Iran Crisis: Can Trump Really Rename The Strait Of Hormuz?

The article examines how US President Trump links Iran talks to reopening the Strait of Hormuz for oil shipments, and the potential impact on global energy markets and negotiations.

US President Donald Trump on Friday linked any peace agreement with Iran to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz for oil shipments, and during remarks at an investment forum in Miami briefly referred to the crucial waterway as the "Strait of Trump" before correcting the name and calling it a mistake.

Trump told the Saudi-backed FII Priority audience that negotiations with Tehran were already underway to halt the month-long conflict, saying the process could succeed only if Iran resumed normal traffic through the strait, which has been largely closed and has contributed to rising energy prices worldwide.

Can Trump Really Rename The Strait Of Hormuz?

At the Miami event, Trump stated, "We're negotiating now, and it would be great if we could do something, but they have to open it up." Trump then said, "They have to open up the Strait of Trump -- I mean Hormuz. Excuse me, I'm so sorry. Such a terrible mistake."

Trump predicted that news outlets would seize on his remark, but still added, "there's no accidents with me, not too many." Trump, aged 79, has already ordered several Washington buildings renamed for himself during the second term, and earlier said the Gulf of Mexico had been rechristened the "Gulf of America" after returning to office.

Before he came into power, Trump, who first gained public attention as a property developer branding towers with the Trump name, previously joked in a similar way before renaming Washington's Kennedy arts center the "Trump-Kennedy Center." A peace institute in Washington also received Trump’s name last year, reflecting the broader pattern of such symbolic changes.

Why The Name Can't Be Changed So Easily

No, an individual-even a U.S. president-cannot unilaterally "rename" the Strait of Hormuz in any meaningful legal or international sense. The name is governed by international usage, cartographic authorities, and the laws of the adjacent coastal states (Iran and Oman), not by a single leader's joke or decree.

The Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway bordered by Iran and Oman, and its name is embedded in treaties, navigation rules, and standard maps used by the UN, International Maritime Organization (IMO), and national mapping agencies.

Official renaming of geographic features usually requires formal proposals and approvals by national geographic boards (like the U.S. Board on Geographic Names) and, in the case of international straits, broad consensus among affected states or international bodies.

What Trump's joke actually does

When Trump jokingly calls it the "Strait of Trump" or "Strait of America," he's only changing how he refers to it in a speech or on a map image; he is not altering the strait's official name in international law or on standard nautical charts.

When geographic names do change

States can change names of domestic features (e.g., mountains, towns, or even parts of adjacent seas) through internal procedures, as the U.S. has tried to do with the "Gulf of America" rebranding of the Gulf of Mexico.

For an international chokepoint like the Strait of Hormuz, a lasting name change would in practice require agreement by Iran, Oman, major shipping nations, and international organizations-which is extremely unlikely purely for a leader's branding.

In short: Trump can joke about calling it the "Strait of Trump," but the world's maps, navies, and shipping routes will keep calling it the Strait of Hormuz unless there's a real, negotiated, multilateral change-which is not happening.