Trump Vows to Declare Strait of Hormuz US Territory After Defeating Iran, Tells Americans Higher Gas Prices Are Worth It
US President Donald Trump declared on Friday that he intends to make the Strait of Hormuz a territory of the United States once the ongoing war with Iran is won, while simultaneously urging American drivers to accept higher gasoline prices as a necessary cost of preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Speaking at a political event at the David S. Mack Center for Training and Intelligence, a police academy facility in Garden City, Nassau County, New York, on August 14, Trump told supporters: “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 added with a chuckle that the claim was “true,” before asserting that the United States already effectively controls the waterway through its naval blockade. “Essentially, that’s what we have. The blockade — no ships get through unless we want them to.”
The remarks represent one of the most expansive territorial claims Trump has made regarding the critical Middle Eastern chokepoint since the conflict began nearly six months ago. The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passage linking the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the open ocean, has long been one of the world’s most important energy corridors. Under normal conditions, roughly one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments pass through its waters. The strait is bordered by Iran on one side and Oman on the other, and has historically been treated as an international waterway open to commercial navigation.
That status changed dramatically after February 28, 2026, when the United States and Israel launched a major military campaign against Iran. The stated aim of the strikes was to degrade Iran’s nuclear program and missile capabilities. Iran responded by heavily restricting commercial traffic through the strait, turning the waterway into both a strategic pressure point and a central issue in subsequent negotiations. Shipping volumes fell sharply. Oil prices climbed. By mid-August, Brent crude was trading near $90 a barrel, and average US gasoline prices hovered around $4 per gallon — levels that have become a source of domestic political friction.
Trump addressed those higher pump prices directly in the same speech. “For you to pay a tiny little bit more for your gasoline, just remember you’re doing it so that a very evil country cannot have a country,” he said. “We don’t want to have them have a nuclear weapon. So remember that when you have to pay a little bit more. You’re at $4. It’s OK. I mean — I’m not. I’ll never apologize. I did the right thing.” The president framed the economic burden on American consumers as a deliberate trade-off for a larger strategic objective. He has repeatedly argued that the war is succeeding in preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and that the public should view elevated energy costs in that light.
The comments came one day after Vice President JD Vance publicly acknowledged the political pressure the administration faces over fuel prices, describing the effort to keep energy costs down as “goal number one.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had also signaled that the United States was preparing to impose economic measures against Iran of a severity “never seen” before, with new steps expected as early as the following week. Trump’s New York remarks appeared designed both to reinforce the administration’s hard line and to prepare the public for continued elevated prices as long as the conflict persists.
Iran rejected the territorial claim almost immediately. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi responded on social media, stating that Tehran would not be intimidated by threats or shows of force. He insisted that the Strait of Hormuz “has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian,” and that the waterway would open or close only under Iranian authority. Gharibabadi dismissed the idea that the strait could be seized “by tweet, nor by aircraft carrier, nor by issuing an order, nor by an election speech.” Iranian officials have consistently maintained that control over the strait remains a non-negotiable element of their leverage in any eventual settlement.
The legal and practical implications of Trump’s proposed declaration remain unclear. International law treats the Strait of Hormuz as a strait used for international navigation, subject to the right of transit passage under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The United States is not a party to the convention but has long supported freedom of navigation through the waterway. Declaring it US territory would represent a dramatic break from that tradition and would almost certainly provoke strong opposition from other major energy-importing nations, as well as from Oman, the other coastal state. Analysts note that enforcing such a claim would require sustained military presence and would risk further escalation at a time when the United States already maintains a naval blockade of Iranian ports and has conducted repeated strikes on Iranian military targets near the strait.
Trump has floated similar ideas before. In previous weeks he has spoken of the United States becoming the “guardian” of the strait and collecting fees or tolls on commercial traffic. He has also claimed that American forces have already secured the passage of large volumes of oil through the waterway despite Iranian restrictions. In one earlier post he asserted that more than 100 million barrels of oil had moved through under US protection. Those claims have been difficult to verify independently, and commercial shipping data continue to show significantly reduced traffic compared with pre-war levels.
The war itself has evolved considerably since its opening phase. What began as a campaign focused on nuclear and missile sites has increasingly centered on control of the energy infrastructure and maritime routes that sustain Iran’s economy. US forces have struck Iranian coastal radar, missile storage, and drone facilities on multiple occasions. Iran has retaliated against US and partner assets in the region and has used its position along the strait to keep pressure on global markets. A short-lived memorandum of understanding earlier in the summer attempted to stabilize shipping, but that arrangement largely collapsed amid renewed attacks and mutual accusations of violations.
Domestically, the combination of high gasoline prices and an unresolved war has created political challenges for the administration. Working-class and middle-class voters have felt the impact at the pump and in the broader cost of living. Trump’s insistence that the higher prices are justified and temporary is an attempt to reframe the economic pain as a patriotic contribution to national security. Whether that message resonates will depend in part on how long the conflict continues and whether oil markets eventually stabilize.
For now, the Strait of Hormuz remains a flashpoint. Maritime traffic is limited, insurance costs for tankers are elevated, and the risk of further incidents is real. Trump’s declaration that the waterway will become American territory once Iran is defeated raises the stakes still higher. It signals that the administration views permanent US dominance over the strait as a potential outcome of the war rather than a temporary wartime measure. Iran’s firm rejection suggests that any attempt to formalize such control would be met with continued resistance.
As the conflict enters its sixth month, the gap between the two sides remains wide. The United States continues to assert that it is winning decisively and that Iran’s military capacity has been severely degraded. Tehran maintains that it retains the ability to close or open the strait at will and that no external power can dictate terms over the waterway. In the middle sits one of the world’s most strategically important maritime passages, its future now explicitly linked by the American president to the final outcome of the war.
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