US President Donald Trump wants to put his name on one of the world’s most strategically important waterways.
“Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP
STRAIT???” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. “Like America itself, it would be ‘hotter’ than ever before!”
The White House later amplified the suggestion with a map labelling the waterway “Trump Strait” and the message: “It’s got a nice ring to it.”
It’s got a nice ring to it pic.twitter.com/Fmzc9iUu8u
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 2, 2026
Why Is Trump Talking About A ‘Trump Strait’ Now?
Trump’s suggestion comes as the Strait of Hormuz has once again become a focal point of the US-Iran conflict.
The narrow waterway links the Persian Gulf to the wider global shipping network and, before the war, carried roughly a fifth of the world’s oil.
Trump floated the new name a day after US Central Command launched another wave of strikes against Iranian military targets. CENTCOM said the targets included air defence sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine-laying capabilities and communications sites linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, claimed that civilian areas and infrastructure were hit in several provinces and said a wedding ceremony in Kuhestak, Sirik County, was among the targets.
CENTCOM spokesperson Navy Captain Tim Hawkins told TIME: “We are aware of reports, which originated from Iranian state media. The U.S. military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC.”
The IRGC later said it launched retaliatory strikes on US bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain, along with another US facility in Iraq.
The renewed fighting came after roughly a month-long pause in active hostilities. On Sunday, the US military struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island that it said were preparing to fire rockets carrying naval mines into the Strait.
Trump Has Floated The Idea Before
Wednesday’s Truth Social post was not the first time Trump had attached his name to Hormuz.
In March, he joked during a speech in Miami that Iran had to “open up the Strait of Trump — I mean, Hormuz”.
“Excuse me. I’m so sorry. Such a terrible mistake,” he added.
Last month, Trump went further, telling a New York audience that “pretty soon, I will be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States.”
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi responded by saying the Strait “cannot be seized with a tweet, nor with an aircraft carrier, nor by issuing an order, nor through an election speech.”
“The Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian,” he wrote on social media. “This strait will only be closed and opened under Iran’s command.”
Can Trump Actually Rename The Strait Of Hormuz?
The Strait of Hormuz is bordered by Iran and Oman, which exercise sovereignty over their respective territorial waters, while international law protects navigational rights through the waterway.
That means the US president does not have the same domestic authority over Hormuz that he can exercise over federal naming systems inside the United States.
Washington could choose to use “Trump Strait” in its own official maps, documents or communications if the administration formally adopted the term.
But such a move would not oblige Iran, Oman, other governments, international bodies, shipping companies or mapmakers to follow suit.
Trump’s repeated claim that the US has “almost total control of the Hormuz Strait” does not by itself alter that distinction. Military or operational control and sovereignty are not the same thing.
Then How Did Trump Rename Lake Ontario?
That case works differently.
Trump recently issued an executive order directing Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to “take all appropriate actions to rename as ‘Lake America’ the body of water currently named as Lake Ontario”.
The order allows the US federal government to change its own usage, including updates to the Geographic Names Information System and federal maps, contracts, documents and communications.
But even that does not force Canada or anyone outside the US government to adopt “Lake America”.
Shipping Through Hormuz Remains Disrupted
Despite Trump’s claims of near-total US control, shipping through the Strait remains heavily disrupted.
Kpler data showed that only six ships crossed the Strait on Tuesday, down from 19 the previous Friday. Before the Iran war began on February 28, around 138 vessels typically passed through the waterway over a 24-hour period.
The New York Times reported that only five ships crossed on Monday, the lowest level since early May.
Security risks have also persisted. U.K. Maritime Operations reported an attack on a tanker transiting the Strait on Wednesday that resulted in two casualties. Saudi Arabia said Iran had targeted a Saudi tanker, while UKMTO later said two crew members had been killed.
Many shipping companies still consider the region too dangerous for normal operations. Michael Froman, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, told NYT that periodic “tit for tat” strikes could become the “new normal”.
It’s not going to be a “black and white situation in which there’s a total cease-fire or the Strait of Hormuz is totally open,” he said.
