Trump Just Outmaneuvered the "British Empire" at Hormuz

 

Trump Just Outmaneuvered the "British Empire" at Hormuz

A viral breakdown has exposed a subtle but devastating dynamic unfolding in the Persian Gulf.

In a single stroke of economic and military genius, the Trump administration appears to have neutralized one of the United Kingdom's most ancient and powerful geopolitical tools, potentially "crushing" a key ally's economy to secure American energy supremacy.

The crisis began when Lloyd’s of London—the world's only insurance market large enough to back the staggering value of the global oil fleet—abruptly announced it would no longer insure any vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

This move, according to Armes, would have effectively grounded the 20 to 30 percent of the world’s oil that flows through that 21-mile chokepoint.

"Trump just killed the British Empire."

Let me explain. This is the Strait of Hormuz. You've been hearing about it on the news. About 20 to 30 percent of all oil in the world goes through this strait. Here is what you don't know.

In order to go through this strait, ships have to have insurance. There is only one company in the entire globe that is big enough to insure all the oil tankers going through this strait. That company is Lloyd’s of London.

It is responsible for about 2 percent of the British Empire’s GDP, over a $40 billion contribution to the United Kingdom and 50,000 jobs, but it’s also a geopolitical tool for the UK.

And they decided they were no longer going to insure anyone going through the Strait of Hormuz, which would have halted all energy shipments. It was kind of a giant F you to Donald Trump to confuse and distort the energy markets and make America look bad.

But Trump said that the United States government is going to start insuring these shipping companies. Not only that, they will provide personal escorts for these boats with the U.S. Navy.

Just in a matter of minutes, the United States has shut down one of the largest geopolitical tools the United Kingdom has had all the way back to the 1600s.

This not only ensures they no longer have geopolitical leverage but is going to crush their economy. It's not like Lloyd’s can just magically come back online.

Now that the United States is insuring these boats, which, by the way, were the reason boats could even go through that strait anyway because of the United States military, it's not like these boats are going to go back to Lloyd’s of London insurance.

They’re probably going to stay with the United States, and Trump knows this.

A very subtle move but incredibly important."