More than six months after starting an illegal war with Iran, President Donald Trump is now threatening to rename the Strait of Hormuz, whose closure at the start of the conflict led to a global spike in energy prices.
In a Wednesday social media post, Trump falsely claimed that the strait is “under USA control” and then mused on whether to “change the name… to TRUMP STRAIT???”
“Like America itself, it would be ‘hotter’ than ever before!” the president added. “Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
In reality—despite Trump’s previous threats to declare the vital commercial waterway a US territory—the US does not have control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply travels.
Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday that Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait authority has added eleven more ships to its list of more than 50 vessels that are banned from traveling in the strait.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Wednesday also claimed that two oil tankers that were traversing the strait caught fire after striking sea mines, according to Al Jazeera.
The price of Brent crude petroleum rose once again during Wednesday trading, climbing up over $95 per barrel. Data released Wednesday by the American Automobile Association (AAA) showed that the price of gas in the US has risen to $4.12 per gallon, while the price of diesel fuel has risen to $5.69 per gallon.
While most Americans deal with the price of gasoline on a daily basis, the price of diesel fuel might have an even larger impact on the overall economy given that diesel is used to power the vehicles that ship consumer goods in the US.
In a Wednesday social media post, petroleum industry analyst Patrick De Haan wrote that diesel prices are rising so quickly that “we could even break the all-time diesel record ($5.819/gal) by Labor Day.”
Last month, Trump responded to collapsed trade talks with Canada by renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America.” Much like the illegal war with Iran, Trump’s trade war with Canada is raising prices on goods paid for by US consumers.
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