Strait of Hormuz to be declared US territory soon, Trump says

WASHINGTON,— U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz a territory of the United States once Iran is defeated, a claim made amid an ongoing war with Iran that has pushed gas prices sharply higher.

Speaking at a rally at a police academy in Garden City, New York, Trump said Iran was being badly beaten in the conflict. “Pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” he told the crowd, adding, “It’s true.”

It remains unclear if Trump’s statement was meant seriously or if it points to a shift in U.S. strategy in the war with Tehran, which has now stretched past five months.

Iran, meanwhile, pushed back hard. Trump called the country “evil” and told Americans to expect gas prices to stay high for now.

The exchange showed both sides remain far from any resolution, with peace talks stalled and oil tanker traffic through the strait still shut down.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi wrote on social media platform X early Saturday that the strait would open and close only when Iran decided, and that the blockade would continue as long as the U.S. refused to accept it had lost.

He said the waterway could not be taken through a tweet, a warship or a campaign speech.

Before the United States and Israel launched their military campaign on February 28, the strait carried roughly one in five barrels of oil traded around the world.

At the rally, Trump asked Americans to tolerate slightly higher fuel costs while the war continues, saying it was worth paying “a tiny little bit more” at the pump to stop what he called a dangerous country from building a nuclear weapon, a reason he has repeatedly given for the conflict.

Gas prices have become a sore point for many voters. The American Automobile Association reported the average price of a gallon of gasoline stood at about $4.08 on Friday, a 29% jump from $3.16 a year earlier.

Both nations use the word blockade, but for different actions. Iran applies it to its control over ships passing through the strait, while the U.S. uses the term for its own warnings aimed at Iranian vessels leaving port.

Trump defended the military effort, saying it served the wider world and not just the United States. He also said an American aircraft carrier that has spent 260 days supporting the war was deployed for a period that was “not nearly long enough.”

A tentative agreement reached in June to end the fighting has since collapsed, and neither country has shown signs of returning to the negotiating table.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said no decision had been made on resuming talks with Washington, according to the Iranian Student News Agency.

The report added that Qatar and Pakistan, acting as go-betweens, remained in touch with Iran but that the contact did not amount to formal negotiations.

(With files from Agencies)