Trump's 'Secret' Oil Mission Not Actually So Secret: Source

President Trump cast it as a Hollywood-worthy covert op; the reality appears far more routine, the New York Times reports. During an Oval Office appearance Wednesday, Trump said the US had secretly moved "millions of barrels of oil" past Iran and claimed Tehran was only learning about it "right now," describing 22 unlit ships slipping through the night. But a senior US military official tells the Times the president was actually referring to an ongoing American effort to quietly guide commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz—an operation that has already been publicly reported.

Since last month, US Central Command has helped more than 200 ships traverse the narrow waterway, often with transponders off to reduce visibility, the official said; the Times had previously reported on roughly 70 such crossings. Iran was almost certainly aware of the traffic, analysts note, with routes apparently shifted closer to Oman to avoid Iranian-controlled waters, where ships risk attack if they lack Iranian clearance. On social media later Wednesday, Trump said his "secret mission" had placed more than 100 million barrels of oil on the world market, a figure that couldn't be independently confirmed. Before the US-Iran war, about 3,000 ships per month passed through the strait. One expert tells CNBC the war has caused the largest-ever recorded disruption to the oil supply.