WASHINGTON — President Trump said Friday that he plans to declare the Strait of Hormuz “a territory of the United States” after the Iran war — as he again slammed US allies for not helping break Tehran’s hold on the waterway.
“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,” Trump said during a Long Island rally for Republican candidates in the gubernatorial and congressional elections.
Trump acknowledged the economic effects of the nearly six-month conflict, but argued that ensuring Iran could not build a nuclear weapon was worth paying “a tiny little bit more for your gasoline.”
“When you have to pay a little bit more, you’re at $4. It’s okay,” he said. “I’ll never apologize. I did the right thing.”
Trump’s preliminary peace deal with Iran — signed June 17 — fell apart last month after Iran attempted to assert control over the strait, including by opening fire on commercial ships that used a US-approved sea lane along Oman’s coast.
The president previously floated in March renaming the waterway “the Strait of America” — or even after himself — after European and Asian allies balked at launching a joint effort to secure the oil and gas bottleneck.
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“NATO wasn’t there for us, by the way,” Trump told the crowd, including a backdrop of uniformed police officers who cheered for his policies on crime, law enforcement and taxes.
“You know, NATO was not there for us,” the president said. “We paid all that money for so many decades. Money, money, money. Then we say, ‘Yeah, give us a hand.’ “Well, sir, we’d rather not.’ But we remember.”
Trump told his audience that Iranians had “nobody to negotiate with” — following recent remarks where he ripped the “duplicitous” designees talking with his special envoy Steve Witkoff.
The president appeared to lean into his recent messaging that Iranian economic woes could help bring the Islamic Republic to its knees.
“They have 350 percent inflation. Their currency is valueless,” he said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday night teased actions coming next week to dramatically tighten sanctions including “measures like have never been seen in the history of economic isolation of a country.”
