Why Trump Saying the Strait of Hormuz Is 'American Territory' Matters
On 22 August 2026, US President Donald Trump said he considers the Strait of Hormuz to be "American territory." He also said he thinks Iran is not yet ready to agree to terms that would end the war between the two countries. "They would love to make a deal, but they're not ready to make the right deal in my opinion," he said, according to Al Jazeera's live coverage.
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow strip of water between Iran and Oman. About a fifth of all the oil the world uses every day passes through it. Think of it as a highway that almost all oil traffic from the Persian Gulf has to use. Whoever controls it has enormous influence over global oil prices and the world economy.
Calling it "American territory" goes further than any US president has gone before. Trump had already said in mid-August that the US had "total control" of the strait. Iran rejected that claim. Iran's government said the strait is under its own control and management, as Reuters reported on 13 August. The two countries are now arguing over who effectively governs one of the most important waterways on Earth.
The conflict between the US and Iran stretches back months. In April 2026, the White House announced that Trump would address the nation about "Operation Epic Fury," a military campaign described as aimed at taking apart the Iranian regime. Days later, the White House said Iran had agreed to a ceasefire — a pause in fighting — and to reopening the Strait of Hormuz as part of talks toward a broader peace deal. By July, the administration was claiming total naval control of the strait and "unmatched intelligence and strike readiness," per a White House summary of Trump's Fox & Friends appearance.
That ceasefire, however, has not held firmly. On 1 August, Trump said the US would hold off on a new attack on Iran in hope of a quick deal. Four days later, he said the US had held an "all-day negotiation" with Iran and that the strait would be open "very soon," while warning that Iran would "be hit hard" if that did not happen. On 9 August, Reuters reported that Trump added a demand that Iran pay reparations — money to compensate for damage — as part of any deal over the strait. This came after Iran had asked for compensation of its own.
On Truth Social, Trump stated that the strait "is open and will remain open with or without Iran" and said the US was reinstating what he called "the Iranian blockade." The posts do not carry dated timestamps in the available record, making their sequence relative to the August diplomatic exchanges unclear. In February 2026, Trump signed an Executive Order — a presidential directive — reaffirming the ongoing national emergency with respect to Iran and setting up a process to impose tariffs on the country. Tariffs are taxes on imported goods, used here as economic pressure alongside the military and diplomatic efforts.
The 2025 US National Security Strategy, the main policy document for how the administration handles foreign affairs, says the Strait of Hormuz must remain open and the region must not be a base for attacks on American interests. It treats the waterway as essential and non-negotiable. Calling it "American territory" goes well beyond that. No modern US administration has claimed ownership of the strait before.
The broader context here is that Trump's "territory" language comes when the diplomatic talks seem to be losing steam. Look at the past three weeks: an all-day negotiation on 5 August, a reparations demand added by 9 August, Iran's sovereignty counter-claim by 13 August, and now Trump saying on 22 August that Tehran is "not ready to make the right deal." Each step has pushed the two sides further apart. The reparations fight is a good example: both countries are demanding money from the other, which creates a standoff with no clear way out.
The escalation from "total control" to "American territory" also matters beyond the US and Iran. Countries in the Gulf region and international shipping companies have always treated the strait as an international waterway, governed by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea — a global treaty that sets rules for how nations use the oceans. A US claim of ownership, even just in words, gives Iran an argument to make a similar claim of its own. That makes it harder for any third party to step in and help keep the waterway open.
For Iran's part, asking for compensation signals that Tehran sees reopening the strait not as a favor but as a deal in which it expects to get paid. That is fundamentally different from the US position, which says Iran should be the one paying. These two starting points are so far apart that no amount of mediation seems likely to bridge them quickly.
With Trump now publicly questioning whether Iran is ready for a deal at all, the big question is whether the US keeps the pause on military action it announced on 1 August. The 5 August warning that Iran would "be hit hard" if the strait is not reopened is still on the table. And the gap between the two sides on how the strait should be reopened has, by all available evidence, gotten wider, not narrower.
