President Donald Trump is now asking Americans to absorb higher gasoline prices as part of the cost of the Iran war, even as shipping data shows crude oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has effectively stalled.
The Irish Times, carrying Reuters, reported Saturday that Trump told a political rally in Garden City, New York, that paying “a tiny little bit more for your gasoline” was worth it to stop what he called “a very evil country” from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
CBC News, also citing Reuters, reported that Trump went further by saying that, after defeating Iran, “pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States.” CBC noted that it was unclear whether the remark reflected policy or campaign-stage rhetoric.
The Gas Price Problem Is Now Political
The new angle is not simply that energy prices are rising. List25 has already covered the Hormuz shipping crisis, fresh attacks on ADNOC-linked vessels, and Washington’s push for tougher economic pressure on Tehran. What changed here is Trump’s public framing: he is telling voters that higher fuel costs are the price of the war effort.
That is a risky argument heading into the November midterms. The Irish Times/Reuters report said the average U.S. gasoline price was about $4.08 a gallon Friday, up 29 percent from a year earlier, according to the American Automobile Association. Brent crude was on track for a weekly gain of about 6 percent, while West Texas Intermediate was up roughly 5.4 percent for the week.
The numbers matter because Trump campaigned on lower energy costs. Democrats are already trying to turn the Iran war’s economic fallout into a campaign issue. Asking Americans to accept higher prices may work as a national-security pitch, but it also gives opponents a direct kitchen-table line of attack.
Hormuz Crude Traffic Has Nearly Vanished
The fuel-price pressure is tied directly to the Strait of Hormuz. Channel NewsAsia reported that only two vessels passed through the strait Friday, based on Kpler ship-tracking analysis, and that there were no visible crude oil shipments. Before the war, more than 130 ships crossed the waterway daily.
Some vessels may still move with transponders turned off, but the tracked traffic is nowhere near normal. That is the heart of the crisis: even if Washington and Tehran trade statements about control, markets respond to whether cargoes are actually moving.
Iran is not backing down publicly. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi wrote that the strait would be opened and closed only under Iran’s command, and that the blockade would continue until the United States accepted what he called the reality of defeat. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran had not decided to resume direct talks with Washington.
Why Trump’s Remark Stands Out
The same Reuters-backed coverage said Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are preparing more economic pressure on Iran, with Bessent promising new measures next week. That overlaps with earlier List25 coverage of Washington’s economic-isolation push, but Trump’s gasoline line adds a sharper domestic consequence.
It also lands while Hormuz violence is still escalating. The UAE has accused Iran of attacking multiple Abu Dhabi National Oil Company vessels in the strait, and the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency reported a bulk carrier was struck by an unknown projectile. No injuries were reported in the latest ADNOC incident, but the pattern is enough to keep insurers, shipowners, and energy traders on edge.
For the White House, the argument is straightforward: higher prices are tolerable if they help prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. For consumers, the math is more immediate. Gasoline prices are already above last year’s levels, crude shipments through the world’s most important oil chokepoint are barely moving, and there is no sign of a diplomatic restart.
That makes this more than another Hormuz update. The Iran crisis is now moving from maritime-security headlines into U.S. political liability. If the strait stays restricted and prices keep climbing, the question may not only be whether Washington can pressure Tehran. It may be how long American voters are willing to pay for that pressure at the pump.
Sources: The Irish Times/Reuters; CBC News/Reuters; Channel NewsAsia/Reuters; gCaptain/Bloomberg.