Trump says he will soon declare Strait of Hormuz a US territory
President Donald Trump on Friday said he would "soon" declare the Strait of Hormuz waterway part of US territory after defeating Iran. "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 said with a chuckle during a political rally at a police academy in New York state.
- World
- Agencies and A News
- Published Date: 11:58 PM 14 August 2026
President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would be soon declaring the Strait of Hormuz a U.S. territory, escalating his rhetoric over the vital waterway that carries a significant share of global oil supplies.
US to hit Iran hard economically
Trump told Fox News on Friday that the United States will hit Iran hard economically as Washington and Tehran struggle to reach a deal to end a nearly six month conflict.
His comments came a day after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. was going to apply measures that have "never been seen" on Tehran as soon as next week.
Trump, together with Israel, launched a war against Iran on February 28 with the stated aims of ending the country's controversial nuclear program and sparking a popular uprising.
However, Iran struck back by establishing de facto control over much of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital passageway for large amounts of global energy and other commodity shipping.
The United States remains locked in a stalemate with Iran over the strait, with Iran denying access to much of the civilian shipping and the US Navy mounting a blockade of Iranian ports in an attempt to cripple its economy.
- Magnitude 7.4 earthquake strikes off coast of Indonesia
- Putin says Russia, North Korea coordinating on regional security
- Iran has not decided on resuming US talks: FM Araqchi
- Trump says USS Abraham Lincoln deployment 'not nearly long enough'
- Former University of Cambridge professor Jason Arday found dead