After Lake America, Donald Trump floats renaming the Strait of Hormuz to 'Trump Strait'

US President Donald Trump suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz as the "Trump Strait", while claiming that Washington had the vital waterway "under U.S.A. control" as fighting with Iran intensified. In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: "Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT??? Like America itself, it would be 'hotter' than ever before!"

The White House later posted a map of the Gulf on social media with the waterway marked "Trump Strait" and added: "It's got a nice ring to it." The proposal came less than a week after Trump, who is in an intensifying feud with Canada, signed an executive order to change the name of Lake Ontario to "Lake America".

Hostilities between the United States and Iran escalated overnight on September 3 with Tehran attacking American bases across the Middle East after a US strike was alleged to have hit a home hosting a wedding event, killing five people and wounding dozens.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on September 2 that the US military could attack again, saying: "It was a very heavy attack last night, and we're prepared to do another one any time we want." He also said the US was ready to strike Iran "at any time", though he did not expect the renewed fighting to last "too long".

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that it had carried out attacks on Iranian military targets, including air defence sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, communication sites and mine-laying capabilities. The Iranian Red Crescent later said five people were killed and nearly 70 injured after a US strike hit what it described as a "wedding celebration" in the city of Kuhestak, on the Strait of Hormuz, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. The regional Red Crescent said at least one child was among those killed.

Bloomberg reported that Trump said the strikes were in retaliation for Iran trying to put mines in the strait and for an earlier assault on a military base, and that he warned of more attacks if Tehran responded. He said Washington was in "almost total control" of the key maritime route and added that the Iranian economy was "collapsing" because of America's sanctions and its "economic D-day" approach to the war.

In another Truth Social post, Trump warned Iran that "very little will be left of the nation" if it retaliated over the fresh US strikes near the Strait of Hormuz. He wrote: "If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level, but it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings and, when it is over, there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran!"