Trump says he will declare the Strait of Hormuz US territory
Speaking at a campaign event in Garden City, New York on August 14, 2026, President Donald Trump said that after the United States finishes defeating Iran he will declare the Strait of Hormuz a territory of the United States, citing the US naval blockade; Iran's deputy foreign minister replied that the strait cannot be taken 'by a tweet, nor by an aircraft carrier, nor by decree, nor by an election speech'
The three lines
- Where and when — Friday, August 14, 2026, at the Nassau County Police Academy in Garden City, New York, at an event for a Republican gubernatorial candidate
- What he said — 'After we finish defeating Iran… pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States.' His stated basis: 'The blockade is unstoppable. It's a wall of steel'
- Why it cannot simply happen — the United States is not a littoral state of the strait; Iran, Oman and the UAE are. International law offers no procedure for a third state to claim territory over an international waterway
Key questions
- What exactly did Trump say about the Strait of Hormuz?
- He said: '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 offered the naval blockade as justification — 'The blockade is unstoppable. It's a wall of steel' — and added that 'what we're doing is a great service for the world.' He gave no legal mechanism and no timeline. These were remarks at a campaign rally, not a policy announcement, and the White House has not confirmed them as policy.
- Could the United States actually do this?
- There is no clear path. The strait's northern shore is Iran; its southern shore is Oman's Musandam peninsula and the UAE. The United States borders none of it. Iran has asserted control over the strait since the 1979 revolution. International law contains no procedure by which a state that is not a littoral state declares territorial sovereignty over an international waterway. Legal specialists note in particular that levying tolls on commercial shipping would violate the protections for free maritime transit.
- How did Iran respond?
- Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, answered on social media: 'The Strait of Hormuz cannot be taken over by a tweet, nor by an aircraft carrier, nor by issuing a decree, nor by an election speech.' The structure of the reply names four forms a US claim might take and dismisses each; the last one points directly at the venue where Trump spoke.
This page has covered the Strait of Hormuz six times in two weeks: toll negotiations, a burning tanker, settlement odds at 9 percent, traffic down to 3 percent of pre-war levels.
On August 14 a different kind of sentence joined that list.
"I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States."
1. The setting
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Date | Friday, August 14, 2026 |
| Place | Nassau County Police Academy, Garden City, New York |
| Occasion | Campaign event for a Republican gubernatorial candidate |
The full quote: "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."
His stated basis was the naval blockade the US Navy currently maintains. "The blockade is unstoppable. It's a wall of steel." And a closing line: "What we're doing is a great service for the world."
The venue matters. This was a rally, not a policy rollout. The White House has not confirmed it as policy.
2. Whose water is it
At its narrowest the strait is about 34 kilometres wide. The land on either side belongs to specific states.
| Side | Littoral state |
|---|---|
| North | Iran |
| South | Oman (Musandam peninsula) · United Arab Emirates |
The United States is not among them. Neither shore touches American territory. Iran has claimed control of the strait consistently since the 1979 revolution, and Oman is the practical manager of the southern lane — the background is in "Why Oman sits between Washington and Tehran."
International law provides no procedure for a non-littoral state to declare sovereignty over an international waterway. That is why multiple outlets independently described the claim as having no clear path forward.
3. Tehran's answer
Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, posted a single sentence:
"The Strait of Hormuz cannot be taken over by a tweet, nor by an aircraft carrier, nor by issuing a decree, nor by an election speech."
Four possible instruments of an American claim, each dismissed in turn. The last item — an election speech — names the venue where the remark was made.
4. The real issue underneath: tolls
If "territory" is closer to rhetoric, the operational question behind it is money. This page covered the numbers on the table in early August under "Hormuz tolls: Iran 7%, Oman 3%, the US 0%."
That is where legal specialists focus. Levying tolls on commercial transit would violate the international protections for free maritime passage. Whether tolls were actually part of what Trump had in mind is not established — the objection addresses a hypothetical.
5. The state of that water right now
| Item | Status |
|---|---|
| Traffic | About 3% of pre-war volume |
| Blockade | Maintained; a cargo vessel accused of running to Iranian ports was recently fired on |
| June memorandum | Safe-passage attempt; both sides allege violations |
| Fighting | Resumed at the end of June |
| Talks | Ongoing, unresolved |
In peacetime roughly one fifth of the world's oil moved through this channel. It is now 3 percent. The structure is laid out in "The Strait of Hormuz: 34km carrying a fifth of the world's oil."
6. What is not settled
There is no official position. Whether a rally line is being converted into policy is unknown.
The claim that Iran is losing badly is unverified. It is Trump's own assessment of the war, not something this page has independently confirmed.
The effect on talks is unknown. What is confirmed is only that the remark came while negotiations were stalled and each side accused the other of violating the June understanding.
Earlier coverage: "Hormuz traffic at 3% of pre-war levels" and "Hormuz settlement odds fall to 9%."
Sources
- Al Jazeera — A US territory? Trump unveils proposal to control Strait of Hormuz
- NOTUS — Trump: I Plan to Declare the Strait of Hormuz a 'Territory'
- NBC News — Trump says he will declare Strait of Hormuz U.S. territory when Iran war ends
- CNN Politics — Trump says he plans to declare the Strait of Hormuz a US territory
- The Hill — Trump says he will declare Strait of Hormuz a US territory
- Al Jazeera Newsfeed — US President Trump says he will declare Strait of Hormuz US territory