Donald Trump said on Friday that once Iran was defeated, he would declare the very strategic Strait of Hormuz as a “territory of the United States”, in a tone suggesting that he was joking. He also defended his decision to go to war to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, saying he would “never apologize” for it despite the rise in fuel prices suffered by the Americans.
“Once we have finished beating Iran (…), soon I will declare the Strait of Hormuz as a territory of the United States,” said the American president, with a small smile, during a meeting in Garden City, near New York. Donald Trump repeats that the United States has “control” of the Strait of Hormuz, a claim that Tehran has called a “lie”. In fact, this strategic passage for global oil trade has been blocked by Iran since the start of the war, while the United States for its part imposes a blockade on Iranian ports. Iran will “never have nuclear weapons,” Donald Trump also said. “If you have to pay a little more” for gas, “that’s OK. (…) I will never apologize. I made the right decision,” he said.
Trump’s popularity on the decline
Compared to the pre-war level, the price of gasoline in the United States was up more than 35% on Friday. The conflict is unpopular and household dissatisfaction with the cost of living has caused Donald Trump’s popularity to have fallen sharply. This defense of the conflict in Iran comes just after Vice President JD Vance gave a slightly different speech on the objectives pursued. “Oil has fallen and is much lower than the highs reached at the start of the conflict. That’s the number one goal, to keep oil and gas cheap for Americans,” he said on Fox News.
