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Trump targets Hormuz
U.S. President Donald Trump said he would “soon” declare the Strait of Hormuz a “territory” of the United States, speaking at a police academy in Garden City on Long Island.
“When we finish defeating … Iran, which is being defeated with great force, very soon I will declare Hormuz to be U.S. territory”
Trump tied the claim to the U.S. blockade, saying, “We have the blockade; ships don’t pass if we don’t allow it,” while the strait has had “no traffic since the start of the war with Iran in late February.”
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi rejected the idea in a message on X, saying, “The Strait of Hormuz cannot be taken via a tweet, an aircraft carrier, an order, or an electoral speech.”
The dispute is playing out as gasoline prices remain high in the United States, with the ABC report saying they are “above four dollars per gallon on average in the United States.”
Blockade, sailors, and politics
Trump’s remarks came as the U.S. navy “has reimposed a blockade on Iranian ports in the Hormuz strait,” according to ABC News & Headlines, and the administration offered “no clarity on how it intends to wind down the war.”
In the same reporting, Trump downplayed the toll on sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, saying the more than 260-day deployment was “not nearly long enough.”
Al Jazeera reported that Trump framed the blockade as a “public service for countries that rely on traffic through the strait,” and quoted him saying, “The blockade is unstoppable. It’s a wall of steel.”
Al Jazeera also quoted Iran’s response, with Kazem Gharibabadi saying, “The Strait of Hormuz cannot be seized by tweet, nor by aircraft carrier, nor by issuing an order, nor by an election speech.”
War priorities and next steps
Beyond the territorial language, the sources describe a shift in U.S. war priorities toward energy costs, with Al-Monitor saying Vice President JD Vance told Fox News that “goal number one -- keep oil and gas cheap for Americans all over our country.”
“goal number one -- keep oil and gas cheap for Americans all over our country”
Al-Monitor also said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened economic isolation “like the world has never seen before,” with new measures expected next week.
The same Al-Monitor reporting says the administration is maintaining strong economic pressure by blockading ports and preventing Iran from selling oil, while diplomacy is constrained by Iran’s conditions for reopening the passageway.
In parallel, Al Jazeera reported that White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters that maintaining low fuel prices and ensuring Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon are of “equal importance,” as the U.S. continues to press for control of the strait’s traffic.