Checkmate: How Trump’s Iran Strategy Forces China’s Hand

The Daily Signal’s Mehek Cooke said President Donald Trump’s handling of Iran and the Strait of Hormuz is forcing both Tehran and Beijing into a corner, calling the strategy “checkmate” during a television appearance Tuesday night.

Speaking on NewsNation’s “Katie Pavlich Tonight,“ Cooke said the Iranian regime miscalculated by threatening shipping lanes just as a ceasefire agreement with the United States reached its two-week mark. Under the original terms of the ceasefire, Iran was expected to keep the Strait of Hormuz open—through which much of the world’s oil flows.

“Iran still thinks they’re winning because they have a ceasefire and President Trump gave them a lifeline,” Cooke said. “But what President Trump really did was give the American people a window into who Iranians really are—that they’re not going to negotiate in good faith.”

Cooke argued that by moving to control the strait, the Trump administration is cutting off Iran’s primary economic leverage and drawing China—Iran’s largest oil customer—into pressuring Tehran.

“China was getting 90% of that oil,” Cooke said. “So, guess who’s going to be at that negotiating table pushing Iran to stop holding proxy wars and stop holding us hostage? It’s China.”

She said Arab states in the Persian Gulf, now facing direct threats from Iran, are moving closer to Israel and the West in pursuit of stability and economic growth.

“This is a complete reset,” Cooke said. “We’re watching in real time Arab states pivot toward Israel and the West because they want a future of peace and prosperity.”

Cooke also warned that as Iran loses economic and territorial leverage, it may intensify proxy and terrorist activity beyond the Middle East, including in the Western Hemisphere.

“We have to be vigilant,” she said. “The Iranians are out of steam, so they’re going to look for other ways to strike Americans.”