Trump threatens to blow Iranians blocking the Strait of Hormuz ‘to hell’; Naval blockade to begin; fears oil prices will rise off fresh threats

Trump warned that China would face a 50 percent tariff if it transferred weapons to Iran, but said he doubted Beijing would do so, despite US intelligence indicating it had such plans.

“I’m hearing news reports about China giving the so-called shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles,” he said, apparently referring to exclusive CNN reporting that Beijing is preparing to transfer shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile systems known as MANPADs.

“I doubt they would do that, because I’m in a relationship, and I don’t think they would,” he told Fox News.

“Maybe they did that a little bit in the beginning, but I don’t think they’ll do that anymore,” he said.

“But if we catch them doing that, they’re going to get a 50 percent tariff, which is a staggering amount — that’s a staggering amount,” Trump said.

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the US said: “China has never supplied weapons to any side in the conflict; the information in question is untrue.”