(AFP) – US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz as “Trump Strait” despite ongoing clashes with Iran — then hours later implied he wasn’t serious.
Trump has made a series of geographical name changes to international bodies of water in his second term, at least partly with the aim of trolling other countries. The latest suggestion came as Trump insisted the US had full control of the crucial waterway, even as fresh clashes raged there with Iran.
“Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT??? Like America itself, it would be ‘hotter’ than ever before!” Trump said on his Truth Social network. The White House later posted a map of the Gulf on social media with his suggested name, adding: “It’s got a nice ring to it.”
Trump has in recent weeks repeatedly threatened to claim sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, even posting a map showing the waterway as a “new US territory.” However, Trump later played down the idea of rebranding the Strait of Hormuz. “It was just thrown out there,” Trump said with a chuckle after an AFP reporter asked him in the Oval Office if he was serious about renaming it.
But a number of the 80-year-old Republican’s previous suggestions have been dismissed as being humorous before they ended up happening for real. Last week Trump signed an order renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America” amid a trade war with neighboring Canada, just days after apparently raising the idea in jest.
Trump also renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” on his first day back in the White House in January 2025. Neither Mexico nor Canada have accepted the changes. He has also gone on a spree of renaming things after himself, including the Kennedy arts center in Washington, while the US Treasury meanwhile on Wednesday issued $1 coins featuring Trump’s face to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence.
The Iran war remains a deadly serious issue, with no sign of ending more than six months after the initial US-Israeli assault. Fighting has flared again after weeks of calm, with US forces launching fresh strikes near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday in response to what Trump said were new minelaying efforts by Iran.
Iran said one of the US strikes killed four people at a wedding, branding it a “war crime,” and launched a wave of retaliatory strikes at US bases in Jordan, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Iraq. At home, Trump has presided over a steep rise in US fuel costs as a result of the war, and his Republican Party looks likely to lose at least partial control of Congress in the November midterm elections.
Iran has effectively shut down the choke point, through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes, in retaliation for the war Trump started along with Israel in late February. Trump said on Wednesday that the United States was ready to attack Iran again — while adding that the renewed campaign would not last “too long.”
“It was a very heavy attack last night, and we’re prepared to do another one any time we want,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
– Danny KEMP
© 2024 AFP
