Here's the awkward part: Secretary of State Marco Rubio spent late June personally telling Gulf states that tolling the Strait of Hormuz was "not even workable." Trump floated it anyway on Monday — a 20% fee on any ship's cargo value, in exchange for US "protection," alongside reinstating the naval blockade on Iranian vessels specifically. Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi wasn't buying the "protection" framing either: "Iran has always been the guardian of the strait and will remain so forever."