Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a supporter of President Donald Trump, shared a post on X stating that “thermonuclear detonations” could create a new waterway as disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz continue amid the Iran war.
“Instead of fighting over a 21-mile-wide bottleneck forever, we cut a new channel through friendly territory. A dozen thermonuclear detonations and you’ve got a waterway wider than the Panama Canal, deeper than the Suez, and safe from Iranian attacks,” Gingrich said on X Sunday, appearing to quote a satirical Substack article, which he linked in the post.
Newsweek reached out to Gingrich for comment.
Why It Matters
The war in Iran started on February 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes, resulting in the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The military action has disrupted the Strait of Hormuz, a major waterway for oil transportation in the Gulf between Oman and Iran. The share of global maritime oil trade transported through the Strait of Hormuz in the first fiscal quarter of 2025 was 26.6 percent, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Iran has been threatening vessels approaching the strait and is believed to have launched multiple attacks, according to the Associated Press. The disruptions have led to a rise in oil prices, which also impacts the price of gas.
What To Know
Gingrich’s X post drew criticism from social media users.
A context note on the post reads, “This proposal originates from a satirical article published the same day, presented as a humorous open letter with a disclaimer that its views ‘do not necessarily represent those of anyone with brain cells.’ No such nuclear-excavated canal exists.”
Journalist Aaron Rupar said on X, “this is one of the dumbest and most evil ideas ever.”
Former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan said on X, “Nothing to see here, just top Trump ally and former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich calling on Trump to use nukes in the Middle East.”
Adam Kinzinger, a CNN political commentator and former Republican congressman, reacted on X with a GIF of a man disappearing.
Trump called on other nations to send ships to help unblock the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday.
“Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the U.K., and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a Nation that has been totally decapitated,” Trump said on social media.
Multiple countries have rejected the demand.
Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said his country would not give in to Trump’s “blackmail.” He said Luxembourg was “happy to be useful. But don’t ask us with troops and with machines.”
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said, “This is not our war, we have not started it,” and asked what the president expects from the European ships “that the powerful U.S. navy cannot do?”
Australian Transport Minister Catherine King told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the country has not been asked, but “we won’t be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz.”
The Trump administration has not sent out naval assets to the Strait of Hormuz. While Trump and officials in his administration initially said they could send a naval escort to shield oil tankers in the waterway, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said last week that the United States was not yet ready to launch the naval operation.
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump told the Financial Times on Sunday: “It’s only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there. If there’s no response or if it’s a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO.”
Australian transport minister Catherine King told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: “We know how incredibly important that is, but that’s not something that we’ve been asked or that we’re contributing to.”
What Happens Next
It is unclear when military action in Iran will end. Trump previously said operations are likely to last four to five weeks, but that he was prepared “to go far longer than that.”
“I think the war is very complete, pretty much,” Trump told CBS News’ Weijia Jiang last week. Trump added that Iran has “no navy, no communications” and “no Air Force,” and that the United States is “very far” ahead of his initial estimate that the war could last four to five weeks.
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