Top General Warned of Strait Closure Before War

Trump acknowledged the risk, opted to go forward, reports Wall Street Journal
Posted Mar 15, 2026 7:29 AM CDT
Top General Warned of Strait Closure Before War
Oil tankers and ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, March 11, 2026.   (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

The Wall Street Journal suggests that President Trump underestimated Iran's ability to throttle the Strait of Hormuz. Its story reports that Trump's top general—Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—warned the president in multiple briefings that Tehran would close the vital shipping lane with drones, missiles, and mines. Trump "acknowledged the risk," the story reads, but "told his team that Tehran would likely capitulate before closing the strait—and even if Iran tried, the US military could handle it."

Two weeks in, the strait has become Iran's strongest pressure point, and Trump has begun reaching out to international allies for help in opening it up. The White House, however, is pushing back against the notion that the president miscalculated. "The Pentagon has been planning for Iran's desperate and reckless closure of the Strait of Hormuz for decades, and it has been part of the Trump administration's planning well before Operation Epic Fury was ever launched," said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. The Hill sees three options for the US: naval escorts, ground troops to secure the Iranian shore, or opening the strait by negotiating an end to the war, and it digs into the risks of each.

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