One of the wild cards with which President Donald Trump has been dealing regarding his military months-long, up-and-down campaign against Iran’s demands for nuclear weapons and the annihilation of Israel is the Strait of Hormuz.

That narrow sea passage in the Middle East carries a huge percentage of the crude oil that is delivered by the adjacent nations to the rest of the world.

Iran mined it, closed it down, threatened to blow up ships there, wanted to charge passage fees, even delivered explosive attacks to those carriers, in order to create an oil crunch and push the energy prices around the world up during the military campaign.

But Trump, in a speech Friday, confirmed his plan:

Listen:

“Pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States.”

President Trump floats a dramatic move involving the strategically critical waterway as he says Iran is being “very badly defeated.” pic.twitter.com/zXJhCfOIqH

— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 14, 2026

He said, “After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormus Strait a territory of the United States.”

Social media reacted with:

“This is what I voted for. The best president ever…”

Trump was speaking at rally for Republican candidates in Garden City, New York.

The New York Post reported that Trump’s preliminary peace arrangements with Iran fell apart a few weeks ago when Iran tried to take control of the Strait, firing on commercial ships.

Trump previously suggested that the crucial water way be called the “Strait of America,” much like he redesignated the old “Gulf of Mexico” and the “Gulf of America.”