Back
Trump says he will soon declare Strait of Hormuz U.S. territory

Trump says he will soon declare Strait of Hormuz U.S. territory

Trump said slightly higher gasoline prices were the cost of stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, as oil neared $90 and rhetoric over the waterway intensified.

Fact Check
Multiple independent credible sources on 2026-08-14 — Iran International English, Anadolu Agency, and reporters Bahar Ostadan and Matthew Chayes — consistently attribute the same quote to Trump: that he would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz 'a territory of the United States.' The near-simultaneous, verbatim corroboration confirms Trump made this statement, matching the Watcher.Guru claim. The claim accurately conveys what Trump said, though several journalists flagged it as possibly rhetorical/joking rather than a formal policy declaration.
Summary

President Donald Trump said Friday he would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz "territory of the United States" and argued that Americans should accept slightly higher gasoline prices as the cost of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Speaking in Garden City, New York, Trump said he would never apologize for attacking Iran, while his latest comments raised questions over whether his claim about the strategic waterway reflected policy or political rhetoric. The remarks add to earlier assertions that the United States had effectively blocked the strait, claims Iran rejected as "baseless lies and fabrications." The waterway carries roughly 20% of global oil and LNG shipments, Brent crude has approached $90 a barrel, U.S. gasoline has risen to around $4 a gallon, and vessel traffic has remained sharply below pre-war levels after stalled talks and renewed July fighting between Washington and Tehran.

Terms & Concepts
  • Strait of Hormuz: A narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman that is a crucial route for global oil and gas exports.
  • LNG: Liquefied natural gas, a supercooled form of natural gas that can be transported by ship.
  • Brent crude: A widely used international benchmark for pricing oil.