On Friday, US President Donald Trump asserted that Iran must allow oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz as part of any peace agreement, even referring to the key route as the ‘Strait of Trump.
Speaking at the Saudi-backed FII Priority Investment Forum in Miami, Trump said, “We are currently in talks, and if we can achieve something, that would be excellent; however, they must open it up.”
“They have to open the Trump Strait—I mean, the Strait of Hormuz. My apologies; I am very sorry. That was a huge mistake.”
Trump remarked that the media would likely pounce on this comment, but then added, “I haven’t really had any accidents—at least, not too many.”
He also recounted how, shortly after returning to power, he had issued an order to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”
During a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Trump stated that seizing control of Iran’s oil assets is “an option”—much like the U.S. has done with Venezuela—despite the fact that the conflict there remains ongoing.
Trump—a Republican who rose to fame as a real estate tycoon and whose name was emblazoned across his towering skyscrapers—had previously made similar tongue-in-cheek remarks about renaming Washington’s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts the “Trump-Kennedy Center.”
Last year, a peace institute in Washington was also named after Trump.
Prior to the hostilities, the Strait of Hormuz was open to international shipping; however, this narrow waterway has since been effectively blocked, triggering a sharp surge in global energy prices.
Earlier on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed concern that Iran might attempt to establish a permanent “tolling system” for vessels passing through the strait—a vital maritime artery through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil typically flows.