United States President Donald Trump has escalated his claim over the Strait of Hormuz by posting a map describing the strategic waterway as “NEW U.S. Territory,” days after saying Washington would soon declare the strait part of the United States.
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Trump posted the graphic on his Truth Social account on Tuesday, August 18, 2026.
The image shows a map of the Persian Gulf and surrounding region, with the Strait of Hormuz prominently circled and the words “NEW U.S. Territory” displayed above the strategic passage.
The official White House account subsequently shared the same graphic on X, further amplifying the President’s territorial claim.
The development comes four days after Trump publicly announced that he intended to declare the Strait of Hormuz a territory of the United States once Washington had defeated Iran.
TheNigeriaLawyer had reported on August 15 that Trump, speaking during an event in Garden City, New York, said the United States effectively controlled shipping through the strait because of its naval blockade.
“After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated — pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” Trump said at the time.
He subsequently doubled down on the proposal at the White House on Monday, describing the idea of declaring the strait American territory as “excellent” and arguing that Washington already exercised effective control through its naval blockade.
Trump’s latest social media post therefore represents a significant escalation from merely proposing such a declaration to publicly presenting the waterway on an official-style map as “New U.S. Territory.”
However, no treaty, legislation, annexation instrument or other formal legal process transferring sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz to the United States was announced alongside the post.
Under the international law of the sea, the Strait of Hormuz is treated as a strait used for international navigation, with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea providing a regime of transit passage for ships and aircraft travelling through such waterways.
Consequently, Trump’s social media designation does not by itself legally transform the Strait of Hormuz into United States territory.
The territorial claim has already drawn a sharp response from Tehran.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, Kazem Gharibabadi, rejected Trump’s latest post on Tuesday, describing the American President’s claim over the strait as a “delusion” and warning that Iran would correct it if Trump did not.
The reaction follows earlier statements by Iranian officials rejecting Trump’s previous announcement that he intended to claim the strategic waterway.
Gharibabadi had earlier maintained that the Strait could not be seized through social media posts, military deployments or presidential declarations, while Tehran has continued to dispute Washington’s assertion that the United States controls the passage.
The latest exchange comes amid continuing hostilities between the United States and Iran and a deepening dispute over navigation through the strait.
Trump separately said on Tuesday that there were no ongoing or scheduled talks between Washington and Tehran and insisted that the American naval blockade remained fully in effect.
He also claimed that the Strait of Hormuz was open and operating and that water mines had been removed or detonated.
Iran, however, has presented a sharply different account.
Iranian parliamentary speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said Tehran would not fully reopen the waterway until Washington complied with conditions contained in an earlier interim agreement, including lifting the blockade of Iranian ports, removing oil sanctions, releasing frozen Iranian assets and ending military threats and operations.
The competing claims have left the two countries locked in a struggle over control and access to one of the most important shipping passages in the world.
Iran effectively restricted traffic through the strait after the United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran on February 28, while Washington has subsequently maintained a naval blockade targeting Iranian shipping.
The crisis has dramatically reduced energy shipments through the waterway.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, crude oil and petroleum liquids passing through Hormuz averaged about 21.6 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter of 2025 before the conflict, but dropped to an average of 4.9 million barrels per day during the second quarter of 2026.
The strait is also crucial to global liquefied natural gas trade, with roughly one-fifth of global LNG supplies normally passing through the route.
Shipping risks remain acute.
On Tuesday, a vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz was struck by an unidentified projectile, damaging its engine room and causing a crew casualty, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations.
The incident further highlighted the dangers facing vessels attempting to navigate the waterway while negotiations involving Iran, Oman and other mediators remain unresolved.
Trump’s “New U.S. Territory” graphic therefore adds another dimension to an already volatile confrontation involving military control, sovereignty, international navigation, energy security and competing interpretations of international law.
For now, Washington has demonstrated substantial military power in and around the waterway, but Trump’s social media post has not been accompanied by any internationally recognised legal process capable of converting the Strait of Hormuz into sovereign territory of the United States.
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