President Donald Trump suggested on Wednesday that the Strait of Hormuz be renamed the “Trump Strait,” asserting that the United States now maintains control over the vital international oil passage.
The statement came via a post on Truth Social, following earlier executive actions by the administration targeting geographic names.
“Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT???” Trump wrote Wednesday morning. “Like America itself, it would be ‘hotter’ than ever before! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
The proposal follows an executive order signed by Trump last week directing the federal government to rename Lake Ontario to “Lake America” amid a trade dispute with Canada. That order instructed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to update the Geographic Names Information System. Canadian officials rejected the title change, though visual updates were implemented on platforms such as Google and Apple.
Early in his second term, Trump similarly declared the Gulf of Mexico renamed as the “Gulf of America,” a measure that was not recognized by Mexico or international authorities. Unlike the Strait of Hormuz, the United States shares physical borders with both the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario.
The public post did not outline a formal administrative or legal mechanism for renaming the Middle Eastern waterway.
The administration maintains that Iran no longer controls the waterway, which managed one-fifth of global oil shipments prior to the military conflict launched by the U.S. and Israel in late February.
Commercial shipping traffic through the channel remains significantly below prewar averages. Vessel tracking data indicates traffic decreased further in recent days as military engagements resumed following a brief lull. Before the outbreak of hostilities on Feb. 28, approximately 20 million barrels of crude and oil products passed through the strait daily.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright reported during a CNBC appearance Wednesday that more than 17 million barrels of oil passed through the waterway on Monday, marking a high for the period since the conflict began.
The Trump administration stated that total energy exports from the region exceed prewar figures when accounting for Saudi Arabian and United Arab Emirates pipelines operating around the strait.
