Trump says he’ll soon declare Strait of Hormuz to be US territory

President Donald Trump on Friday said he would “soon” declare the Strait of Hormuz waterway part of US territory after defeating Iran.
“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 said with a chuckle during a political rally at a police academy in Garden City, New York.
“It’s true,” he added.
It was unclear how seriously Trump intended the remark or whether it represented a new policy position.
Trump, together with Israel, launched a war against Iran on February 28 with the stated aims of ending the country’s controversial nuclear programme and sparking a popular uprising.
However, Iran struck back by establishing de facto control over much of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital passageway for large amounts of global energy and other commodity shipping.

The US remains locked in a stalemate with Iran over the strait, with Iran denying access to much of the civilian shipping and the US Navy mounting a blockade of Iranian ports in an attempt to cripple its economy.
“We have the blockade. No ships get through unless we want them to,” Trump told the cheering crowd of supporters and police.
The president also urged Americans to accept slightly higher petrol prices. saying they should remember that this was the cost of ensuring “a very evil country” could not have a nuclear weapon.
“What we’re doing is a great service for the world, not only for ourselves … and we’re really doing a great job,” Trump said, adding that he would never apologise for attacking Iran.
The comments underscore the growing political risk for Trump as higher fuel prices collide with his campaign promise to lower energy costs, with Democrats already seeking to make the economic fallout from the Iran war an issue heading into the November midterm elections.
Around roughly 20 per cent of global oil and LNG shipments usually pass through the Strait of Hormuz and the potential for long-term disruption has pushed up oil prices.
Agence France-Presse, Reuters