U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed renaming the Strait of Hormuz to the “Trump Strait,” continuing his practice of changing the names of geographical features after a recent attempt to rename Lake Ontario.
One of the many memes inspired by Donald Trump on social media recently depicted the U.S. president renaming planet Earth and the Sun as “Trump.” This joke turned out to be not so far from reality: in his latest post on Wednesday, published on his Truth Social account, the White House head proposed changing the name of the Strait of Hormuz.
“Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT??? Like America itself, it would be “hotter” than ever before! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP”, he wrote. The post was dated September 2, 2026, 11:23 a.m. Eastern Time.
Although Donald Trump stated in his post that the Strait of Hormuz is under U.S. control, in reality this key passage for global trade—especially oil—remains closed to commercial shipping, and its control is still disputed with Iran.
Iran lies on the northern coast of the strait, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has blocked commercial maritime traffic through attacks on vessels, mine‑laying, and threats of missile strikes. The U.S. Navy maintains a significant presence in the area to escort ships and conduct demining operations.
Previous renamings
Renaming the Strait of Hormuz would add to the list of geographical features whose names Donald Trump has already attempted to change.
On January 20, 2025, immediately after assuming office for his second presidential term, Donald Trump ordered the name of the Gulf of Mexico to be changed to the “American Gulf” (Golfo de América) under Executive Order 14172. He claimed the measure aimed to emphasize American heritage and rename geographical features with terms identifying the United States.
Last week, he did the same with Lake Ontario, signing an executive order to change its name to “Lake America” in U.S. federal government records. The decision was made amid a tariff conflict with Canada after trade negotiations with Ottawa collapsed, leading the U.S. to impose 50% tariffs on Canadian goods and reciprocal measures from Canada. Google and Apple changed the lake’s name on their maps.
According to Clarín
