US President Donald Trump has announced he will rename the Strait of Hormuz after himself, telling crowds on the opening night of the Republican Party's midterm convention in Dallas that he should 'get something out of it'.
Announcement at Dallas convention
The US President made the announcement during his keynote speech at the Texas convention, where he asserted America now controls the strategically crucial waterway despite near-daily assaults on vessels still taking place in the Strait.
Trump stated: "We're winning [the war in Iran]. We control the Hormuz Strait. I think we should call the Hormuz Strait the 'Trump Strait'. I should get something out of it."
He reiterated his suggestion to the assembled crowds: "Ladies and gentlemen, I have an announcement: We'll call it the Trump Strait."
Previous proposal on Truth Social
"I'm sure the Iranian leadership will be thrilled with that," he quipped, as laughter could be heard echoing around him. Trump added: "I'd like to tell you it was their idea. It was not their idea, don't think they're too happy about [the situation]."
While Trump presented his 'Trump Strait' concept as though he had devised it spontaneously, it is not actually the first time the US President has floated the proposal. Last Wednesday, Trump expressed virtually the same sentiment on Truth Social, his favoured social media platform.
He posted in last week's message: "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!"
The Strait of Hormuz was named after the medieval Kingdom of Hormuz, which existed back in the 13th century.
Other controversial social media posts
In another social media post that caused a stir across the North Atlantic, just days ago Trump shared an image of a revised map of the US. The captionless post, shared on Truth Social, featured an AI-generated map with the Star-Spangled Banner draped across the 'USA' which included Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Mexico, and around thirty Central American and Caribbean nations as part of the United States.
The post was a clear nod to previous comments made by Trump about making Canada the 51st state of the US, his repeated comments on taking over Greenland, and more. Iceland - a European nation a whole 180 miles away from Greenland - was also included in Trump's 'dream map'. Trump has erroneously mentioned Iceland on four separate occasions while speaking about his ambitions for the entirely different nation of Greenland.
Iceland's Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir summoned US Ambassador Billy Long to her office on Monday to "convey a clear message that the image was wholly inappropriate," according to a statement. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum all issued incensed statements in response to Trump's social media map-making attempt.
In another social media spectacle, the US President turned his attention to his own country, proposing that the state of New Mexico be rebranded as "New America".
Prior to this, Trump issued an executive order demanding cartographers rename Lake Ontario to Lake America, "effective immediately", as his trade dispute with Canada persists. Back in January 2025, on his first day back in office, the US President signed an executive order to officially rename the US portion of the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America".
Trump Dividend promise
Trump defended the imposition of extensive tariffs on US trade partners during his speech at the Republican Convention in Dallas on Wednesday night, asserting that the economic upheaval would be worth it. In addition to defending the Iran war in his keynote address, the US President made a bold promise in an attempt to secure votes for his party in the midterms.
The US President vowed to give every adult American $5,000 (£3,691) if his party maintains control of both chambers of Congress after November, with the sole condition being that the money must be spent on US soil. "It will be called the Trump Dividend," he declared.
He offered no specifics on how such a scheme would be executed. Economists and political analysts, however, have already labelled the Trump Dividend as both financially and politically unfeasible as it would necessitate withdrawing more than one trillion dollars (£738.3 billion) from America's treasury to distribute it.
