Well, howdy there, internet people, it's bell again.

So today, we're going to talk about Trump, Iran, tolls in the Strait of Hormuz, and what it means.

After Iran succeeded in establishing control of the Strait of Hormuz. It began imposing tolls to go through the

straight, payable and cryptocurrency. It puts Trump in a tough situation because if Iran

is collecting tolls, it undermines his claims of victory. Trump doesn't really seem to know

how to respond. We're accustomed to Trump flipping like a gymnast,

but he's getting a gold medal on this one. On Wednesday, April 8th, ABC's Chief Washington correspondent,

John Carl, said he talked to Trump about the tolls, and Trump reportedly said, quote,

We're thinking of doing it as a joint venture. It's a way of securing it, also securing it from lots

of other people. It's a beautiful thing. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned Iran's tolling plans and said that such a development would be, quote, dangerous for the world.

The European Commission has expressed its displeasure with any tolls, with a spokesperson saying, quote,

International law provides for the freedom of navigation, which means what? It means no

payment or toll whatsoever. The Strait of Hormuz, like any other maritime lane, is a

public good for all humanity, which means navigation must be free. Freedom of navigation

must be restored. They stop short of telling companies and ships not to pay what amounts to

protection money. Apparently, Iran wouldn't cut Trump in on the shakedown, or I mean joint venture, because on Thursday, April 9th, Trump posted to social media, quote,

There are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait.

They better not be, and if they are, they better stop now.

President Donald J. Trump. It's a beautiful thing on Wednesday to they better stop now by Thursday.

We've talked about how Trump's war gave proof of concept to Iran's ability to tie their national security to

international security via the strait and the economic influence. A toll system formalizes this

and gets the world accustomed to Iran having physical control. That makes it really hard for

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