The President of the United States, Donald Trump, stated this Monday that he intends for the country to receive economic compensation for the "protection" it offers to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Israel through the presence of the US Navy in the Middle East. His words allude to actions against Iran and the recently announced naval blockade against the Islamic Republic in the Strait of Hormuz, an operation for which Washington has proclaimed itself "guardian" through the occupant of the White House himself, after having proposed hours earlier a 20% toll on all goods crossing this strategic maritime corridor.
"Yes, I want compensation because we are protecting a very rich area of the world. We are spending money, so what we have done is we are going to be compensated for that protection," Trump declared from the Oval Office, where he assured that US forces are "protecting" countries that it is "helping."
The leader expressly cited "the five countries": Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait, which he mentioned in a rushed manner before adding that "there are others" and that, overall, "they will do very well." Despite this, none of these states have formally requested such protection in recent months, opting to maintain a certain distance from the military campaign of the Trump Administration and supporting, to a greater or lesser extent, various diplomatic initiatives.
"We think it is appropriate," reiterated the occupant of the White House, defending his idea of obtaining reimbursement for the protection provided.
Immediately after, the Republican leader included Israel in the list of countries in the region that, according to Washington, benefit from its military umbrella. "We are protecting them all and we have done a very effective job," he stated.
Trump clarified, however, that the United States "does not need" these countries, arguing that it has "more oil than anyone else" and adding Venezuela's reserves to its own, following the military intervention in early 2026 in which the US Army captured President Nicolás Maduro --currently detained and on trial in New York-- and promoted a plan to reactivate the Venezuelan oil industry under Washington's control.
"If we add Venezuela, which has been incredible, which has enormous amounts of oil that we control (...), we have more than 50% of the world supply," he stressed, before insisting that Washington "does not need" its partners in the Middle East beyond "from the point of view of protecting allies, etc., including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates."
With this argument, Trump has backed his hardened military campaign against Iran and has expanded his proposal, made just hours earlier, that the United States charge, in its role as "guardian" of the Strait of Hormuz, a 20% tax on all cargo passing through this key passage for global crude oil trade.