Trump Announces US Will 'Guide' Ships Through Strait of Hormuz Starting May 5 — 15,000 Troops, 100+ Aircraft, Destroyers Deployed

President Trump announced on May 3, 2026 — Day 65 — that the United States would begin 'guiding' commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday, May 5. The Hormuz escort mission is a major US military commitment: it involves approximately 15,000 US service members, more than 100 aircraft (including F/A-18 Super Hornets, F-35s, and multi-domain unmanned platforms), and multiple guided-missile destroyers operating in the strait. Trump said the mission was designed to restore commercial shipping flows and reduce the energy crisis created by the dual US-Iran blockade. The announcement was described by NPR as the most significant US military escalation since the April 8 ceasefire. The mission represented a fundamental shift in US strategy: from enforcing a blockade against Iran to actively escorting neutral commercial vessels through the strait — a move that brought US forces into far closer proximity to Iranian IRGC naval units. Pentagon officials confirmed the force package would include Arleigh Burke destroyers, mine-countermeasure vessels, and airborne surveillance assets. Analysts at USNI News described the mission as 'the most complex naval escort operation since the Tanker War of 1987–88.' The ceasefire remained nominally in effect, but the Hormuz escort would test whether Iran's IRGC would respect US-escorted vessels or treat them as violating Iran's claim to control the strait.