If he had stopped the answer there, the exchange would have been largely unremarkable. The president, however, decided to add one additional thought.

Trump: "Oman will behave just like everyone else, or we'll have to blow them up"

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-05-27T17:00:28.657Z

...In other words, according to the American president, he’s prepared to start bombing a longtime U.S. ally if it partners with Iran to share control of the Strait of Hormuz.....

It might be tempting to think administration officials would want to downplay the president’s unscripted comments, if for no other reason than to avoid exacerbating a potential international incident. But shortly after the Cabinet meeting, Trump’s State Department turned to social media to promote and amplify Trump’s threat to blow up Oman.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: The Strait is going to be open to everybody. It’s international waters. We’ll watch over it, but nobody’s going to control it.

Oman will behave like everybody else or we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that. pic.twitter.com/hCs1tIhZGP

— Department of State (@StateDept) May 27, 2026

For those keeping score, Trump has spent his second term launching military strikes in Venezuela, Yemen, Syria, Nigeria, Somalia and Iran, as well as several dozen attacks against civilian boats in international waters. His preparations for possible military intervention in Cuba have also been unsubtle....

A CNN analysis added, “Oman is at least the 15th country that he has either threatened to attack, left open the possibility of attacking, or actually attacked during his two terms as president.”

Given that Trump ran on a platform of foreign policy restraint, the fact that this list keeps growing is plainly indefensible.