Mark Halperin

It is a set of goals shared by every one of Donald Trump's immediate predecessors.

However, if you try and you fail,

as has happened to many American presidents since Vietnam, you risk hurting America's credibility.

America's ability to say to countries, don't do that.

If you do something we don't like, like threaten the United States and Israel and other countries in the region, we will use force and we will get our way.

The most pronounced problem right now that even administration allies like Newt Gingrich have said publicly

make or break must control the stratiform moves must open up this incredibly important piece of real of watery real estate to shipping particularly but not only the shipping of oil

Fertilizer goes through there, lots of other things.

And not just the United States economy, but the world economy.

Some American allies like India, like Japan, extremely dependent on the oil that goes through the Strait of Hormuz.

And the Iranians have shut it down.

Newt Gingrich said, if it's not opened up, the war is lost.

Opening it up is really hard.

I did a lot of reporting on this in the last two days.

How do you open it up?

You got to figure out a way to get these ships to be willing to go through.

You got crews and captains and companies who, even if you give them insurance, they don't want to go through.

OK, and and right now the Iranians are letting a few ships through of friendly friendly ships, but they are using drones and the threat of other attacks to close it.

And the president's made clear it's got to be open.

Big meeting at the White House, I was told on Wednesday.