Trump claims Strait of Hormuz is 'American territory' as Iran tensions escalate

At a rally in Myrtle Beach, President Trump declared the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow passage through which a fifth of the world's oil flows — to be American territory, extending a long pattern of sovereign assertion into waters that have never belonged to any single nation. The claim, amplified by an AI-generated image posted to social media, reflects a hardening American posture toward Iran's nuclear ambitions and a deliberate attempt to reframe geography as leverage. Iran's deputy foreign minister dismissed the assertion as delusion, warning it would be corrected by events or by Iran itsel