US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz as “Trump Strait” as tensions with Iran continued to escalate, although he later appeared to downplay the idea.
Trump made the suggestion while insisting that the United States had full control of the strategically important waterway, even as fresh clashes between US forces and Iran were reported around the strait.
“Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT??? Like America itself, it would be ‘hotter’ than ever before!” Trump said on his Truth Social network.
The White House later shared a map of the Gulf on social media using Trump’s proposed name, adding: “It’s got a nice ring to it.”
The latest proposal follows a series of geographical name changes and suggestions made by Trump during his second term, some of which have been viewed as attempts to provoke or troll other countries.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to claim sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and previously shared a map depicting the waterway as a “new US territory.”
However, when asked by an AFP reporter in the Oval Office whether he was genuinely considering renaming the strait, Trump appeared to dismiss the idea.
“It was just thrown out there,” Trump said with a chuckle.
Still, some of Trump’s previous proposals that were initially presented humorously have later been implemented.
Last week, he signed an order renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America” amid a trade dispute with neighbouring Canada, after previously appearing to float the idea as a joke.
Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” on his first day back in the White House in January 2025. Mexico and Canada have not accepted the new name.
His administration has also pursued other naming changes, including at the Kennedy arts centre in Washington.
Meanwhile, the US Treasury on Wednesday issued $1 coins featuring Trump’s image as part of events marking the 250th anniversary of American independence.
Despite the lighter tone surrounding the proposed name change, the conflict with Iran remains a serious and deadly crisis, with no clear end more than six months after the initial US-Israeli assault.
Fighting intensified again after weeks of relative calm, with US forces carrying out fresh strikes near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. Trump said the attacks were in response to new Iranian efforts to lay mines in the waterway.
Iran said one of the US strikes killed four people at a wedding and described the incident as a “war crime.”
Tehran subsequently launched retaliatory strikes targeting US bases in Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq.
The conflict has also contributed to a sharp increase in fuel prices in the United States, while Trump’s Republican Party faces the possibility of losing at least partial control of Congress in the November midterm elections.
Iran has effectively shut down the strategic waterway, through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes, in retaliation for the war launched by Trump and Israel in late February.
Trump said on Wednesday that the US was prepared to launch another attack against Iran, although he suggested the renewed campaign would not continue for “too long.”
“It was a very heavy attack last night, and we’re prepared to do another one any time we want,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
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