Gambity HEADLINE: Trump vows US territorial claim over Strait of Hormuz
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Donald Trump has stated the United States will declare the Strait of Hormuz American territory once Iran is defeated, marking the most explicit territorial claim yet made by a sitting US president over an international waterway carrying roughly a fifth of global oil supply. The statement, made Saturday, follows weeks of US military operations against Iranian assets and comes as the USS Abraham Lincoln controversy continues to draw domestic scrutiny. The Hormuz declaration has no precedent in modern international maritime law. Any formal move would trigger immediate legal challenges under UNCLOS, to which the US is not a signatory but which governs navigation rights accepted by virtually every oil-importing nation. Markets trading on Middle East stability, Iranian settlement timelines, and energy supply disruption will need to price a scenario that was, until Saturday morning, outside the range of stated US policy.
