Donald Trump is calling on “everyone” to “keep oil prices down” and has commanded the Department of Energy to open up drilling after oil prices surged to their highest levels in the wake of the president’s attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities.
“EVERYONE, KEEP OIL PRICES DOWN,” he wrote in an all-caps message on Truth Social on Monday.
“I’M WATCHING! YOU’RE PLAYING RIGHT INTO THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY. DON’T DO IT!” he added.
In a separate post, he ordered the Department of Energy to “DRILL, BABY, DRILL!!! And I mean NOW!!!”
International energy traders have braced for massive disruptions following Iran’s parliamentary vote to support the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically important choke point for the world’s oil supply.
Within hours after Saturday’s attacks, roughly 50 oil tankers were seen scrambling to leave the strait between Iran and Oman, where roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas shipments pass through.
“We’re on it!” energy Secretary Chris Wright responded to Trump’s post. “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, America’s energy security is stronger than ever before.”
U.S. crude oil futures surged by more than 6 percent to peak at $78 a barrel on Sunday — more than $1 higher than the price set at the time of Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
The spike is likely to trickle down to gasoline prices as Americans prepare for a three-day Fourth of July weekend.
If there is a blockade, crude oil prices could soar as high as $120 or $130 per barrel, according to JP Morgan Chase analysts.
The White House is “actively and closely monitoring this situation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Iranian regime would be foolish to make that decision,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News Sunday Morning Futures that Iran’s closure would be “economic suicide” and a “terrible mistake” as he called on China to pressure Iran to avoid disrupting shipping lanes.
“It would be, I think, a massive escalation that would merit a response, not just by us, but from others,” Rubio said.
Trump campaigned on lowering prices at the pump, repeatedly claiming that at gas prices should be “$1.87” — which would require a massive and extremely unlikely drop in crude oil prices.
The national average gas price for Trump’s final week in office during his first term was $2.38 a gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Prices were averaging $3.12 per gallon when he returned to the White House.
Trump claimed to have “completely, totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program in a series of missile strikes and bombings, marking explicit U.S. intervention into Israel’s war that risks a wider international crisis.
The true extent of the damage remains unclear. While administration officials claimed the attacks were not part of a pretextual campaign for regime change war, Trump has raised the possibility of further escalation.
“If the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change???” he wrote Sunday.
