Trump said to be 'joking' about declaring Strait of Hormuz as US territory

US President Donald Trump was reportedly “joking” when he said he would declare the Strait of Hormuz as US territory after the war with Iran, according to US media on Friday (14/8).

Trump has not met with his advisers to discuss the move, The Wall Street Journal reporter Brian Schwartz said on platform X, citing an unnamed senior White House official.

“President Trump has not met with his advisers about a plan to declare the Strait of Hormuz as US territory after the war and he was joking in his speech today in New York,” Schwartz wrote.

Trump made the statement during a political rally at the Nassau County Police Academy in Garden City, New York.

Trump then added that it was true.

Schwartz, who attended the speech, said Trump chuckled after making the statement, but then appeared to affirm that the statement was true.

Trump also claimed Washington controls shipping access through the highly strategic waterway.

“We control the blockade. No ship can pass unless we want it to,” Trump told his supporters.

As of Wednesday (12/8), around 3,371 ships had transited the Strait of Hormuz in the 166 days since the war between the US-Israel coalition and Iran began.

That number of ships is equivalent to around 20 percent of the traffic volume in the Strait of Hormuz before the war, according to data from commodity and shipping analytics firm Kpler as cited by CNN.

The US and Iran previously agreed to a Pakistan-mediated ceasefire in April. The two countries then signed an agreement on 17 June to begin negotiations towards a final deal.

Both sides also launched military attacks on each other between 8-24 July.

Washington struck a number of targets in Iran, while Tehran responded by attacking what it called US military facilities and equipment in several Arab countries, including Jordan, Bahrain, and Kuwait.