US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested renaming the strategic Strait of Hormuz “Trump Strait” as fighting between the United States and Iran continued to intensify, before later downplaying the proposal as something he had merely “thrown out there.”
Trump made the suggestion on his Truth Social platform while claiming that the crucial waterway was under US control. Hours later, he told reporters at the White House that he was not serious about the proposed name change.
“Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT???” Trump wrote.
The White House subsequently posted a map of the Gulf on social media bearing the proposed name, saying: “It’s got a nice ring to it.”
But Trump later appeared to retreat from the suggestion when an AFP reporter asked whether he genuinely intended to rename the waterway.
“It was just thrown out there,” the 80-year-old Republican said with a chuckle.
The latest proposal came amid renewed military clashes between Washington and Tehran, with the Strait of Hormuz remaining at the centre of the escalating conflict.
Trump has repeatedly threatened in recent weeks to claim sovereignty over the strategic waterway, at one point sharing a map portraying it as a new US territory.
The Strait is one of the world’s most important oil transit routes, with about a fifth of global oil supplies passing through the narrow waterway.
Iran has effectively shut the choke point in retaliation for the war launched by the United States and Israel against Tehran in late February.
The fighting flared again after weeks of relative calm, following fresh US strikes near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.
Trump said the attacks were carried out in response to what he described as new Iranian efforts to lay mines in the waterway.
Iran, however, accused the United States of committing a “war crime” after claiming that one of the strikes killed four people at a wedding.
Tehran subsequently launched retaliatory strikes against US military bases in Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq.
Despite the renewed hostilities, Trump said Washington was prepared to launch further attacks against Iran.
“It was a very heavy attack last night, and we’re prepared to do another one any time we want,” he told reporters at the White House.
Trump, however, suggested that any renewed military campaign would not continue for “too long”.
The proposed renaming of the Strait of Hormuz is part of a wider pattern of controversial geographical and institutional name changes associated with Trump’s second term.
The US President renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” on his first day back in office in January 2025, although Mexico and Canada have rejected the change.
Last week, Trump also signed an order renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America” amid a trade dispute with Canada.
Trump has additionally pursued the renaming of institutions after himself, including the Kennedy arts centre in Washington.
The latest controversy emerged as the Iran conflict continued to weigh heavily on the US economy and domestic politics.
The war has contributed to a sharp increase in fuel costs in the United States, while Trump’s Republican Party faces the prospect of losing at least partial control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.
For now, however, the Strait of Hormuz remains far more than a name-changing exercise.
With military confrontation continuing and a major global oil route effectively disrupted, any further escalation around the waterway could have consequences well beyond the United States and Iran.