UNITED STATES President Donald Trump said today he has ordered the US military to “shoot and kill” small Iranian boats that deploy mines to choke traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Mr Trump’s post on social media came shortly after the US military seized another tanker associated with the smuggling of Iranian oil.

“I have ordered the US Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be, that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” Mr Trump posted.

“There is to be no hesitation. Additionally, our mine ‘sweepers’ are clearing the Strait right now.”

“I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled-up level!” he added.

He also said the military is intensifying mine-clearing operations in the critical waterway.

The move comes a day after Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards attacked three cargo ships in the strait, capturing two of them.

The Defence Department released video footage earlier on Thursday of US forces on the deck of the Guinea-flagged oil tanker Majestic X, which was seized in the international waters of the Indian Ocean.

“We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate,” a Pentagon statement said.

Ship-tracking data showed the Majestic X in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia, roughly the same location as the oil tanker Tifani, earlier seized by US forces. It had been bound for Zhoushan, China.

The vessel had previously been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in 2024 for smuggling Iranian crude oil in contravention of US sanctions.

There was no immediate response from Iran on the news of the seizure, but Iranian officials have continued to slam the decision to maintain the US blockade, itself considered by Iran an act of war.

Meanwhile, US Navy Secretary John Phelan was sacked on Wednesday, just weeks after Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth ousted the army’s top general, General Randy George.

The Pentagon said Phelan was leaving the administration “effective immediately,” but did not provide a reason or say whether it was his decision to go.

Another Trump loyalist, Under Secretary Hung Cao, who ran unsuccessful campaigns for the US Senate and House in Virginia, is taking over as navy secretary.

Mr Hegseth has also fired several other top military leaders since taking office last year.

Mr Trump has also sacked General Charles “CQ” Brown Jnr as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.