Trump Suggests Renaming Strait of Hormuz as “Trump Strait” After Strikes Kill At Least Four

Trump’s “Trump Strait” push

United States President Donald Trump suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz as the “Trump Strait,” saying “Now that the Strait of Hormuz is under the control of the United States, should we change its name to the Trump Strait?” In a separate speech, Trump claimed in the Iran-related part that “We are winning this war,” adding that “Once we win the ongoing war with Iran, oil prices will fall.”

Trump also said he believed the war with Iran would end “immediately” after the U.S. midterm elections in November, because Iran was “not capable of withstanding for a longer period,” according to Al-Khaleej. Al Jazeera reported that Trump’s suggestion came less than 24 hours after the US struck several targets in Iran, killing at least four people, including two children, at a wedding in the southern city of Sirik.

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Sanders and election framing

Bernie Sanders reacted to Trump’s “Trump Strait” proposal by writing on X, “They want you to end your illegal war in Iran, a war that has driven diesel prices up to $5.69 a gallon and gasoline to $4.12 a gallon.” Sanders’ post also challenged Trump’s framing of control over Hormuz, saying, “You are the President, not a crazy king, so act like it.”

Al Jazeera reported that Trump told reporters on Wednesday that the seven-month-long war with Iran will end “immediately after” the US midterm elections in November, framing the conflict as Tehran’s attempt to influence the vote. In the same Al Jazeera account, Ali Alavi, an Iran lecturer at SOAS University of London, said of Trump’s predictions of Iran’s post-election collapse, “It was a statement that was more likely meant for an internal [domestic] audience.”

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War costs and strategic stakes

Al Jazeera said the cost of the Iran war is being felt in the United States ahead of the midterms, with petrol prices reaching a national average of $4.27 a gallon according to the American Automobile Association.

The same Al Jazeera report quoted Sanam Vakil, director of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa programme, saying, “Iran has prepared for a long war,” and added that “It may be that part of that was a secondary plan to hold out long enough to destabilise the US midterm elections.”

Separately, Al-Sharq Lil Akhbar described reporting from The New York Times that U.S. Vice President J. D. Vance received “growing concerns within the U.S. military establishment about the cost of war with Iran and the draining of defense stockpiles, especially Patriot missiles,” while assessments showed Tehran “willing to absorb substantial damage in its fight to survive.”

That account said the military leaders told Vance that Patriot interceptor missiles had “reached an all-time low,” and it added that the discussions covered what Iran might do in the Strait of Hormuz and the limited availability of defensive weapons for American forces.

Reporting for this sectionAl JazeeraAl-Sharq Lil Akhbar