US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz as “Trump Strait” despite ongoing clashes with Iran — then hours later implied he wasn’t serious.
Trump has made a series of geographical name changes to international bodies of water in his second term, at least partly with the aim of trolling other countries.
The latest suggestion came as Trump insisted the US had full control of the crucial waterway, even as fresh clashes raged there with Iran.
“Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT??? Like America itself, it would be ‘hotter’ than ever before!” Trump said on his Truth Social network.
The White House later posted a map of the Gulf on social media with his suggested name, adding: “It’s got a nice ring to it.”
Trump has in recent weeks repeatedly threatened to claim sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, even posting a map showing the waterway as a “new US territory.”
Trump, however, later played down the idea of rebranding the Strait of Hormuz.
“It was just thrown out there,” Trump said with a chuckle after an AFP reporter asked him in the Oval Office if he was serious about renaming it.
But a number of the 80-year-old Republican’s previous suggestions have been dismissed as being humorous before they ended up happening for real.
Last week Trump signed an order renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America” amid a trade war with neighboring Canada, just days after apparently raising the idea in jest.