Trump Vows to Declare Hormuz US Territory
Trump Vows to Declare Hormuz US Territory
The News
President Trump said Friday he will declare the Strait of Hormuz — the world's most important oil chokepoint — American territory once the war with Iran is over.
"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.
He made the remark at the David S. Mack Center for Training and Intelligence in Garden City, New York, where he was touting his crackdown on crime at a rally, according to Raw Story.
No formal declaration, executive order or legal mechanism to back the claim has been announced.
Timeline
Trump floated renaming the waterway "the Strait of America" after US allies resisted collective action there, per the wire coverage of Friday's remarks.
A preliminary peace deal was signed. It later collapsed after Iran fired on commercial ships and moved to assert control over the strait.
Speaking in Garden City, Trump says he will "pretty soon" declare the strait US territory. He says a US naval blockade is in force and no ships pass without American approval.
Reactions
Coverage agreed on what Trump said and split on what it means. The Daily Mail called the announcement a "gut punch" to Iran. The Washington Examiner tied the declaration to the war's endgame and to prices.
Left-leaning outlets, including Raw Story, presented it as an extraordinary unilateral claim on an international waterway.
The Hill, Mediaite and Political Wire carried the quote straight. None of the seven sources in this story reported a response from Iran, the Pentagon or the State Department.
What's Next
The White House has not said what legal basis the United States would cite for a territorial claim over the strait, or what document would carry it.
The US military blockade and the conflict with Iran remain active as of Friday.
Watch for a reaction from Tehran, from Gulf states whose exports move through the channel, and from allies with shipping in the waterway.
More
The Strait of Hormuz is the passage between Iran and Oman through which a large share of the world's seaborne oil and gas moves — which is why Trump's talk of it lands on fuel prices as fast as it lands on foreign policy.
A formal US territorial claim over the channel would be without modern precedent and would be contested under international law. The Frank will report the legal case if and when the administration makes one.
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