Trump posts map labeling Strait of Hormuz as a new U.S. territory

President Trump posted an image of a map labeling the Strait of Hormuz as a U.S. territory early on Tuesday in an apparent effort to double down on his calls to annex the waterway. The map, which Trump posted on his Truth Social account, labels the waterway as a "new U.S. territory." The Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world's oil flows, is located in the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. Trump first floated the idea of annexing the Strait of Hormuz on Friday at a campaign-style event, telling attendees he would be declaring the waterway a U.S. territory "pretty soon." When asked about the comment in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said he liked the idea and claimed the U.S. already controls the waterway. "We control it with the blockade, and I like the idea of declaring it a territory," he told reporters. "They can be a nuisance," he continued, referring to Iran. "They can put a mine in the water and people don't like having mines hit their billion dollar ships." "We're taking out millions of barrels of oil a week," he said of the Strait of Hormuz. "The oil prices are coming down, and they will continue to come down unless we decide to do something far drastic, more drastic than what we're doing." Iran has pushed back on Trump's claims the U.S. controls the strait and referred to his calls to annex the waterway as delusional. "The Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said in a post on X that was translated from Persian to English. "This strait will only be closed and opened under Iran's command." Gharibabadi added that as long as the U.S. does "not accept the reality of defeat" and stop indulging in its "delusions," Iran will continue to enforce its blockade of the crucial waterway.