Senior official tells media the president never discussed annexing the strategic waterway with advisers, as Iran firmly rejects the claim.
A senior White House official has said US President Donald Trump was “joking” when he suggested declaring the Strait of Hormuz American territory, adding that the idea was never raised with his advisers.
The clarification followed remarks Trump made on Friday during a political rally at the Nassau County Police Academy in Garden City, New York. “After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated-pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” he told supporters. He chuckled before adding: “It’s true.”
Wall Street Journal reporter Brian Schwartz, who attended the event, quoted an unnamed senior White House official as saying: “President Trump has not met with his advisers about declaring the Strait of Hormuz a US territory post the war and was joking during his speech today in New York.”
Trump also asserted that the United States already controlled maritime access through the waterway. “We have the blockade. No ships get through unless we want them to,” he said.
Iran’s sharp response:
Iranian officials rejected the claim outright. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi stated that the “Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian,” emphasising that the waterway “will only be closed and opened under Iran’s command.” Iranian military sources have previously dismissed US assertions of control as “baseless lies and fabrications.”
The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage between Iran and Oman at the entrance to the Persian Gulf, is one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints. Approximately one-fifth of global oil supplies and significant volumes of liquefied natural gas typically transit the strait. Disruptions since the start of the current US-Iran confrontation have contributed to elevated oil and gasoline prices internationally.
Trump’s Hormuz Remarks Spark Fresh Tensions:
Trump’s comments came amid an ongoing military confrontation with Iran that began earlier this year. He has repeatedly claimed effective US control over the strait and has framed higher energy costs for American consumers as a necessary price for preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Under international law, the Strait of Hormuz is recognised as an international waterway subject to the right of transit passage. Any unilateral declaration of sovereignty over it would lack legal foundation and carry serious diplomatic and military consequences. Analysts note that Trump has previously used provocative or hyperbolic language regarding the waterway, including an earlier joking reference to it as the “Strait of Trump.”
The rapid White House walk-back underscores the sensitivity of the issue at a time of heightened regional tensions. While the official description of the remark as a joke seeks to defuse the controversy, the episode has further inflamed rhetoric between Washington and Tehran over control of a vital global energy artery.
As energy markets remain under pressure and military tensions persist, the incident highlights the volatility surrounding the Strait of Hormuz and the risks of escalating rhetoric over one of the world’s most strategically important maritime routes.