Trump threatens to declare strait of Hormuz ‘territory of the United States’

Seriousness of remark made in New York on Friday, and whether it signaled new policy position, not clear

Donald Trump has threatened to declare the strait of Hormuz as a territory of the United States" as his administration struggles to conclude the war with Iran.

During a speech at a police academy on Long Island, New York, on Friday, the US president said he would pretty soon" designate the waterway - a crucial chokepoint for global trade, through which about a fifth of the world's seaborne oil supplies typically pass - a US territory.