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Trump again floats making Strait of Hormuz a U.S. territory

Axios · back to the audit

President Trump again floated taking over the Strait of Hormuz as a U.S. "territory" on Monday, as the critical waterway remains a main pain point of the protracted Iran war. The big picture: Trump's comments come at a difficult time for the ongoing conflict, with stalled negotiations for a ceasefire and a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran expiring on Monday. Trump calling for the U.S to create new American territories isn't new — he's suggested calling Canada the "51st State" and considering a Greenland power grab that threatened a rift in NATO. Reality check: Trump often talks of seizing territory, or unilaterally making other countries' property part of the U.S. To now it's just been talk. Driving the news: "I just think it's a great idea," Trump told reporters Monday in the Oval Office, saying the U.S. blockade is controlling the strait. He added, "I like the idea of declaring it a territory." On Friday, Trump similarly told a Long Island crowd he'd declare the Strait of Hormuz, which carried roughly 20% of the world's oil at the outset of the war, a U.S. territory.