THIS WEEK'S EPISODE:

Episode #1048: Rejected
First Broadcast: 3/23/26
Shortly after the United States began bombing Iran on February 28, 2026, in an effort to accomplish... who knows what... Iran announced it was closing off the Strait of Hormuz to all traffic and it would fire on any ship trying to pass through there, effectively reducing oil shipments through that strait to near zero. Predictably (though, maybe not so predictable to the geniuses in the White House), this has caused oil prices to soar, which will undoubtably lead to other price increases and goods shortages in little time, so there is a huge incentive for someone--anyone!--to prevent those increases and shortages from happening by re-opening the strait. Since President Trump caused this situation by attacking Iran in the first place, you might wonder: what's his solution to fix this or get around it? It seems he was hoping other countries might step in and do the job for him, as detailed in this message on social media from March 14:

Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait wiil no longer be a threat by a Nation that has been totally decapitated. [sic]

As you might have guessed, the rest of the world didn't exactly fall over themselves to meet this demand, which pissed off Trump to the point where he sent off this missive on March 17:

Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer "need," or desire, the NATO Countries' assistance--WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea. In fact, speaking as President of the United States of America, by far the Most Powerful Country Anywhere in the World, WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE! [sic]

That'll show 'em! Perhaps they were all repelled by how Trump has been so belligerent towards other nations in various ways, but perhaps they also didn't want any of their tankers with several hundred million dollars' worth of oil destroyed by a $35,000 Iranian drone, especially since the U.S. only has so many $4 million Patriot missiles to intercept the hundreds of drones Iran is using in its attacks. In any event, Trump seemed particularly perturbed about the United Kingdom's reluctance, lashing out at their Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, thusly:

"I was very surprised with the United Kingdom because the United Kingdom, two weeks ago, I said, 'Why don’t you send some ships over?' And he really didn't want to do it," Trump told reporters.

Calling the UK his country's "oldest ally," Trump said that the US has spent "a lot of money" on NATO and protecting Ukraine against Russia. "I think it's terrible," Trump said, going on to say he was "not happy with the UK."

The president said that Starmer had told him yesterday he was meeting with his team to make a decision about joining an effort to help secure the Strait of Hormuz.

"I said, 'You don't need to meet up with the team. You're the prime minister. You can make your own — why do you have to meet with your team to find out whether or not you're going to send some minesweepers to us or to send some boats?' I said, 'You don't have to meet with your team.'"

Click here for the Past Episodes Index.

So, what is Free New York anyway? The simple answer is that it's a this neat little public access TV show on Manhattan Neighborhood Network which I co-produce with the tremendous help of my camerawoman/editor/everything else, Kim. The complicated answer is that it's a project of mine to broadcast opinions and events which don't always appear within "the mainstream media" (like The New York Times, the major networks, local radio, etc.), and so far I think it's been working.

If you think I'm doing a good job--or not--and you feel like sending me snail mail, the address is:

Free New York
P.O. Box 20945
Tompkins Square Station
New York, NY 10009

You can also email me at fny@freenewyork.net, which should get to me a lot faster than the snail mail.

Jump Back to the Top!

last updated March 22, 2026
Comments? Send email to: fny@freenewyork.net