U.S. President Donald Trump has backflipped on his planned 20% toll on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz after receiving calls from Middle Eastern "kings and emirs."
The reversal came a day after Trump declared the United States the "guardian of the strait" and said it would charge ships for protecting the key waterway.
"I put it out yesterday. I thought it was good," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
"But I was called by different people, different countries... kings and emirs, and they said they would love to do it a different way."
Trump said Gulf states had instead offered to invest "billions and billions of dollars" in the United States.
In a Truth Social post, he said the reversal followed "highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership."
Trump also said he had reconsidered the broader idea of charging ships to use the strait, saying he does not like "the concept of a fee".
The decision came as U.S. forces launched a fourth consecutive round of strikes on Iran and reinstated a blockade on Iranian ports.
Trump said U.S. forces were hitting Iran "very, very hard" and targeting military positions along the coastline and around the Strait of Hormuz.
The proposed toll had raised questions about how the United States would impose a charge on vessels using an international waterway it does not control.
Trump had said the 20% fee would reimburse Washington for the cost of keeping shipping safe, but his administration had not explained how the toll would be collected or enforced.
