NASSAU COUNTY, New York — President Donald Trump said Friday that he plans to declare the Strait of Hormuz a U.S. territory, escalating his rhetoric over one of the world’s most important shipping routes as fighting with Iran continues.
“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 told a crowd on Long Island. The White House has not announced any legal mechanism for such a territorial claim.
Trump had already asserted this week that the United States has “total control” of the strait and suggested, “I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!” Iran rejects that claim and says no vessel can pass without Tehran’s permission.
The dispute has become increasingly consequential for global energy markets. Before the current conflict, roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passed through the narrow waterway. Vessel traffic has since fallen dramatically, with Reuters reporting only two ships transited Friday amid attacks and competing U.S.-Iranian claims of control.
Trump also acknowledged the domestic cost of the confrontation, telling Americans paying around $4 per gallon that higher gasoline prices were justified by efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The U.S. is currently enforcing a naval blockade against Iranian shipping, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday the Navy could maintain it indefinitely.
Trump’s statement goes beyond previous claims of operational control and raises major unanswered questions about international law, sovereignty and how the United States could legally annex an international waterway bordered by Iran and Oman.
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