"China gets 91% of its Oil from the Straight, Japan 62%, & many other countries likewise." Trump tweeted, making the common mistake of spelling the word "strait" wrong. 

"So why are we protecting the shipping lanes for other countries (many years) for zero compensation," he questioned. "All of these countries should be protecting their own ships on what has always been a dangerous journey." 

"We don't even need to be there in that the U.S. has just become (by far) the largest producer of Energy anywhere in the world! The U.S. request for Iran is very simple - No Nuclear Weapons and No Further Sponsoring of Terror!" he concluded.

There was no immediate reaction in oil price in response to Trump's signaling the US could be no longer willing to protect international shipping following the June 13 tanker attack incident in the Gulf of Oman, and following last week's dramatic events which almost witnessed the US and Iran go to war.