'Very profitable business': Trump says US Navy seizing Iranian oil ‘like pirates’

<article data-history-node-id="439436" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/very-profitable-business-trump-says-us-navy-seizing-iranian-oil-pirates" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/very-profitable-business-trump-says-us-navy-seizing-iranian-oil-pirates" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">'Very profitable business': Trump says US Navy seizing Iranian oil ‘like pirates’</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the US Navy was acting “like pirates” in seizing Iranian ships and cargo near the Strait of Hormuz.</p> <p>The US is carrying out a naval blockade of Iranian ports and has seized some of Tehran’s vessels.</p> <p>Iran has blocked nearly all ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz apart from its own since the beginning of the US-Israeli war on Iran.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">“It's a very profitable business.”<br> <br> US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the US Navy was acting “like pirates” in seizing Iranian ships and cargo near the Strait of Hormuz <a href="https://t.co/Cr6LlWyqWq">pic.twitter.com/Cr6LlWyqWq</a></p> — Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) <a href="https://twitter.com/MiddleEastEye/status/2050459695500939556?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div> </div> </article>