Senate

Warner on US blockade in Strait of Hormuz: ‘I don’t get that logic’

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by Tara Suter - 04/12/26 4:58 PM ET

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by Tara Suter - 04/12/26 4:58 PM ET

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Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said Sunday that he didn’t understand the “logic” behind President Trump’s recent announcement that the U.S. military would begin blockading ships looking to enter the Strait of Hormuz.

“We know we’ve got $4-a-gallon gasoline. We know that 25 percent of the world’s natural gas goes through the strait. We know a lot of aluminum does,” Warner told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.” “We know that this has so devastated Asian countries right now, they’re shutting down their economies one day a week, fertilizer costs up. And the thing I was hoping was we could come to some negotiated truce or end.”

“But, even with that, you’re going to see these energy prices continue at record levels, not for weeks, but months and years. And how blockading the strait gets it open suddenly, I don’t get that logic,” he added.

On Sunday, the president announced that the U.S. military would start blockading ships looking to enter the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for oil.

“Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said on Truth Social.

The strait has been essentially closed since the beginning of the U.S. conflict against Iran. Iran has also recently charged a toll on ships looking to pass through the strait.

In the wake of a marathon day of negotiations with Iran, Vice President Vance said Saturday that no progress had been made in the direction of a peace agreement. The vice president described the 21 hours of negotiations with Tehran as “substantive.”

“That’s the good news,” Vance said. “The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement, and I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America. So, we go back to the United States having not come to an agreement.”

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

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