'It was already open': Jim McGovern mocks Trump's Strait of Hormuz ultimatum

United States Representative from Massachusetts, Jim McGovern, has sharply criticised President Donald Trump's rhetoric on the Iran war and his recent claims. In a post on X, he pointed out a glaring contradiction at the heart of the administration's ceasefire rationale, which was the demand for the Iranian regime to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global crude oil shipping lane. McGovern noted that the passage was already open before the U.S. and Israel began their strikes, which essentially renders the whole military campaign a futile exercise.  

The Democrat who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1997 has long criticized the military operation in the Middle East. After nearly 40 days of fighting, Trump on Sunday issued a Tuesday 8 p.m. deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz or face destruction of its power plants and bridges. At the time, McGovern called the President a "madman" and demanded that the administration invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from office. Further reacting to Trump's demands, McGovern mockingly wrote, "So he’ll stop bombing Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which was open before he started bombing Iran. Got it." Before that, McGovern strongly called on Trump's Cabinet to take away the nuclear codes from the "madman" and save the nation from committing war crimes in the Middle East. "If Trump’s cabinet had one shred of integrity left, they’d immediately invoke the 25th amendment and take the nuclear codes away from the madman sitting in the Oval Office," he wrote. 

McGovern further participated in a rally at Worcester City Hall on Tuesday, as part of an emergency protest organized by Indivisible Worcester to oppose the U.S. military escalation in Iran. "I know my office has been inundated with phone calls about this issue like never before," Rep. McGovern told the crowd, This Week In Worcester reported. As he marched on the streets, McGovern called on the administration again to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump from office. 

On Wednesday, after Trump announced a two-week ceasefire agreement with Iran, in which Tehran had agreed to open the Strait, McGovern focused his attention on the ongoing Israeli strikes in Lebanon, urging Trump to step in. He urged the president to put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the bombardment and killing of innocent people in the region. The comments come after hundreds of people in Lebanon were killed in the devastating bombardment carried out by Israeli forces after the two-week truce between the U.S. and Iran was announced.

Citing Lebanon’s Civil Defence, Al Jazeera reported that at least 254 people were killed and 1,165 others were wounded in air strikes in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley, Mount Lebanon, Sidon, and other villages in southern Lebanon. McGovern argued that Israel's actions in Lebanon will "plunge the region into further chaos," and the U.S. President needs to step in. "He needs to save the deal he negotiated. He has leverage. He should use it!" the lawmaker wrote in another post.