Jack Ormrod

Yeah this is totally the message voters care about, dude. Really got his finger on the pulse of America

Royal Navy Fleet Tracker - 5th of May 2026 Seven Royal Navy ships, two submarines, six patrol boats and two Royal Fleet Auxiliaries on deployment.

My monologue from today’s The Times at One with Andrew Neil: As often happens with President Trump, it’s not long before you end up in fantasyland.  Yesterday, in a long and at times incoherent social media post, he suddenly announced the US would start ‘guiding’ — his word —  commercial ships out of the Strait of Hormuz, where they have been stranded by his War on Iran.  On the face of it — at last an effort to unblock this vital supply route for the global economy.  Of course, it turned out to be no such thing. There will be no US Navy escort for stranded ships to go through the Strait in convoy. Or the navies of any other countries for that matter.  Just a so-called ‘co-ordination cell’ involving countries, insurance companies and shipping lines sharing data. Trump has dubbed it ‘Project Freedom’. But there will be precious few ships freed by this latest wheeze.  The UK’s Maritime Trade Operations agency, which works in tandem with the Royal Navy, said this morning the security threat level in the Strait remained ‘critical’. As long as that’s the case ships won’t risk the passage without Iran’s approval.  And that was before we had Iran claiming this morning to have hit a US frigate. America is categorical that none of its ships has been hit.  At first Tehran didn’t deign to respond to Trump’s latest initiative. But this morning Iran warned it would attack any commercial ships or US warships that tried to transit the Strait without its permission, reminding everyone it was in control of the Strait, which, of course, it wasn’t before Trump began his attacks on Iran.  Over 1,600 ships are now trapped on either side of the Strait. Only those of whom Iran approves and prepared to stump up $2m per ship to Tehran are allowed through. The truth is Trump has no idea how to reopen the Strait — or how to bring his war to an acceptable end.  He’s just rejected Iran’s latest peace proposals, which were full of unacceptable nonsense — suggesting the tyrants of Tehran are still in no rush for peace. But what happens next is anybody’s guess.  Mine is that Trump will simply play for time, as he has in Gaza. Last year, to much fanfare, he announced peace had broken out in the strip and reconstruction would begin.  Since when, there’s been very little peace and no reconstruction. But our attention has moved on. Gaza makes few headlines these days, even though it’s still grim on the ground.  Trump will be hoping for the same attention deficit towards Iran. Both sides have stopped raining down missiles, bombs and drones on each other. Not much else is happening. Nothing to see here. Let’s move along.  However, there is one mighty difference with Gaza: the Strait of Hormuz. The longer that stays closed the more the global economy is likely to be crippled. That’s already happening in Asia, where shortages are spreading and economies grinding to a halt.  The same fate is heading our way, slowly but surely. We are heading for shortages and massive price rises in all manner of materials — not just oil and gas — but jet fuel, helium, naphtha, fertilisers  — about which we know little but which are, in fact, vital to normal life.  No jet fuel, no flying.  No helium, no microchips, no microchips, no cars or household appliances, never mind the AI developments currently keeping the US stock market afloat.  No fertilisers, no food.  No naphtha, no building blocks for everything from textiles to rubber to car parts.  If, come June, the Strait is still closed then we will be entering a summer of misery thanks to Trump’s War. The chances grow by the day.  It has dawned on Tehran that controlling the Strait is a far more powerful weapon than a nuclear bomb. Though it’s not giving up on that either.  As the rest of us suffer, Trump will be declaring a fantasy victory. Which makes you wonder: if this is victory, what would defeat look like?

Trump suggests that he doesn’t need a deal with Iran.