Following statements on Meet the Press Sunday where he said "I was against going into the Middle East," and lamenting that "we've spent 7 trillion dollars" there, Trump continued his theme of drawing down in the region on Twitter, saying Monday morning it's time for China and others to protect their own ships in the Persian Gulf.

"China gets 91% of its Oil from the Straight, Japan 62%, & many other countries likewise." Trump tweeted, making the common mistake of spelling the word "strait" wrong.

"So why are we protecting the shipping lanes for other countries (many years) for zero compensation," he questioned. "All of these countries should be protecting their own ships on what has always been a dangerous journey."

....a dangerous journey. We don’t even need to be there in that the U.S. has just become (by far) the largest producer of Energy anywhere in the world! The U.S. request for Iran is very simple - No Nuclear Weapons and No Further Sponsoring of Terror! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 24, 2019

"We don't even need to be there in that the U.S. has just become (by far) the largest producer of Energy anywhere in the world! The U.S. request for Iran is very simple - No Nuclear Weapons and No Further Sponsoring of Terror!" he concluded.

There was no immediate reaction in oil price in response to Trump's signaling the US could be no longer willing to protect international shipping following the June 13 tanker attack incident in the Gulf of Oman, and following last week's dramatic events which almost witnessed the US and Iran go to war.

Indeed according to 2018 figures some 62% of Japan's oil does get imported via the Strait of Hormuz; however, China's imports are more diverse (Trump claimed 91% comes through the strait), given its diverse network of oil imports, notably also a pipeline from Russia.