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Gas prices vs nuclear
In Washington, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said maintaining low fuel prices and ensuring that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon are of equal importance to President Donald Trump, as she spoke aboard the presidential plane with Trump.
“maintaining low fuel prices and ensuring that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon are of equal importance”
Leavitt’s remarks came after Vice President Mike Pence stressed that the administration’s priorities include stabilizing oil and gas prices and placing that at the forefront, with preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon as the second goal.
Trump then urged Americans to accept higher gasoline prices, saying at an event Friday in Nassau County, New York: "To pay a little more for gasoline, just remember you’re doing it so that a very evil country, a country that is really the world’s primary sponsor of terrorism, does not obtain a nuclear weapon."
The dispute over priorities unfolded as the Strait of Hormuz remained a pressure point, with the source saying Iran closed the Hormuz Strait through which about 20% of global oil supplies pass daily.
The same source tied the energy-market disruption to U.S. prices, saying the average price of regular gasoline rose to $4.50 per gallon and diesel reached $5.64, while inflation in April rose to 3.8% with energy costs accounting for more than 40% of the monthly increase.
Vance makes energy #1
Vice President JD Vance told Fox News that keeping oil and gas cheap for Americans is the administration’s "goal number one," while preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is "goal number two."
Vance said, "I know that oil is down today and it's way down from the highs in the early days of the conflict," and added, "That's goal number one -- keep oil and gas cheap for Americans all over our country."
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened Iran with economic isolation, telling Newsmax, "We are going to apply measures like have never been seen in the history of the economic isolation of a country."
Bessent described the approach as "a combination of economic isolation like the world has never seen before and the continued blockade in the Strait of Hormuz that will keep anything from going in or out of the Iranian ports."
The U.S. framing of the war’s purpose also appeared to shift in Reuters coverage, where Trump urged Americans to accept slightly higher gasoline prices as the cost of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and said he would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz a U.S territory.
Next steps and risks
The sources described the U.S. posture as moving toward intensified economic pressure, with Bessent telling Newsmax that new measures are expected next week and that the continued blockade in the Strait of Hormuz would keep anything from going in or out of Iranian ports.
“"Watch this space for more announcements coming next week," Bessent said.”
CBC reported that Trump said in a speech in Garden City, N.Y., "After we finish defeating Iran ... pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States," while also urging Americans to accept slightly higher gasoline prices.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister KazemGharibabadi responded on X that the strait could not be seized by tweet, aircraft carrier, issuing an order, or an election speech, and said it would "only be closed and opened under Iran's command."
Reuters said the remarks came as the Strait of Hormuz remained a critical pressure point for global energy markets, with Brent crude approaching $90 a barrel and U.S. gasoline prices around $4 a gallon.
In the same Reuters account, Trump’s escalation tied the U.S. political risk to the November midterm elections, with the source saying Democrats were seeking to make the economic fallout from the Iran war an issue heading into those elections.
