Related videos:
Donald Trump shared a post this Thursday on his official Truth Social account proposing to rename the Strait of Hormuz as the "Trump Strait," thereby amplifying an idea he had jokingly suggested weeks earlier.
The Republican president reshared from his profile @realDonaldTrump a post from the account @IStandWithTrump47, identified as "WomenForTrump," a Truth Social profile that frequently shares flattering images of the leader and whose posts Trump regularly shares.
The reposted content includes the text "STRAIT OF TRUMP!" alongside a vintage-style map of the Strait of Hormuz, where the name of the waterway has been replaced with "STRAIT OF TRUMP," featuring oil tankers flying American flags and arrows indicating navigation routes.
Trump did not add any personal comments when sharing the image, although it wasn't necessary.
This is not the first time the president has toyed with this idea. On March 27, 2026, during his speech at the FII Priority Summit—an investment forum backed by Saudi Arabia held in Miami—Trump publicly joked about it: “You have to open the Trump Strait—I mean Ormuz. Excuse me, what a terrible mistake,” adding: “There are no accidents with me, not many.”
The gesture fits into a broader pattern of geographical renaming driven by Trump. On January 20, 2025, he signed Executive Order 14172 renaming the Gulf of Mexico as "Gulf of America" for U.S. federal agencies.
On April 12, 2026, Trump revealed that he had considered naming it "Trump Gulf" before opting for the current designation, humorously admitting, "I think it might have been a wise decision, that wouldn't have gone over very well."
Any renaming of the Strait of Hormuz would lack international validity, as the maritime route is under the sovereignty of Iran and Oman, and no U.S. executive order can alter that geopolitical reality.
The context in which Trump sends this signal is one of maximum tension. The strait has been closed since March 4, 2026, when Iran blocked it with mines, drones, and missiles.
Since April 13, the U.S. has maintained a naval blockade in the strait with 12 warships, 100 aircraft, and 10,000 personnel deployed in the Gulf of Oman.
The price of Brent crude has surged from 67 dollars per barrel in February 2026 to over 126 dollars, and the Pentagon revealed on Wednesday that the war against Iran has cost approximately 25 billion dollars since the onset of operations.
Last Tuesday, Trump announced that Iran informed him it is in a "State of Collapse" and is requesting that the U.S. open the strait "as soon as possible." On the same day, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, urged the "immediate" reopening of the Strait of Hormuz before the Security Council, warning of a potential "global food emergency."
The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, took the opportunity to launch an ironic criticism of the president on X: "Crude is at $120 a barrel and rising. Americans are paying higher and higher prices. Why doesn’t President Trump open the Trump Strait?"
Filed under: