"It's definitely something we should think about. I don't need Congress for that decision," the president said in response to a question at the White House, adding:
"I don't have anything in mind right now, but I'm not exactly excited."
Trump has previously demanded that the world step up efforts, and "with enthusiasm", to keep sea traffic open during the ongoing war with Iran. The response from several capitals has been uniformly negative.
"NATO is making a very stupid mistake," Trump said at Tuesday's press conference.
“A dead end”
Before that, he sharpened his tone in a long and rambling post on Truth Social where he, among other things, warned the defense alliance NATO about its future:
"We don't need anyone's help!" Trump wrote in capital letters in the post after accusing NATO member countries of only taking and never giving.
"I'm not surprised by their actions, I've always seen NATO - where we spend hundreds of billions of dollars to defend their countries - as a dead end. We protect them, but they do nothing for us, especially when we need help," Trump continued.
Previously, Trump has turned to China, France, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom, among others, for military support in the Strait of Hormuz, where a significant portion of global oil exports pass - but which traffic has been disrupted after threats of new Iranian attacks.
There were no signs that Iran would change its tough stance on the strait on Tuesday.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran's parliament, warned that maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz had been permanently changed.
"The situation in the Strait of Hormuz will not return to its pre-war status," the speaker wrote in English on social media, according to AFP.
Future efforts
French President Emmanuel Macron signaled on Tuesday that the country is ready to support an escort force for ships traveling in the Strait of Hormuz - but only when "the situation is calmer" in the region.
"We are not a party to the conflict and therefore France will never take part in an operation to open or liberate the Strait of Hormuz under the current circumstances," Macron said on Tuesday.
