President Trump continued to claim that the US controlled Hormuz and raised the idea of renaming the area “Trump Strait”.
“Now that we have control over this area, should we rename the Strait of Hormuz to ‘Trump Strait’? Like America, this place will be ‘hotter’ than ever!”, President Donald Trump wrote on the social network Truth Social on September 2.
It is unclear whether US leaders are serious about this statement or not. He also did not specify how the Strait of Hormuz is under US control.
The White House’s social media accounts then posted a map of the Persian Gulf area, which noted “Trump Strait” in the location of the Strait of Hormuz. “Sounds good,” the photo description reads.
US President Donald Trump spoke at the White House Rose Garden on August 24. Image: AFP
Hormuz is a strait located between Iran and Oman, 161 km long, 33 km at its narrowest point, and the navigation channel in each direction is only about 3 km wide. The Strait has been almost paralyzed since the Middle East war broke out. The US and Iran signed a joint memorandum of understanding in mid-June, including provisions to restore maritime operations in Hormuz. However, disagreements over interpretation caused the ceasefire to collapse.
President Trump in mid-August said he would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz “part of US territory” after defeating Iran. In a post on social media a few days earlier, he also stated that the US is in complete control of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran “cannot do anything to deal with it”.
Several ships recently passed through the southern corridor near Oman after being encouraged and protected by the US navy, instead of following the northern corridor controlled by Iran. Tehran has repeatedly warned cargo ships about the consequences of using routes that it considers “illegal”.
In the most recent incident, two Saudi Arabian super tankers were attacked by unidentified objects a few minutes apart while leaving the Strait of Hormuz on August 31.
Location of the Strait of Hormuz. Graphics: Guardian
Mr. Trump has made a number of proposals to change the names of places, initially as joking statements, and then really pushed to make them a reality. On the first day of taking office for his second term in January 2025, he signed a decree renaming the Gulf of Mexico to “American Gulf” as promised when running for election.
President Trump at the end of August continued to sign a decree renaming Lake Ontario located between the US and Canada to “American lake”. This is one of 5 large lakes located along the border of the two countries.
Neither Mexico nor Canada recognizes these name changes.