Trump Vows to Claim the Strait of Hormuz as US Territory While Telling Americans to Eat the Gas Price Hike

Speaking at a Friday event in Nassau County, New York, President Trump said he would declare the Strait of Hormuz a “U.S. territory” “pretty soon” once the war with Iran concludes, framing the move as the final step in preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Trump also said he would “never apologize” for the military campaign against Iran and told the crowd that higher gas prices were a price worth paying, saying “remember that when you have to pay a little bit more” [1, 2]. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi rejected the claim, saying the waterway “cannot be seized by tweet, nor by aircraft carrier, nor by issuing an order, nor by an election speech,” and that Iran would keep enforcing its blockade until the U.S. “accepts defeat” [3]. Legal experts note that Oman and Iran share jurisdiction over the strait and that unilaterally imposing tolls or ownership would violate international law protecting free transit of commercial vessels, while GasBuddy data shows the national average gas price hit $4.03 a gallon, the highest it has ever been this late in the year [1, 4].

Why It Sucks:

Trump Supporters

• Finally, a president who won’t back down. Supporters argue that decades of half-measures let Iran creep toward a bomb, and that a president willing to hold the Strait of Hormuz hostage to American power is the only language Tehran understands [1, 3].
• Higher gas prices are a small price for security. They see Trump’s blunt “pay a little more” message as refreshing honesty compared to politicians who hide the costs of foreign policy from voters [2].
• Claiming Hormuz locks in the win. Backers argue that formalizing control of the strait, rather than just blockading it, prevents Iran from simply waiting out the U.S. and reclaiming leverage once attention moves elsewhere [1].

Antiwar Progressives

• Annexation talk is imperial overreach. Critics on the left argue that declaring a shared international waterway “U.S. territory” is a lawless land grab that abandons any pretense of respecting international law [4].
• The war is escalating with no endgame. They point to Trump’s own rhetoric — vowing never to apologize and doubling down publicly — as proof the administration has no exit strategy and is instead settling in for indefinite occupation [1, 3].
• Ordinary families pay for a war they didn’t choose. Progressives argue that working people absorbing $4-a-gallon gas is a regressive war tax dressed up as patriotism, while the costs and risks are decided unilaterally by the executive [2].

American Drivers and Consumers

• Nobody voted for record August gas prices. Regardless of the geopolitics, households now face the highest late-summer gas prices on record, squeezing budgets already strained by other costs [4].
• “A little bit more” undersells the real hit. Consumers note that the administration’s own press office has confirmed gas prices and the war are officially linked policy goals, meaning relief at the pump isn’t coming until the administration decides the war is won [1].
• The endgame is undefined, so is the cost. With no fixed timeline for when Iran is “defeated” and no clarity on how long a Hormuz claim would be contested internationally, drivers have no way to know how long they’ll be paying the premium [3, 4].

Sources & Citations:

[1] Al Jazeera: Trump says he will declare Strait of Hormuz a US ‘territory’ amid Iran war
[2] AP via WHTC: Trump urges Americans to accept higher gas prices as he escalates Iran rhetoric
[3] NBC News: Trump says he will declare Strait of Hormuz a U.S. territory when Iran war ends
[4] The Hill: Trump says he will declare Strait of Hormuz a US territory