Trump orders US military to 'shoot and kill' Iranian small boats choking
Strait of Hormuz
[April 24, 2026]
By JON GAMBRELL, JAMEY KEATEN and AAMER MADHANI
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Donald Trump has ordered
the U.S. military to “shoot and kill” small Iranian boats that deploy
mines in the Strait of Hormuz, announcing the move Thursday a day after
Iran again displayed its ability to thwart traffic through the channel.
Trump also announced that a ceasefire in Lebanon would be extended by
three weeks.
His post on social media about the small boats came shortly after the
U.S. military seized another tanker associated with the smuggling of
Iranian oil, ratcheting up a standoff with Tehran over the strait
through which 20% of all crude oil and natural gas traded passed during
peacetime.
“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small
boats though they may be ... putting mines in the waters of the Strait
of Hormuz,” Trump posted, adding that U.S. minesweepers "are clearing
the Strait right now.”
“I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled up
level!” he added.
The decision to extend a pause in fighting between Israel and the
Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon came during a meeting at the White
House between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States.
Meanwhile, it was still unclear when, or if, the U.S. and Iran would
meet again in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, where mediators are
trying to bring the countries together to reach a diplomatic deal ending
that conflict.
Negotiations initially planned this week have not happened. Iran insists
it will not attend until the U.S. ends its blockade on Iranian ports and
ships. The White House insists it will not take part until Tehran opens
the strait to international traffic.
Pope Leo XIV, returning home from a trip to Africa, urged the U.S. and
Iran to return to talks to end the war.
Footage shows US forces on deck of tanker
The Defense Department released video footage of U.S. forces on the deck
of the oil tanker Majestic X, which was seized in the Indian Ocean. The
ship had been flying a Guyanese flag, though the South American nation
of Guyana said it was not registered there
The footage emerged a day after Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard
attacked three cargo ships in the strait, capturing two of them, in an
assault that raised new concerns about the safety of shipping through
the waterway.
The powerful head of Iran’s judiciary, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, said
three “violating ships” in the strait were “subject to enforcement”
Wednesday.
“The show of strength by the armed forces of Islamic Iran in the Strait
of Hormuz is a source of pride,” he wrote Thursday on X, claiming the
Americans “lack the courage” to approach the strait.
Ship-tracking data showed the Majestic X in the Indian Ocean between Sri
Lanka and Indonesia, roughly the same location as the oil tanker Tifani,
seized earlier by American forces. It had been bound for Zhoushan,
China.
Majestic X previously was named Phonix and had been sanctioned by the
U.S. Treasury Department in 2024 for smuggling Iranian crude oil in
contravention of U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Guyana said in a statement the Majestic X was not registered in the
South American nation.
“While the name of the vessel has changed, the (International Maritime
Organization) number remains recorded in the international database as
PHONIX. There is no record of this vessel or name in Guyana’s registry.
Therefore, the ship is FRAUDULENTLY flying the Guyana flag,” Guyana’s
Maritime Administration Department said.
There was no immediate response from Iran about the seizure.
Trump claims leadership rift in Iran
Trump this week extended a ceasefire to give the Iranian leadership
more time to come up with a “unified proposal” on ending the war, while
maintaining an American blockade of Iranian ports.
In a post Thursday, Trump claimed a leadership rift between moderates
and hard-liners was confounding Iran. “Iran is having a very hard time
figuring out who their leader is! They just don’t know!” Trump said.
Trump has repeatedly said during the ceasefire that began April 8 that
his team is dealing with Iranian officials who want to make a deal,
while acknowledging that his decision to kill several top leaders has
come with complications.
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Mourners hold posters that show portraits of Lebanese journalist
Amal Khalil, who was killed Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike,
during her funeral procession in the village of Baysariyeh in
southern Lebanon on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed
Zaatari)
Iran’s president and its parliament speaker posted statements on
social media declaring the country has no hard-liners or moderates.
"We are all Iranians and revolutionaries,” they said.
A spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Trump's claim
of a leadership rift was a “deflection.” Other Iranian officials
said on social media that the country was united.
Trump, while speaking to reporters at the White House, pushed back
against questions about the conflict exceeding the four-to-six-week
timeline that he and aides previously set for the war.
“I don’t want to rush myself,” Trump said, adding that the U.S.
“took the country out” militarily in the first four weeks.
“Now all we’re doing is sitting back and seeing what deal" can be
made. "And if they don’t want to make a deal, then I’ll finish it up
militarily,” Trump said.
He said he would not use a nuclear weapon against Iran.
Meanwhile, three aircraft carriers were in the region after the USS
George H.W. Bush arrived in the Indian Ocean. One carrier was in the
Arabian Sea and another was in the Red Sea, military officials said.
Talks between Lebanon and Israel lead to truce extension
Trump said a second round of talks between Israel and Lebanon in
Washington “went very well” and resulted in a ceasefire extension
for Israel and the Hezbollah militant group.
“The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it
protect itself from Hezbollah,” Trump said on his Truth Social
platform.
The latest war between Israel and Hezbollah started after Israel and
the U.S. launched attacks on Iran and the Tehran-backed militants
fired rockets into northern Israel. The ceasefire first took effect
for a 10-day period starting Friday.
Underscoring the truce's fragility, Israel’s military said it struck
missile launchers in Lebanon that had fired into its borders.
Hezbollah said it fired at the Israeli town of Shtula in response to
Israeli attacks on the Lebanese village of Yater.
Lebanon's public health ministry said an Israeli airstrike killed
three people further north, in the area of Nabatiya. The Israeli
military said it killed three militants who launched a missile
toward an Israeli warplane.
Each side has accused the other of breaching the truce.
Trump reiterated that the U.S. continues to demand that Iran stop
it’s backing of Iranian-allied militias in the Mideast, including
Hezbollah in Lebanon, as part of any deal between Washington and
Tehran to end the U.S. war on Iran.
“Yeah, they’ll have to cut that,” Trump said to a reporter’s
question about aiding Hezbollah. “That’s a must.”
Threats to shipping persist
Since the Feb. 28 start of the war between Iran, Israel and the
United States, over 30 ships have come under attack in the waters of
the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman.
The threat of attack, rising insurance premiums and other fears have
stopped traffic from moving through the strait. Iran’s ability to
restrict traffic through the strait, which leads from the Persian
Gulf to the open ocean, has proved a major strategic advantage.
Jakob Larsen, the head of maritime security for BIMCO, the largest
international association representing shipowners, said in a note
Thursday that most shipping companies need a stable ceasefire and
assurances from both sides of the conflict that the strait is safe
for transit.
The threat of mines, he wrote, was a “particular concern” if traffic
might return to normal levels one day.
___
Madhani reported from Washington, and Keaten reported from Geneva.
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