Rubbish Check
Forbes Business · 17 August 2026
source“Trump Reportedly Threatens He’ll ‘Bomb The S- Out Of’ Oman If It Disrupts Iran Operations”
R2/ 10
Lightly altered
Rubbish Rating — 1 = base fact, 10 = pure rubbish
12345678910
In short
Rubbish Talk rates Forbes' headline on Trump's Oman threat a 2/10 because it is a near-verbatim rendering of a quote Trump actually gave Fox News, honestly flagged with "Reportedly."
The Verdict
Lightly altered. The headline quotes Trump almost word for word, and the hedge "Reportedly" appropriately signals that the claim rests on a single Fox correspondent's account rather than a recorded audio clip. The only iteration from the pure base fact is the headline's shorthand "if it disrupts Iran operations" standing in for Trump's actual conditional, "if Oman gets in the way," of the Strait of Hormuz talks; a defensible compression, not a distortion.
What actually happened
Fox News' Trey Yingst reported that President Trump told him, "If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the s- out of them," in reference to Oman's role in Strait of Hormuz shipping negotiations with Iran. The comment came as the 60-day memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran expired and talks over the strait remained stalled. Multiple outlets independently reported the same quote from the same Fox appearance.
Key facts
- "If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the s- out of them," Trump told Fox News's Trey Yingst, with the outlet noting the journalist did not provide audio of the conversation.
- Trump said he "has no time schedule" and is "not in a hurry" to reach an agreement with Iran to end the war, according to Fox.
- The deadline was set through the memorandum of understanding Trump and Iran signed in June, which also implemented a 60-day ceasefire, though the agreement has largely unraveled as Iran and the U.S. can't agree on a path forward regarding the Strait of Hormuz.
- The Strait of Hormuz is a waterway through which 34 percent of the world's crude oil passed in 2025, according to the International Energy Agency.
- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Iran and Oman had reached an agreement to allow ships to sail through the strait shortly before Trump's threat.
What to watch for
Watch whether Fox ever releases audio of the exchange; until then, every outlet's headline rests on a single correspondent's paraphrase. Also watch the Oman-Iran shipping-lane "understanding" reported alongside the threat; if that deal proceeds despite Trump's warning, it undercuts the premise that Oman was ever "getting in the way."
About this scoreThe R-Score is Rubbish Talk's editorial opinion on how far a headline's framing sits from what the underlying facts support. It is a judgement about presentation and emphasis, not an allegation that any outlet has acted dishonestly. Every figure we rely on is linked under Receipts so you can check it yourself.
