President Donald Trump said he plans to soon declare the Strait of Hormuz “a territory of the United States.”
“After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” Trump said in an Aug. 14 speech in New York. “Essentially that’s what we have. The blockade ‒ no ships get through.’
He didn’t say how he was going to do it because he is just needling the media or joking as usual.
The Strait of Hormuz is located between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Iran is on the strait’s north coast while Oman is on its south coast.
Roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas flows through the shipping lane. The U.S. war with Iran and the subsequent closure of the strait have led to a spike in energy prices across the globe.
I don’t think he’s serious. The media falls for it every time.
Update:
Since I posted this, I heard the clip. He’s joking. President Trump said essentially he already has declared it a US territory. I hadn’t heard this until this morning. The useless media presented this as a serious declaration, probably to make him look nutty.
U.S. President Donald Trump:
“Pretty soon, I’ll be declaring the Strait of Hormuz a territory of the United States.” pic.twitter.com/rteR6zRQgw
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) August 14, 2026