# Three Ships Passed Hormuz on Friday, and Trump Said He Would Declare It American > The president told a rally he will soon declare the strait a territory of the United States, and it was not clear whether he meant it. Traffic is down from 130 vessels a day to a handful. - Source: Israel Today - Canonical URL: https://israeltoday.news/article/trump-hormuz-us-territory-remark - Author: Amir Doron - Section: World - Published: 2026-08-15T15:10:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-15T15:10:00.000Z - Tags: Iran, United States, Hormuz --- Speaking at a rally at a police academy in New York state on Friday, President Donald Trump said that pretty soon he will be declaring the Strait of Hormuz a territory of the United States, and added that it is true. Whether he was speaking seriously was not clear. Earlier he told Fox News the United States will hit Iran hard economically, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said measures that have never been seen will begin against Tehran next week. Iran answered the phrase rather than the policy. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Iran will not be intimidated by threats or a show of force, and that Hormuz cannot be seized by a tweet or an aircraft carrier. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said no decision has been taken to resume negotiations with Washington. The traffic figures are the part that does not depend on interpretation. More than 130 ships a day used the strait before the war. Twelve a day was the average once the fighting began. On Wednesday five went through, on Thursday nine, and on Friday two or three. Two more vessels were attacked on Friday. A waterway that carries a fifth of the world's seaborne oil is not being contested in law. It is being emptied. Declaring it American territory would change nothing a shipowner can act on, and the measures Bessent has promised are aimed at an economy already under blockade. What moves the number of transits is whether ships are being hit, and this week they were. --- Originally published by Israel Today. Free to cite with attribution and a link to https://israeltoday.news/article/trump-hormuz-us-territory-remark.