The U.S. "Freedom Project" secretly transported over 100 million barrels of oil under nighttime escor June 12, 2026  President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. military has secretly helped 200 commercial ships and more than 100 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. “This wildly successful effort is because the UNITED STATES of AMERICA CONTROLS the Strait of Hormuz — NOT Iran,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “Their military is defeated, and their economy is lost.” Trump disclosed the operation earlier Wednesday during remarks to reporters in the Oval Office. He credited the clandestine exports with keeping oil prices around $90 per barrel instead of surging above $200. But ship traffic through Hormuz is still well below prewar levels, said Helima Croft, global head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets. The world is losing significant volumes of oil every day, Croft told AMERICA-TODAY in an interview. U.S. forces are not escorting vessels, a defense official told a defense official told AMERICA-TODAY last week. |