President Donald Trump, in his second term, has enjoyed renaming things, including bodies of water. He renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” and Lake Ontario the “Lake of America,” as part of the recent trade war with Canada. Trump has even succeeded in getting Google and Apple to change the names of those bodies of water on their map software.
Trump’s hand-picked board tried to put his name on the Kennedy Center, although courts have put the kibosh on that. Even the airport in Palm Beach, near Mar-a-Lago, has been renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport.
A U.S. Air Force Airman assigned to the 509th Maintenance Group prepares to marshal a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber to take off in support of a Bomber Task Force deployment to Australia at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., Aug. 15, 2024. Bomber missions familiarize aircrew with air bases and operations in different Geographic Combatant Commands areas of operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Bryce Moore)
A B-2 Spirit stealth bomber from Whiteman Air Force Base completes a fly-over during the Sound of Speed Airshow at Rosecrans Air National Guard Base, in St. Joseph, Missouri, May 1, 2021. The air show was hosted by the city of St. Joseph and 139th Airlift Wing, Missouri Air National Guard to thank the community for their support. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Airman Janae Masoner)
Now, as part of his plot to assert American control over the Strait of Hormuz, Trump has proposed something similar: Renaming the Strait of Hormuz the “Trump Strait.”
According to Forbes, Trump made the push on social media.
“Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT???,” Trump said Wednesday on Truth Social.
The official White House X account then quoted that musing, along with a fake map of the Strait of Hormuz labeled “Trump Strait.”
“It’s got a nice ring to it,” the White House account said, in the sort of post that would have been unimaginable under any other president.
Will It Really Happen?
Amid Trump’s tariff and trade wars with Mexico and Canada, the Strait of Hormuz is an actual war zone, with real life-and-death stakes
It’s probably unlikely that Trump will be as successful with this renaming as he was with the others. For one thing, the Strait of Hormuz does not border the United States, so if Trump issued an executive order renaming it, it would likely lack the force of the others.
Also, while the “Gulf of America” and “Lake America” name changes were part of a salvo in Trump’s tariff and trade wars with Mexico and Canada, the Strait of Hormuz is an actual war zone, with real life and death, and its control remains subject to ongoing negotiations.
In addition, while those two renamings were to “America,” his proposed Strait of Hormuz rebranding is to Trump’s own name.
As Yahoo noted, Trump’s earlier executive orders meant the Geographic Names Information System would be updated, and all relevant government databases would use the new name. But it wouldn’t work that way for a waterway on the other side of the world.
“Whether any other country, company or person follows suit is essentially up to them. But the U.S. president has no similar mechanism for renaming an international waterway bordered by Iran and Oman,” the Yahoo analysis said.
“Likewise, a single country cannot legally annex or claim sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, where international law protects navigational rights even as Iran and Oman exercise sovereignty over their respective territorial waters.”
Not a New Idea
As Yahoo reported, Trump floated a similar name change as early as March.
Iran has to “open up the Strait of Trump — I mean, Hormuz,” the president said in a speech in Miami. “Excuse me. I’m so sorry. Such a terrible mistake.” In August, he had said in a different speech that “pretty soon, I will be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States.”
Even if Trump was joking, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi took the claim seriously in an X post.
The Strait, Gharibabadi said in the post, “cannot be seized with a tweet, nor with an aircraft carrier, nor by issuing an order, nor through an election speech… The Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian… This strait will only be closed and opened under Iran’s command.”
Who Really Controls the Strait of Hormuz?
Iran asserted control of the Strait of Hormuz near the beginning of the war, and the U.S. has enforced a blockade while Iran continues to claim control of the crucial waterway. Iran and Oman have also negotiated for a new framework for controlling the Strait, but they have not reached a deal. The Strait of Hormuz clearly is not clearing anywhere near the same amount of energy as before the war started in February.
More recently, the U.S. has launched a series of strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, as it doesn’t appear that a solution that ends the war or clarifies the waterway’s status is anywhere close.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
