Trump declares Strait of Hormuz as 'new US territory' day after MoU deadline expires

US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday in a Truth Social post that he was declaring the Strait of Hormuz a new US territory. The announcement came after reporters asked Trump in the Oval Office on Monday whether he intended to make such a declaration. "I think it's an excellent idea. We control it through the blockade, and I like the idea of declaring it our territory," he replied. Trump also pointed to what he described as the effectiveness of the US military's naval blockade. "We're taking out millions of barrels of oil a week. If you look at the numbers we're getting, the strait is open, oil prices are going down, and they'll continue to go down, unless we decide to do something much more drastic than what we're doing now." Addressing the possibility of reaching an agreement with Iran, Trump said that "Tehran wants to make a deal, but they're not going to make the kind of deal that I think is necessary." He added, "They cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. And right now, after what we did previously with the B-2 bombers, it will take them a long time to build one." When asked whether he was working to extend the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Trump declined to answer and shook his head no. Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Dr. Majed al Ansari said on Tuesday that mediators were waiting for Oman and Iran to reach a bilateral agreement on Hormuz before returning to broader talks between the US and Iran. An agreement on the Strait of Hormuz would make resuming the talks "much easier," he added.