pain on Iran is no doubt in response to Iran’s pledge to sign a “deal” with the Trump administration while continuing a barrage of missiles into Israel and regional neighbors hosting U.S. military bases during a tenuous two-month “ceasefire.”
In remarks from the White House Wednesday, Trump revealed that the United States has been “taking out millions of barrels of oil” from Iran by night for approximately the last month, thereby increasing the global oil supply and maintaining the cost of a barrel at between $85 and $90 as opposed to “$250,” he said.
In a follow-up post Wednesday afternoon, Trump wrote that the operation “has resulted in more than 100 MILLION Barrels of Oil making its way through the Strait, and into the Open Market. More than 200 Commercial Ships have safely traveled through the Strait. This wildly successful effort is because the UNITED STATES of AMERICA CONTROLS the Strait of Hormuz — NOT Iran. Their military is defeated, and their economy is lost. It’s over for Iran!”
Kharg Island is Iran’s main shipping hub, handling approximately 90% of the nation’s oil exports prior to the U.S. and Israel launching pre-emptive strikes on Iran beginning February 28. On March 14, in response to Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz two days earlier impacting approximately one-fifth of the world’s oil, the United States conducted strikes against military “targets” on Kharg, leaving oil apparatus intact.
As the U.S. and Iran traded missile strikes overnight, negotiators from Qatar spoke with Iranian officials, CNN reported.