BlockBeats News, June 19th: On June 18th, U.S. President Trump stated that the reason he negotiated a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran was to prevent the escalation of the conflict into a global economic recession. In an interview with the U.S. Axios news website, Trump said, "We've totally defeated them militarily." This military action actually demonstrated the U.S.'s military capabilities. "Who else could do a blockade like that? I had all of the boats manned. They couldn't [get] through."

Trump expressed frustration at some domestic critics questioning his toughness on Iran. He said that if bombing of Iranian targets continued, the Strait of Hormuz would be unnavigable. "We won't get oil for a long time. As long as you're going to be doing that, nobody can come in [or] out of the Strait - automatically it's closed... and the world, they think they're going to get oil and nothing happens." Axios reported, citing sources familiar with the matter, that Trump had privately expressed concerns about global oil reserves depleting and the potential for a global oil crisis if the Strait of Hormuz remained closed.