Iran war live: Trump vows to make Hormuz US territory ‘pretty soon’

# Analysis Trump's declaration that he intends to claim the Strait of Hormuz as U.S. territory represents an unprecedented assertion of territorial control over a critical global chokepoint through which roughly 20-30 percent of the world's traded oil passes daily. Such a claim would directly violate international maritime law under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which limits territorial waters to 12 nautical miles and designates straits as international passages, and would immediately trigger confrontation with multiple nations—including Oman, which shares the strait's coastline—as well as major trading partners like China, India, and Europe who depend on unfettered passage. The practical effect would be to weaponize energy markets, giving the U.S. unilateral power to throttle global oil supplies and set transit fees, potentially devastating global economies already fragile from recent inflation and supply chain disruptions. Even the conditional nature of the threat effectively destabilizes the region by signaling that post-conflict territorial redrawing is on the negotiating table, encouraging regional actors to prepare for prolonged conflict rather than pursue diplomatic off-ramps.