Trump demands others help secure Strait of Hormuz, Japan and Australia say no plans to send ships

MSN ^ | March 16, 2026 | Tim Kelly

[Trump20162020]

U.S. President Donald Trump's demands for a coalition to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz appeared to fall on deaf ears on Monday as allies Japan and Australia said they were not planning to send navy vessels to the Middle East to escort ships through the vital waterway.

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TOPICS: Australia/New Zealand; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Iran; Japan; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: alreuters; australia; concerntroll; concerntrolling; cryingwolf; fakenews; hormuz; iran; irgc; japan; jarrettrenshaw; mullahloversonfr; rop; straitofhormuz; tds; timkelly; trump

[Mark17]

What kind of action can Trump take?

[nathanbedford]

Perhaps for security reasons the Trump administration did not consult with these allies prior to the attack on Iran. Since they were not forced to commit in advance, these allies are now free to decline to expose their troops and ships.

The leaders of Australia and Japan must now go to their people and justify putting their citizens at mortal risk when everybody knows that the United States has no choice but to proceed to defend the flow of oil through the Straits. That's a big ask of politicians-ask Tony Blair.

[Antioch]

The “coalition of the willing” didn’t make a difference in the last rodeo and it won’t make a difference in this war.

[FLT-bird]

OK. Ya see guys, we don’t get any oil from the middle east. We don’t need it. We have our own and Canada and Mexico next door.

Good luck.

[mitchjackson1972]

So why isn’t Israel helping?!?!?!?!

[pterional]

Oil is a global commodity, not a local one. Prices are set on world markets, not by where a single country buys its oil. Disruptions in the Middle East raise global prices, which affects the U.S. even if most imports come from Canada or Mexico.

[Alberta's Child]

The leaders of Australia and Japan must now go to their people and justify putting their citizens at mortal risk …

Well, no — they don’t. They don’t have to be told by their citizens that it’s not in their best interests to do any such thing.

[FLT-bird]

That might apply for the imports from Mexico assuming there are no long term contracts in place (though the new Venezuelan imports would counter that loss).

That is not so for Canadian imports. There is no outlet for Albertan oil. Carney and the government in Toronto will not allow them to build a pipeline across British Columbia. There is no outlet for that oil except the US.....ergo, that oil is not going anywhere else.

As for domestic oil, it would cost more to ship it halfway around the world than it would to refine it and sell it domestically and there is always the possibility of the US federal government restricting exports if global prices rise. In any event, we are nowhere near as vulnerable economically or from a security standpoint to an oil shock as countries that are reliant on importing the vast majority of their oil like Australia, Japan, Europe, China etc.

[nathanbedford]

Well, no — they don’t. They don’t have to be told by their citizens that it’s not in their best interests to do any such thing.

Huh?

[Alberta's Child]

Why would the leaders of Australia and Japan be obligated to go to their people to justify something that they have no intention of doing?

[whitney69]

“What kind of action can Trump take?”

Hit them economically and also watch their oil dry up. Japan is heavily dependent on the Strait of Hormuz for its energy supply, with roughly 70% to 90% of its total oil imports passing through this waterway from the Middle East, according to sources from March 2026. This makes the strait a critical energy bottleneck for Japan.

Under international maritime law, tankers are required to use AIS, which is a tracking system that allows other vessels, authorities, and public tracking websites (like MarineTraffic) to see a ship’s:

Real-time location
Destination and estimated time of arrival
Current speed and course

They can manipulate the AIS to broadcast false locations, but there no advantage in that with the straits being so thin. So if Japan for one, doesn’t wish to contribute escort ships, then let them fend for themselves. By the time Japan gets the message, they will lose a lot of oil and get into economic problems.

wy69

[nathanbedford]

My point exactly, politicians are disincentivized from taking political risks because we have preempted and irrevocably committed to act in their interests, anyway.

[Zhang Fei]

[Oil is a global commodity, not a local one. Prices are set on world markets, not by where a single country buys its oil. Disruptions in the Middle East raise global prices, which affects the U.S. even if most imports come from Canada or Mexico.]

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Everyone is affected by pricing, but all oil is accounted for by contracts. If Japan can’t get Gulf oil, it can’t get oil at any price, because other output is spoken for. When its reserves run out, Japanese chemical firms will grind to a halt.

[Alberta's Child]

You seem to be overthinking this. The leadership of these countries would have strongly advised the U.S. not to start this stupid military campaign in the first place, so they are clearly going to stay at arm’s length when the U.S. calls for help.

[Zhang Fei]

[You seem to be overthinking this. The leadership of these countries would have strongly advised the U.S. not to start this stupid military campaign in the first place, so they are clearly going to stay at arm’s length when the U.S. calls for help.]

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Trump is telling them to guard their own cargoes. When their oil runs out, their navies and coast guard corvettes will head for Hormuz. But odds are the threat will be over by the time those ships arrive. They’re trying not to look like they’re kowtowing to Trump, who’s very unpopular abroad because of his stance on tariffs. But odds are their navy ships are already under way, to head off a complete cessation of Gulf cargoes to their respective countries.

[Alberta's Child]

It would seem to me that the shipper has a greater responsibility in this than the receiver. Let the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, etc. deal with the security of these vessels. Those countries are bankrupt if they can’t sell their only major export.

[Jonty30]

I can only assume domestic politics is the deciding factor.

Japan and China.
Australia and their Islamic population.

[HombreSecreto]

Right. We should escort only US-flagged ships through the strait.

Maybe other countries should buy oil from US-owned or administered sources in the Americas?

[roving]

They didn’t have targets on their back, but the United States did. Trump isn’t going to let Iran strike us first. I know that saddens you, but that’s the way it is.