President Trump nettled Iran on Thursday by posting an illustration that relabeled the Strait of Hormuz as the “Strait of Trump.”
Mr. Trump reposted the image on his Truth Social page one day after he posted a computer-generated image of himself wielding a machine gun and seeming to threaten a new bombing campaign on the Islamic republic.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded Thursday by noting that Mr. Trump labeled the Persian Gulf correctly in his illustration and that Iran is marking 400 years since it expelled the Portuguese from the Strait of Hormuz.
“POTUS uses the correct term ‘Persian Gulf,’ not the Pentagon’s fake version. But calling Hormuz anything else is indeed a ‘terrible mistake,’” Mr. Araghchi said.
Mr. Trump is pressing Iran to offer a peace proposal that would prevent Tehran officials from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He’s used the threat of military strikes and a blockade of Iranian ports as leverage to force the Islmaic republic to the negotiating table.
Iran, in response, is restricting oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, resulting in energy shocks around the world.
Brent crude oil, an international benchmark, traded well above $120 per barrel for a while on Thursday before receding to about $115.
The national average price of a gallon of gas reached $4.30 on Thursday, up 27 cents from a week ago, according to the AAA motor club.
Mr. Trump says gas prices will come down sharply once the conflict is resolved, though Democrats are making political hay out of the situation ahead of November’s midterm elections.
“Trump says he’s bleeding Iran economically, but he’s draining the pockets of American families. And for what? The Strait of Hormuz is still closed, the Iranian regime is still radical, and our servicemembers are still in harm’s way,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer. “Trump still has no idea how to end this blunder.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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