White House Says Trump’s Strait of Hormuz Remarks Were ‘Just a Joke’

A senior White House official has clarified that President Donald Trump was joking when he suggested that the United States could declare the Strait of Hormuz American territory.

Trump made the remarks on Friday during a political gathering at a police academy in New York state. Speaking about the ongoing conflict with Iran, he said the United States would “very soon” declare the strategically important waterway US territory.

Trump also claimed that the United States had effectively blockaded Iranian ports and was preventing ships from passing without US approval.

However, according to The Wall Street Journal, a senior White House official said Trump’s comments were made jokingly and were not intended to represent a formal US policy position.

Iran strongly rejected the suggestion. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on X that the Strait of Hormuz “was Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian.” He also indicated that Iran has authority over decisions concerning the waterway.

Trump has separately defended the US naval pressure on Iran, describing the blockade of Iranian ports as a “steel wall.” He said the pressure would continue even if it contributed to higher fuel prices.

The US president also claimed that American military operations had severely weakened Iran’s armed forces, including its navy, air capabilities, radar systems and missile production capacity. He further claimed that much of Iran’s leadership had been eliminated and that the country’s currency had collapsed amid extremely high inflation.

Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz amid escalating tensions. The waterway is one of the world’s most important routes for global energy supplies, and any disruption could affect oil markets and fuel prices worldwide.

The White House’s latest clarification indicates that Trump’s proposal to declare the Strait of Hormuz US territory was a joke rather than an official change in American policy.

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