Posted on 03/27/2026 10:10:40 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
President Donald Trump said on March 26 that Iran had given the United States a “present” in the form of several boats carrying oil.
To show they were serious and reliable, Iran had planned to send over eight large vessels of oil, Trump said. He initially thought nothing of it, but then he saw a news report stating that eight ships were moving through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump, speaking during a Cabinet meeting, reiterated that his administration is having “very substantial talks” with Tehran to resolve the conflict.
Iranian officials gifted the United States 10 boats of crude oil to show that they were “real and solid” during negotiations, Trump said.
“I guess we’re dealing with the right people,” the president stated. “And actually, they then apologized for something they said, and they said, ‘We’re going to send two more boats,’ and ended up being 10 boats.”
Earlier this week, the president hinted that Tehran was giving the United States a “present” related to oil and gas, “worth a tremendous amount of money.”
These comments come hours after Trump wrote on Truth Social that Iran’s leaders “better get serious, before it is too late.”
“The Iranian negotiators are very different and ’strange,'” he wrote on his social media platform.
"They are ‘begging’ us to make a deal, which they should be doing since they have been militarily obliterated, with zero chance of a comeback, and yet they publicly state that they are only ‘looking at our proposal.’ WRONG!”
Special envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed during the meeting that he delivered a 15‑point proposal aimed at ending the ongoing armed conflict with Iran.
The global chokepoint handles approximately 20 million barrels of oil and petroleum products daily, with most of the shipments destined for Asia.
“I am confident that shipping traffic will continue to increase on a daily basis, even before we secure the strait,” Bessent said.
Crude oil prices have surged since the start of the war in Iran, but there has been a divergence between the United States and global benchmarks.
A barrel of West Texas Intermediate climbed almost 5 percent on March 26 to above $94 on the New York Mercantile. Brent, an international benchmark for oil prices, also advanced nearly 5 percent to $102 per barrel.
West Texas Intermediate concentrates on domestic production, inventories, and pipelines. Brent, however, is sensitive to geopolitical developments and seaborne transportation.
While U.S. oil prices had accelerated to as high as $119 per barrel, they have since retreated due to a plethora of measures enacted by the current administration.
The White House established a $20 billion guaranteed political risk insurance program, waived a century-old shipping law—the Jones Act—, and temporarily lifted sanctions on Iranian and Russian petroleum. The United States and dozens of other countries committed to tapping into their emergency reserves.
Still, the president says the oil and stock market reaction has not been as severe as he initially anticipated, noting that prices “have not gone up as much as I thought.”
“It’s all going to come back down to where it was and probably lower,” he said.
U.S. stocks have pared much of their gains from earlier in the trading week, with the leading benchmark index averages down as much as 1.5 percent on March 26.
Yields on U.S. Treasury securities also climbed, while the U.S. dollar index jumped almost 0.3 percent. The potential economic damage may be reversed once the war is over, Trump stated.
“My predictions have been right,” he said.
The economic outlook has been clouded by the Iranian conflict. Some argue that recession risks—back-to-back quarters of negative GDP growth—remain elevated. Others say the U.S. economy remains insulated from oil price shocks and war in the Middle East.
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An independent analysis of tanker movement failed to confirm this happened.
Oh really, and who conducted this “independent analysis” troll?
He is like a pigeon at a chess board.
Whose boats and where are they going?
LOL!
I’m a little confused.... In a social media post on Thursday, the President claimed, on the one hand, that Iran was “begging” for negotiations, while proclaiming, on the other, that it “better get serious soon.” Which is it?
If you’re begging for negotiations, isn’t this supposed to be serious?
“Whose boats and where are they going?”
I think they went to Pakistan to a Chinese controlled port.
How many millions of dollars did they charge for the tolls?
There have been tankers moving the whole time.
To china, to india... Then japan made some kind of deal and theirs moved through, then most recently somehow korea made a deal also to get theirs theough
Must be one helluva huge toll both.
Why is Iran still “calling the shots” there (determining who, when and how many get through)? So THAT is a GIFT to us? Really?
How much did the US have to pay Iran to let those ships thru?
Reports as of late March 2026 indicate that Iran is imposing a “transit fee”
of up to $2 million per vessel for ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s fee is blackmail...... to secure safe passage through the vital waterway
amid high regional tensions.....often referred to as Iran’s “toll booth” strategy.
I hope we got something for that, but it doesn't look like it.
The President made it sound like it was a gift to us, not some other country.
They didn’t have any transit fee until our sneak attack and assassinating their leaders and religious leader.
And the market sure doesn’t believe it. It’s crashing again today.
“it may have been a bad move by President Trump not to secure the straight first thing.”
And how do you do that? That’s roughly like saying secure the California coast from Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz, mountains and all, with one large city in the middle.
Those mountains are infested with observation posts and missiles.
A naval escort can maybe shoot an incoming missile... maybe. IF the tanker owner agrees to risk his tanker and crew. And hot take, a lot of those foreign interests are not interested in helping Trump and Israel.
Right.
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