US President Donald Trump made a light-hearted remark about the Strait of Hormuz, which has remained closed since the conflict with Iran began last month. Speaking at an investment forum in Miami, he jokingly referred to the Strait of Hormuz as the “Strait of Trump,” before mockingly apologising and taking a swipe at the US mainstream media.
Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative in Florida, the president said, "Iran has to open up the Strait of Trump, I mean, Hormuz." He then offered a tongue-in-cheek apology while mocking the mainstream media, often referred to by him as “fake news.” "I am so sorry. Such a terrible mistake. The fake news will say, He accidentally said, no, there are no accidents with me, not too many. If there were, we’d have a major story."
The Strait of Hormuz has been closed since March 3, after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps blocked the vital passage to maritime traffic and warned it would strike any ship trying to transit.
This narrow channel in the Persian Gulf handles roughly one-fifth of global oil and gas shipments. Tankers using the strait transport oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, and Iran.
In February 2025, Donald Trump changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. After he signed an executive order authorizing the new name, Google Maps and Apple started showing 'Gulf of America' in addition to the Gulf of Mexico. Commentators claimed the renaming was part of Trump’s broader effort to reassert U.S. dominance in the region.
