Willa Pope RobbinsMay 5th, 2026, 9:59 pm

Fox News host Jesse Watters said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump “must know what he’s doing” after Trump announced a pause on his operation to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

The president announced the pause on Tuesday evening on Truth Social, claiming it would last for “a short period of time” while the U.S. pursued a “Complete and Final Agreement” with Iran. The move came just a day after “Project Freedom” began on Monday. Trump announced Sunday that the U.S. Navy would help “guide” ships of “neutral and innocent bystanders” safely through the Strait of Hormuz.

Watters reacted to Trump’s announcement on Jesse Watters Primetime, telling viewers the move was likely a bid to allow Iran to “save face.”

“We suspect the president is letting the Iranians save face. The enemy just yesterday said they controlled the strait. That was obviously a lie,” he said. “And watching the Americans escort ship after ship out of the gulf and them not being able to do anything about that was going to be humiliating. Not only were they going to lose whatever military prestige they had left in the region, their negotiators weren’t going to be able to fight for their position after they lost their last bargaining chip.”

A total of four ships went through the Strait on Monday, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a Tuesday Pentagon briefing that two commercial vessels were escorted successfully through the passage by the U.S. military. Monday also saw Iran attack U.S.-escorted ships and U.S. Navy vessels, in addition to launching strikes on the United Arab Emirates, which continued on Tuesday.

The Fox host claimed that Trump must have chosen to pause the operation in light of significant Iranian concessions, noting that “Project Freedom” could have continued while negotiations were ongoing.

“The commander-in-chief must believe that the Iranians are serious about surrendering if he is going to pause Project Freedom for the sake of a deal. Because you could also continue Project Freedom during the negotiations,” said Watters. “You know, you do want to get these foreign ships moving. The president must know what he’s doing. And we are about to find out how insane in the brain the regime really is. The choice is theirs.”

Watch above via Fox News.

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