Donald Trump’s call for allies to send ships to the strait of Hormuz to protect commercial shipping vessels and unblock global oil supplies has met a muted response.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump called on the UK, China, France, Japan, South Korea and other countries to send ships to the waterway, the world’s busiest shipping route, which is being violently blockaded by Iran.
In his post, Trump alleged that “many countries” would send ships “to keep the strait open and safe”. But allies including the UK, Japan, China and South Korea have so far failed to commit. Germany also appeared sceptical on Sunday when the foreign minister Johann Wadephul said a scheme to protect ships from Houthi attacks in Yemen was “not effective”.
He also issued a warning to allies in an interview in the FT, saying that Nato faces a “very bad” future if US allies fail to assist in opening up the strait of Hormuz.
“It’s only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there,” Trump told the newspaper.
Here are the key stories of the day at a glance.
Trump’s call for allied deployment to strait of Hormuz meets muted response
Countries including the UK, Japan, China and South Korea have said they are still considering their options but without making commitments after the US president, Donald Trump, urged them to send warships to the strait of Hormuz to secure the vital shipping route.
US not ready to seek deal to end war with Iran, Donald Trump says
Donald Trump has warned he is not ready to seek a deal to end the US-Israeli offensive against Iran, saying that though he thought Tehran was keen to negotiate a ceasefire, the US would fight on for better terms.
Trump’s comments came as Iran launched fresh missile and drone attacks on countries in the Gulf and on Israel, and Israeli and US warplanes launched new waves of strikes on Iran.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair, Brendan Carr, is facing pushback from a Republican lawmaker after warning on Saturday that broadcasters could lose their licenses if they run what the federal agency deems “fake news” over the Iran conflict.
Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said in an interview on the Sunday Briefing on Fox News that he was not in favor of the government control of private enterprise or efforts to meddle with freedom of speech protected under the constitution.
Democrat calls both parties ‘feckless’ for ceding war powers to Trump
Democratic US senator Cory Booker has criticized both his own political party as well as its Republican counterpart for being “feckless” in ceding congressional war powers to Donald Trump, saying that their decision could embolden the president to unilaterally attack Cuba, North Korea and other countries.
What else happened today:
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 14 March 2026.
