In April 2026, online users shared an alleged X post screenshot showing U.S. President Donald Trump requesting prayers for Allah to open the "Strait of Hormel," as well as remarking that "Israel doesn't believe in Jesus." Users commented under numerous posts to ask whether Trump truly shared the message.
(@goldylocks2010/Threads)
The text, which was purportedly posted April 21, read as follows:
I think all Americans should say a little prayer to Allah. So far their God has kept the Strait closed, but if we pray hard enough to their God, our God who is a jealous God, will get off his a** and open the Strait of Hormel. Now some people will say this prayer request is blasphemy, and that there is only one true Christian God. But, they our partner in this war, Israel doesn't believe in Jesus, so how could it hurt?
In short, the screenshot was fake.
No such post appeared on Trump's official @realDonaldTrump X account (archived), and searches of Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo did not locate any news media outlets confirming the post was real. Had Trump truly made such a post, outlets worldwide would have widely reported on the matter.
Reverse image searches did not determine who created the fake image.
The fake post's mention of "Strait of Hormel" referenced the U.S. food company Hormel. The Strait of Hormuz is a shipping route that has become a focal point in the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran.
The inauthentic X post somewhat resembled a previous genuine Trump Truth Social post (archived), in which the president threatened Iran and ended his post with "Praise be to Allah."
Snopes contacted the White House to ask whether the administration wanted to comment about the fact that users were sharing the fake post, as well as a similar fake post we cover below. In response, a White House spokesperson simply noted the posts were fake.
Second 'Strait of Hormel' fake Trump post
At around the same time in April 2026, users shared a similar fake Trump X post screenshot displaying an April 18 date with millions of views and thousands of engagements, including another "Strait of Hormel" reference.
(@phila58/Threads)
That second fake post read as follows:
Iran is blackmailing our great country. Appearantly their 100% sunk navy and decimated army and obliterated missiles are just enough to keep PETE "Samuel Jackson" HEGSETH and our great military from opening the Strait of Hormel. This is unacceptable and I call on Mike Johnson and RINO Thune to appropriate 2.5 trillion for the Department of WAR. This will supercharge the industrial defense complex to make us UNSTOPPABLE again!!!!
Additional searches located a "Strait of Hormel" meme posted (archived) on Reddit, showing a sea of beans and Hormel shipping boats.
For further reading, we previously reported whether Trump truly posted on Truth Social a fake video showing him participating in a blood ritual.