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.