Trump: "I Will Declare the Strait of Hormuz US Territory"

President Donald Trump announced at a campaign rally on Long Island that he intends to declare the Strait of Hormuz part of American territory following Iran's defeat. Speaking in support of New York gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, Trump stated, "After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon, I will be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States."

Trump characterized the military campaign against Iran as beneficial beyond U.S. Interests alone, saying, "What we are doing [in Iran] is a great service for the world, not only for ourselves, for the world." He also claimed the scope of American battlefield success exceeds public awareness, noting, "Nobody has any idea how successful we are [in Iran]. You know who knows how well we are doing? Iran."

Trump asserted that Iran's air force had been entirely destroyed, claiming, "They had 212 very nice airplanes, some bought from the United States, brilliantly, through Obama. And every one of their airplanes is shot down, it's gone." He further described Iran's leadership as largely eliminated, stating there was "no leadership. Their leadership is gone. Their second tier is gone. The third tier is half gone. That's one of my problems, that there is nobody to negotiate with."

Vice President JD Vance outlined administration objectives in an earlier Fox News interview, identifying two primary goals: maintaining stable global energy supplies and preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Vance explained, "It's ensuring that the Gulf countries continue to send oil and gas to the world economy so that we have energy price stability" And stressed the importance of keeping "oil and gas cheap for Americans."

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated further economic escalation is forthcoming, telling Newsmax that "we are going to apply measures like have never been seen in the history of economic isolation on a country." He specified the approach would combine "economic isolation like the world has never seen before, and the continued blockade in the Strait of Hormuz that will keep anything from going in or out of the Iranian ports."