Trump Strait: US President floats renaming Strait of Hormuz after himself

The proposal of Donald Trump is striking not simply because of the name he wants to give the strait, but because the waterway is not US territory. The Strait of Hormuz lies between Iran and Oman and is an international maritime passage vital to global energy supplies.

In Short

• Trump says US control over Hormuz justifies considering a new name
• The waterway lies between Iran and Oman, outside US territorial control
• Trump previously called it 'New US Territory' on social media

US President Donald Trump appears determined to leave his name -- or at least his preferred labels -- on the map, and his latest target is one of the world's most strategically important waterways. After previously portraying the Strait of Hormuz as a "new US territory" amid the war with Iran, Trump has now floated renaming it after himself.

The US President floated the suggestion on Wednesday in a post on Truth Social, claiming that the crucial waterway is now under American control.

"Now that we have it under USA control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT??? Like America itself, it would be 'hotter' than ever before!" Trump wrote.

The proposal is striking not simply because of the name Trump wants to give the strait, but because the waterway is not US territory. The Strait of Hormuz lies between Iran and Oman and is an international maritime passage vital to global energy supplies. Trump has repeatedly claimed that Iran has lost control of the waterway during the ongoing conflict, but that does not turn it into American territory.

FROM NEW US TERRITORY TO TRUMP STRAIT

Trump had already made an extraordinary geographical claim on August 18, when he posted a map depicting the Strait of Hormuz with a banner reading "NEW US Territory". The White House subsequently shared a screenshot of the post, further amplifying the claim. Now, less than three weeks later, the US President has suggested putting his own name on the strait.

The timing is significant. The Strait of Hormuz has been at the centre of the conflict with Iran, with shipping through the waterway falling sharply from pre-war levels. Before the war began on February 28, roughly 20 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products passed through the strait each day.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC on Wednesday that more than 17 million barrels crossed the waterway on Monday, which he described as a wartime record. The Donald Trump administration has also argued that total oil exports from the region remain above pre-war levels when shipments through pipelines bypassing the strait, including those from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are counted.

But oil figures aside, the question of who has the authority to rename the waterway remains far more complicated.

TRUMP'S QUEST TO RENAME THE MAP

The "Trump Strait" proposal also fits into a broader pattern of Trump seeking to put his administration's preferred names on major geographical landmarks.

Days earlier, Trump had also turned his attention to a body of water shared by the US and Canada, signing an executive order on August 27 to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America". The order directed the US government to replace the name in federal maps, documents and the Geographic Names Information System. However, Trump cannot compel Canada or international bodies to adopt the new name. Canadian officials have rejected the change. Google and Apple subsequently updated their US maps, while Canadian users continue to see Lake Ontario and international users can see both names.

Earlier this year, he ordered the US government to use "Gulf of America" instead of the long-established name Gulf of Mexico. The move has not been universally accepted internationally. The International Hydrographic Organisation continues to recognise the traditional name, while mapping services have adopted different approaches depending on the country in which users are located.

Trump has made clear that the renaming campaign may not end with a gulf and a lake. After signing the Lake Ontario order, he suggested that even the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean could eventually receive a new name.

"As you know, we took something called the Gulf of Mexico, we changed it, and now it's very routinely the Gulf of America," Trump said.

"So if you think about it, we have a gulf and we have a lake. Now all we need is an ocean," he added. "So maybe we'll have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific. Maybe we'll change them both."

There is, however, a fundamental difference between changing the terminology used by US federal agencies and unilaterally renaming an international waterway. The Gulf of Mexico, Strait of Hormuz and other major bodies of water are not simply pieces of the US map that a US President can rename for the rest of the world. Different countries and international organisations can retain their own recognised names.

That leaves Trump's latest idea looking less like a conventional act of cartography and more like another attempt to project American power -- and his own political brand -- onto the world map.

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