President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States military had quietly assisted about 200 commercial vessels and facilitated the movement of more than 100 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump revealed the previously undisclosed operation, saying the effort helped prevent a sharp spike in energy prices.

“This wildly successful effort is because the UNITED STATES of AMERICA CONTROLS the Strait of Hormuz — NOT Iran,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “Their military is defeated, and their economy is lost.”

According to him, the covert support kept crude oil prices near $90 per barrel rather than soaring above $200.

Despite the intervention, shipping activity through the strategic waterway remains significantly below levels seen before the conflict, according to Helima Croft, Global Head of Commodity Strategy at RBC Capital Markets.

Before the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, roughly 20 million barrels of oil per day—about 20 per cent of global petroleum supply passed through the Strait of Hormuz.

Traffic through the vital shipping corridor fell sharply after Iran responded by attacking vessels and laying mines in the waterway.

The disruption has effectively shut down much of the route, resulting in the loss of more than 1 billion barrels of oil supply, making it the largest supply shock on record.
JPMorgan said last week that actual oil flows through Hormuz may be higher than publicly reported.

The bank estimated that about 2 million barrels per day could still be moving through the strait aboard tankers operating with their transponders switched off, making their movements difficult to track.