Trump Says Strait of Hormuz Will Fully Reopen by Friday, Toll-Free

President Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz will be “fully reopened” by Friday and will remain open to shipping toll-free on a permanent basis, according to Anadolu via Middle East Monitor. The Friday date aligns with the Geneva memorandum signing scheduled for June 19.

What we know

Trump made the remarks while speaking to reporters at a White House meeting. The president framed the reopening as full and permanent and reiterated that vessels will not pay transit fees. The “toll-free” line restates the framing Trump first published Sunday on Truth Social as part of the accord announcement, now restated with a hard Friday deadline.

The Friday date matches the announced Geneva ceremony at which Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and US Vice President J.D. Vance are expected to sign the memorandum of understanding, per Tehran Times’ Tuesday confirmation of the signatories. A first LNG tanker cleared the strait on Monday under the interim arrangement; the BBC reported Tuesday that security, mines, and toll questions are still preventing traffic from returning to pre-conflict levels.

What we don’t know

The White House has not posted a transcript of Trump’s Tuesday remarks or a fact sheet specifying the operational steps that would constitute “full” reopening by Friday. The Pentagon and Fifth Fleet have issued no parallel notice to mariners. Tehran has not, on Tuesday’s record, mirrored the toll-free framing through a foreign-ministry or supreme-leader-level statement; an Iranian official’s earlier transit-toll trial balloon remains unwithdrawn. Whether Friday’s reopening is operational, ceremonial, or contingent on the Geneva signature is not specified. This is a developing story.

Context

The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly one-fifth of seaborne crude and a third of seaborne LNG in normal conditions. The conflict closure pushed Brent above $120 at its peak; the interim transit and Lloyd’s war-risk delisting brought front-month prices off those highs but have not restored full pre-war shipping flows. Trump’s Friday pledge converts the reopening from a process into a presidential deadline, with the political cost of any slippage now attached to his own remarks rather than the joint Geneva timeline.

The “toll-free on a permanent basis” line also forecloses, at the US-presidential level, the legal architecture an Iranian transit-fee regime would require. Whether Tehran accepts that framing or treats it as Trump’s unilateral position is the substantive question the Geneva text will or will not answer.

What to watch

1. Whether the White House or State Department posts a written readout of Tuesday’s remarks before Friday that specifies the operational meaning of “fully reopened.”
2. Whether Iran’s foreign ministry, presidency, or Supreme National Security Council mirrors or rejects the toll-free framing on the record before the Geneva signing.
3. Whether the Fifth Fleet or US Maritime Administration issues an advisory or notice to mariners aligning shipping guidance with Trump’s Friday deadline.