You can hear the laughter in Iran from here.....

Trump demands ‘about 7' countries join coalition to police Iran’s Strait of Hormuz

The president declined to name the countries the administration is negotiating with for protection for the strategic passage.

By Associated Press

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he has “demanded” that about seven countries heavily reliant on Middle East oil join a coalition to police the Strait of Hormuz.

About one-fifth the world’s traded oil flows through the waterway.

Trump spoke while answering reporters’ questions as he flew back to Washington from Florida aboard Air Force One.

The president declined to name the countries he the administration is negotiating with for protection for the strait.

“I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their own territory,” Trump said about the strait, claiming the vital shipping channel is not something the United States needs because of its own access to oil.

Trump said China gets about 90% of its oil from the strait, while the U.S. gets a minimal amount. He declined to discuss whether China will join the coalition.

“It would be nice to have other countries police that with us, and we’ll help. We’ll work with them,” Trump said. Previously he had appealed to China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CBS that Tehran has been “approached by a number of countries” seeking safe passage for their vessels, “and this is up to our military to decide.” He said a group of vessels from “different countries” had been allowed to pass, without providing details.

Iran has said the strait is open to all except the United States and its allies.

Araghchi added that “we don’t see any reason why we should talk with Americans” about finding a way to end the war, noting that Israel and the U.S. started the fighting with coordinated attacks on Feb. 28 during indirect U.S.-Iran talks on Iran’s nuclear program. He also said Tehran had “no plan to recover” the enriched uranium that is under rubble following U.S. and Israeli attacks last year.