US President Donald Trump on Friday jokingly referred to the Strait of Hormuz—the key oil chokepoint in the Persian Gulf—as the “Strait of Trump”, adding that the remark was not accidental.
Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative in Miami, Trump said negotiations were underway with Iran to reach a deal and end the ongoing conflict.
“They have to open up the Strait of Trump—I mean, Hormuz,” the President said, drawing laughter from the audience.
“Excuse me, I’m so sorry. Such a terrible mistake. The fake news will say ‘he accidentally said it’. But there are no accidents with me—not too many,” he added.
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Trump claimed that Tehran was under pressure to reach an agreement and had sent multiple oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz as part of ongoing negotiations.
“They’re being hit so hard. Anybody would be negotiating. They are negotiating. They’re begging to make a deal,” he said.
While Trump has repeatedly asserted that US forces have almost “obliterated” Iran’s military, the Strait of Hormuz has emerged as a key source of conflict, with Iran effectively blocking the shipping channel—disrupting global markets and driving up oil prices.
The strategic waterway carries around 20 million barrels of oil per day.
Meanwhile, the New York Post reported on Friday that Trump is actually considering taking control of the strait and potentially renaming it the “Strait of Trump” or the “Strait of America.”
“He does believe that if we’re going to guard it, take care of it, police it, and ensure safe passage through it, then why should we call it that [Hormuz]?” a senior official was quoted as saying by the Post.
“Why don’t we call it, you know, the Strait of America?” he added.
Trump, during a cabinet meeting on Thursday, had said it was "an option" to take control of Iran's oil as the United States has effectively done with Venezuela.
Media reports noted that the President had made similar tongue-in-cheek remarks before renaming Washington's Kennedy arts centre the "Trump-Kennedy Center". He also renamed a peace institute in Washington after himself last year.
