By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that he will declare the Strait of Hormuz a territory of the United States "pretty soon," asserting America's control of the crucial waterway through its naval blockade.

Trump made the remarks during a visit to a police academy in Garden City, New York, as disruptions to shipping through the strait, a key shipping route for oil, natural gas and other commodities, have continued amid the war in the Middle East, leaving energy prices high.

"After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated ... pretty soon, I will be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States," Trump said.

"We have the blockade. No ships get through unless we want them to," he added.

The president said that though he used the U.S. military "a little bit more than I wanted to," the United States cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.

sshluck@yna.co.kr

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