--- title: White House: Reopening Strait of Hormuz Not Vital to Ending Iran War description: Karoline Leavitt and Marco Rubio suggested the U.S. could declare victory even as Iran continues to block most tankers from the Strait of Hormuz canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/03/30/white-house-signals-trump-doesn-t-require-strait-of-hormuz-reopend-to-ready-to-end-iran-war/ author: Brian Bennett article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-03-31T19:24:07.081Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-13T06:52:24.065Z article:section: Politics og:title: White House: Reopening Strait of Hormuz Not Vital to Ending Iran War og:description: Karoline Leavitt said reopening the Strait of Hormuz was not a "core objective" of winning the Iran War for President Trump. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/03/30/white-house-signals-trump-doesn-t-require-strait-of-hormuz-reopend-to-ready-to-end-iran-war/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9df44bdfcd03bfed/69cad5ee5d9189209e47105f/GettyImages-2268472703.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: GettyImages-2268472703.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: White House: Reopening Strait of Hormuz Not Vital to Ending Iran War twitter:description: Karoline Leavitt said reopening the Strait of Hormuz was not a "core objective" of winning the Iran War for President Trump. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9df44bdfcd03bfed/69cad5ee5d9189209e47105f/GettyImages-2268472703.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # White House Signals Willingness to End Iran War Without Reopening Strait of Hormuz > Sponsored content. 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Karoline Leavitt and Marco Rubio suggested the U.S. could declare victory even as Iran continues to block most tankers from the Strait of Hormuz_  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Mar 31, 2026 7:24 PM UTC  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Mar 31, 2026 7:24 PM UTC Ensuring safe passage for oil tankers through the [Strait of Hormuz](https://time.com/article/2026/03/17/what-is-the-strait-of-hormuz-global-trade-oil-flow-iran-war/) is not one of the “core objectives” President Donald Trump has set for [ending his military operation against Iran](https://time.com/article/2026/03/29/iran-war-pakistan-talks-trump/), White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday, potentially setting the stage for Iran to continue to [flex its strategic position](https://time.com/article/2026/03/30/iran-war-strait-hormuz/) over one of the world's busiest oil shipping channels for the foreseeable future. Leavitt was asked at a White House press briefing on Monday whether Trump was willing to declare victory in Iran and end the war even if Iran continued to [block most vessels](https://time.com/article/2026/03/12/iran-new-supreme-leader-vows-revenge-blocks-strait-of-hormuz/) from passing through the strait. Leavitt said the U.S. and Israel began their [military strikes in late February](https://time.com/article/2026/03/17/israel-reports-killing-iranian-security-official-ali-larijani-gholamreza-soleimani/) to destroy Iran’s navy, dismantle its missile and drone infrastructure, weaken its proxies in the region and prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. “The full reopening of the Strait is something the Administration is working towards, but the core objectives of the operation have been clearly defined for the American people by the Commander in Chief,” Leavitt said. Despite the sinking of its navy and daily bombardments from U.S. warplanes, Iran’s military has still managed to menace merchant ships moving through the crucial waterway, cutting off oil shipments and driving up the price of crude oil on the global market. Iran allowed some ships to pass through the chokepoint in late March, after intense diplomacy from the U.S. The prospect of Iran continuing to exert greater control over the narrow Strait could make it one of the lasting legacies of the conflict. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in [an interview with Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/30/rubio-tells-al-jazeera-strait-of-hormuz-will-reopen-one-way-or-another) on Monday that the Strait of Hormuz would “reopen one way or another” after the military operation was over. “It will be open because Iran agrees to abide by international law and not block the commercial waterway, or a coalition of nations around the world and the region, with the participation of the United States, will make sure that it’s open,” Rubio said. Trump said in a [social media post](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116317880658472708) on Monday that “great progress” had been made to end the war, but warned that he was prepared to fully destroy Iran’s “Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!)” if a deal wasn’t reached that included the Strait of Hormuz “immediately open for business.” Leavitt signaled that Trump may achieve those objectives by mid-April. “The Pentagon has always stated four to six weeks as an estimated timeline for Operation Epic Fury,” Leavitt said in the White House briefing room. "We're on day 30 today—you do the math." ## Transcript [00:00] Thanks. Mr. Secretary, the US and [00:02] Iran appear right now publicly [00:04] to disagree about whether there [00:05] are these negotiations ongoing. [00:08] What impact does that have on military strategy? [00:11] Does it have any bearing at all? [00:14] Um so on the talks. [00:16] I can tell you having been with with [00:18] Steve and Jared and the vice president [00:20] and many Marko and many others yesterday, [00:22] they are very real. They are ongoing. [00:24] Uh, they're active. [00:25] Uh, and I think gaining strength. [00:28] And we appreciate that. [00:29] As I said in my remarks, [00:30] we would much prefer to get a deal if Iran was willing to [00:34] relinquish material they have [00:36] and ambitions they have open this. [00:38] Great. That's the goal. [00:40] We don't want to have to do more [00:41] militarily than we have to. [00:43] Uh, but I didn't mean it flippantly when I said, [00:45] in the meantime, we'll negotiate with bombs. [00:47] Our job is to ensure that we compel [00:49] Iran to realize that this new regime, [00:51] this regime in charge, [00:53] is in a better place if they make that deal. [00:55] And so we'll continue. We're working hand in hand, [00:58] but the primary effort is a deal. [00:59] We want that deal to be accomplished, if at all possible. [01:02] If not, then we're prepared to continue just on. [01:05] The Strait of Hormuz, is opening the strait [01:07] an essential objective to Operation Epic Fury? [01:10] Or is that the job of those other countries? [01:13] And then secondly, without [01:15] asking you to comment on things [01:16] that you can't talk about, [01:17] what is your message to Americans [01:19] who love the president and strongly believe in him, [01:22] but are very worried about [01:23] this notion of boots on the ground? [01:25] Ultimately, I think the president's truth [01:27] this morning lays that out very well, [01:30] that this Strait of Hormuz issue, [01:31] which we've set the conditions for success, [01:34] and we will make sure Iran knows that very [01:37] clearly is not just a [01:38] United States of America problem set. [01:41] We've been willing to lead [01:42] President Trump's lead the entire time. [01:44] But it's not just us. [01:45] So ultimately, I think other [01:46] countries should pay attention. [01:48] When the president speaks, [01:49] he's proven that when he speaks, [01:50] he means something and he's pointing out, um, [01:53] you know, you might might want to [01:54] start learning how to fight for yourself. [01:56] Uh, it's something some of us [01:58] have been saying for quite some time. [01:59] Uh, you can't just have flags. [02:01] You have to have formations. [02:02] You can't just have a few ships. [02:04] You have enough to affect change. 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