President Donald Trump said Friday the U.S. Navy was acting “like pirates” as he described a raid seizing a ship amid an American blockade on Iranian ports.
"We... land on top of it and we took over the ship. We took over the cargo, took over the oil. It's a very profitable business," Trump said at a rally in Florida.
"We're like pirates," he added to cheers from the crowd. "We're sort of like pirates. But we're not playing games."
Trump's comparison of U.S. naval activity to piracy comes as legal experts raise alarms about Iran's blockade of the vital Strait of Hormuz and its plans to charge a fee for ships passing through it.
Tehran effectively closed the waterway, a key route for oil and gas shipments, after the start of the U.S.-Israeli air campaign against Iran on Feb. 28.
