After claiming total victory in Iran, Trump is now pressuring Beijing and NATO to send warships into the crosshairs of Tehran’s deadly naval mines.

Donald Trump told us the war was over. He said Iran was “decimated,” its navy sunk, and its spirit broken. But the empty tankers bobbing in the Gulf of Oman tell a different story.

Now, the President is doing the unthinkable: he’s asking China to do the job the U.S. Navy apparently can’t finish.

In a flurry of Truth Social posts and Air Force One gags, Trump demanded that China, Japan, and America’s NATO allies send their own warships to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The waterway—a 21-mile-wide juggernaut that handles 20% of the world’s energy—is effectively a ghost town. Iran might be “beaten” on paper, but their mines and suicide drones are doing just fine.

“I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory,” Trump barked at reporters Sunday. He’s even threatening to ghost a planned summit with Xi Jinping if Beijing doesn’t start playing coast guard. It’s a stunning shift for a leader who spent years trashing China as a global parasite.

But let’s be real. This isn’t a “gift” to Beijing, as Trump claimed last week. It’s a desperate SOS.

The bravado of the initial invasion has hit a wall of reality. Brent crude is screaming past $104 a barrel. Gas prices at home are jumping 70 cents in a single week. For a president who prides himself on the “Greatest Economy Ever,” these numbers are a political death sentence. He needs that oil flowing, and he doesn’t want more American caskets to be the price of the pump.

And the world isn’t exactly rushing to help. Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi already threw cold water on the idea, citing constitutional limits. Australia said no. The UK is talking about “drones,” which is diplomatic speak for “we’re not sending our best ships into a minefield.”

So, Trump is leaning on the one country that actually needs the oil more than we do. China gets nearly 90% of its crude through that chokepoint. Trump’s logic is simple: you want the lights on in Shanghai? Send your destroyers to clear the mines we can’t find.

Is this a surrender? To the critics, it looks like it. You don’t beg your primary geopolitical rival to police the world’s most sensitive artery if you have the situation under control.

But Trump sees it as a “shakedown.” He’s tired of the U.S. acting as the world’s free security guard. He wants a coalition where everyone pays in blood and treasure. The problem is, nobody wants to be the first one to hit a mine while the U.S. Navy watches from a safe distance.

The U.S. Central Command says they’ve hit 90 targets on Kharg Island, but they haven’t cleared the water. It turns out, “totally decimated” is a relative term when a $500 drone can still sink a billion-dollar tanker.

The coming week will be the real test. If Beijing ignores the call and the Strait remains a no-go zone, the global economy is going to seize up. Trump has gambled that he can bully the world into finishing his war. But if China stays home, he’ll be left holding the bag—and the bill.

The President claims he’s “ahead of schedule.” If the schedule was to turn the Persian Gulf into a parking lot, he’s right on time.