Advising his diplomatic team that the global shipping collapse is only just getting good, Donald Trump has instructed U.S. negotiators to savor the crisis rather than rush into a 60-day truce.
MUSCAT, Oman — The ceiling fans in the Al Bustan Palace lobby clicked rhythmically, pushing a stale, air-conditioned breeze over a tray of untouched cardamom tea. Outside, the midday sun baked the Gulf of Oman. Inside, American envoys received their latest directive regarding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz: wait.
The proposed deal, which would enact a 60-day ceasefire and unblock the arterial waterway for international oil markets, is reportedly ready to sign. However, the incoming administration has advised its diplomatic team to slow down, instructing them not to prematurely end a catastrophic supply chain failure that is still finding its legs.
According to cables reviewed by reporters in the Omani capital, the immediate resumption of global trade is viewed by the transition team as a tragic anticlimax. The idling of roughly 20 percent of the world’s seaborne crude has created a rich, textured panic across European and Asian markets that negotiators have been explicitly told to enjoy.
The President feels that unblocking the world's most critical oil chokepoint on a random Tuesday would step on the dramatic tension we've spent months building.
Down at the port of Khasab, the horizon remained thick with the silhouettes of anchored supertankers, their hulls rusting slightly in the saline humidity. The crews, surviving on rationed diesel and satellite radio, will continue to drift as diplomats in Muscat adhere to instructions to play hard-to-get with the global economy.