Trump says he’ll hit Iran hard economically, will soon declare Hormuz ‘US territory’
Times of Israel · LC · trust 58/100
US President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States will hit Iran hard economically, as Washington and Tehran struggle to reach a deal to end a nearly six month conflict.
His comments to Fox News came a day after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US was going to apply measures that have “never been seen” on Tehran as soon as next week.
The US leader also said he would “soon” declare the Strait of Hormuz to be US territory.
“Pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States. It’s true,” he said with a chuckle during a political rally at a police academy in New York state. It was unclear whether he was speaking seriously.
Responding to Trump, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi meanwhile said Tehran would not be intimidated by threats or a show of force, adding that Hormuz would only be opened or closed under Iran’s authority.
Transit through the Strait of Hormuz appeared to grind to a near standstill on Friday after two more ships were attacked there and the United States declared it could maintain the naval blockade of Iran indefinitely, with two the countries still locked in a stalemate over control of the key water and the Tehran’s nuclear program.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Friday that no decision had been made to resume negotiations with the United States, the Iranian Student News Agency reported. He added that mediators Qatar and Pakistan were in contact with Iran and exchanging messages, but that this did not amount to negotiations building on a June agreement to end the war.
Since the ceasefire renewed in that deal broke down, Iran has resumed attacks on ships it accuses of trying to transit the strait without its permission.
The United Arab Emirates’ Abu Dhabi National Oil Company said two of its vessels were attacked transiting the strait on Thursday evening. The UAE government blamed Iran, which made no immediate comment.
Two vessels passed through the narrow waterway on Friday, according to analysis from ship tracking firm Kpler: a grain ship entering Iranian waters and an empty dry bulk ship going in the other direction.
A separate empty liquefied petroleum products tanker was sailing into the Gulf via the strait, the data showed. There were no crude oil shipments visible on Friday.
Nine vessels passed through the strait on Thursday, up from five on Wednesday but below the average of 12 for August.
Some ships may pass through undetected with their transponders off, but the figures are nowhere near the more than 130 ships that traversed the Strait of Hormuz daily before the war launched by the US and Israel on Iran in February.
Amid the drop in the amount of oil being shipped through the strait, Trump on Friday urged Americans to accept slightly higher gasoline prices as the cost of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The comments underscored the growing political risk for Trump as higher fuel prices collide with his campaign promise to lower energy costs, with Democrats already seeking to make the economic fallout from the Iran war an issue heading into the November midterm elections.
In a speech in Garden City, Trump said Americans who had to “pay a tiny little bit more for your gasoline” should remember that this was the cost of ensuring “a very evil country” could not have a nuclear weapon.
“What we’re doing is a great service for the world, not only for ourselves … and we’re really doing a great job,” said Trump, adding he would never apologize for attacking Iran.
Around roughly 20% of global oil and LNG shipments usually pass through the Strait of Hormuz and the potential for long-term disruption has pushed up oil prices.
“After we finish defeating Iran … pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” said Trump, escalating his rhetoric over the vital waterway.
It was unclear how seriously Trump intended the remark or whether it represented a new policy position. A day earlier, Vice President JD Vance stated that preventing a nuclear Iran was the administration’s secondary goal, after “keep[ing] oil and gasoline cheap for Americans.”
The remarks come as the Strait of Hormuz remains a critical pressure point for global energy markets.
Oil prices have risen this week, with Brent crude approaching $90 a barrel, while US gasoline prices have climbed to around $4 a gallon.
Also Friday, Trump dismissed concerns over living conditions and the mental health of service members on a US aircraft carrier deployed against Iran, while confirming the ship would soon rotate out.
Asked by reporters whether family members were worried about the situation on the USS Abraham Lincoln, Trump said “no, they’re not.”
Trump also rejected the idea that the ship — now at sea for nine months — had been deployed for too long. “No, no, no, not nearly enough,” he said.
The president confirmed reports that the ship was due to be swapped out with another aircraft carrier.
“That ship is moving right now or very shortly and it’s being replaced with another very similar ship,” Trump said.
US media, including specialist military publications, have quoted multiple relatives of crew members saying living conditions have deteriorated on the Lincoln. There have also been reports of several suicide attempts.
“A small number of mental health cases were treated with no loss of life,” acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said in a statement, blaming the media for “trying to paint our warriors as victims.”
Democratic lawmakers are calling for an investigation.
The massive nuclear-powered ship departed California in November 2025 for duty in the South China Sea and was rerouted to the Middle East before US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began February 28.
Jonathan Schroden, chief research officer at the Center for Naval Analyses, told AFP that carrier strike groups are generally designed for six-month deployments for reasons including sailor welfare.
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