From 'Lake America' to 'Trump Strait': How the White House is renaming the globe

US President Donald Trump has suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz as "Trump Strait" during his ongoing war with Iran — before implying he wasn't serious just hours later.

Trump has made a series of geographical name changes to international bodies of water in his second term, at least partly with the aim of provoking others.

The latest suggestion came as Trump insisted the US had full control of the crucial waterway, even as fresh clashes continued there with Iran.

"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!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The White House later posted a map of the Gulf on social media with his suggested name, adding: "It's got a nice ring to it."

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Trump has repeatedly threatened in recent weeks to claim sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, even posting a map depicting the waterway as "new US territory".

Trump, however, later played down the idea of rebranding the Strait of Hormuz.

"It was just thrown out there," Trump said with a chuckle after an Agence-France Presse news agency reporter asked him if he was serious.

But a number of the 80-year-old Republican's previous suggestions were dismissed as humorous before they came to pass.

Last week Trump signed an order renaming Lake Ontario as "Lake America" amid a trade war with neighbouring Canada, just days after apparently raising the idea in jest.

For local resident Liam Mooney, Lake Ontario will always be Lake Ontario. Now other Canadians who feel the same way can buy a baseball cap he's designed that pushes back at Trump's order.

It's not Mooney's first cap caper. Last year, the 40-year-old entrepreneur made a splash with a hat similar to the ubiquitous red cap of Trump's MAGA movement, emblazoned with the message "Canada is not for sale".

The move was inspired by Trump's repeated calls to make Canada the 51st US state. Sales soared after Ontario Premier Doug Ford wore it to a meeting with then-prime minister Justin Trudeau and other officials to discuss the brewing trade war with the United States.