President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz as the “Trump Strait” in a post on his Truth Social account, saying the waterway — a central point of contention in the ongoing war between the United States and Iran — was now under US control.

“Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT???” Trump wrote. “Like America itself, it would be 'hotter' than ever before! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP,” he added.

It was not immediately clear whether Trump was serious about the proposal, which came less than a week after he signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America” amid a trade dispute with Canada. That order directed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and his department to update the Geographic Names Information System, according to a report by CNBC. Canada rejected the change, though Google and Apple have recently updated their maps to show Lake America for US users. Early in his second term, Trump also declared he was renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, a change rejected by Mexico and other international counterparts.

The Strait of Hormuz carried one-fifth of the world's oil trade before the war began in late February, according to CNBC. Trump and his administration have repeatedly insisted that Iran has lost control over the strait, but transits through the waterway remain far below prewar levels, and ship-trackers say they have dropped further in recent days as military strikes in the region have resumed following a weekslong hiatus, the outlet reported. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC that more than 17 million barrels of oil transited the strait on Monday, a new wartime record, compared with around 20 million barrels per day before the war started on Feb. 28.

Other reports offered additional context. According to Dawn, Iran has effectively shut down the strait in retaliation for the war Trump started along with Israel in late February, and oil prices are rising again after US forces launched fresh strikes near the strait on Tuesday in response to what Trump said were new minelaying efforts by Iran. The Korea Times, in a separate story about sanctions, noted that the shadow fleet of aging tankers has helped Russia keep exporting oil despite Western measures, with the fleet's ships involved in crashes, fires, groundings and dark spots in their tracking signals.

Times Now reported that two Iranian oil tankers anchored off Iran's northern coast, beyond the US naval blockade line, were damaged by US drones firing missiles, according to US officials. The strikes were part of a wider US operation hitting around 100 targets across Iran, including IRGC air-defence positions, radar installations, communications facilities, mine-laying capabilities and missile launchers, the outlet said.

Background of renaming campaign

Trump's latest proposal adds to a pattern of geographic renaming since he returned to office. In January 2025, he ordered the Gulf of Mexico renamed the Gulf of America for US federal purposes, and last week he signed an executive order changing Lake Ontario to Lake America, saying the US had been treated badly by Canada, according to The Times of India. Google changed Lake Ontario to Lake America for US users over the weekend, and Apple followed on Tuesday, while Canadians continue to see Lake Ontario, the same outlet reported. MapQuest refused to make the change, and its downloads reportedly surged as a result.

Trump has in recent weeks repeatedly pressed a threat to claim sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, even posting a map showing the waterway as a “new US territory” in August, according to South China Morning Post. Many of the previous name changes started as apparently jovial remarks by the 80-year-old president before he followed through, the outlet noted.

International reaction

Neither Mexico nor Canada have accepted the previous name changes, according to multiple reports. The renaming of Lake Ontario drew particular opposition from Canada, which rejected the change even as US-based tech companies updated their maps for American users. The current proposal for the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that does not border the US, has drawn attention because of its strategic importance in the conflict between Washington and Tehran, where any disruption could affect international energy supplies and shipping, Times Now reported.