Donald Trump says the Hormuz Strait will be "a territory of the United States" once Iran loses

At a campaign rally in New York state on Friday, President Donald Trump said that once the U.S. defeats Iran, he would soon announce that the Strait of Hormuz is American territory. An unnamed White House official later said Trump was joking, according to the Wall Street Journal. The remark drew a rebuke from Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, who insisted on X that the strait has been and will remain Iranian and will open or close only under Iranian command. The waterway has been effectively shut since the Middle East war began in late February, disrupting global oil and gas shipments, driving up prices, and contributing to the collapse of an April ceasefire. Washington has imposed its own blockade on Iranian ports.