White House: Iran-related price spikes at pump expected, only temporary

The White House is continuing to closely monitor the world’s oil markets and is prepared to take any steps necessary to ensure that price spikes U.S. consumers are seeing at the pump as a result of the war with Iran are only temporary, the president’s chief spokesperson said on Tuesday.

“Last night, President Trump reiterated his commitment toward keeping oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz so the United States and all of our allies can receive their energy needs,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a briefing with reporters Tuesday afternoon.

“President Trump will not allow rogue Iranian terrorists to stop the freedom of navigation and free flow of energy,” she continued in her opening remarks.

“Let me be clear, it is a good thing to wipe out terrorists who indiscriminately target civilians and attempt to hold the global economy hostage … and as the president made unequivocally clear to the remaining elements of this terrorist regime in his statement yesterday, if they do anything to stop the flow of oil or goods within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the world’s most powerful military 20 times harder than they have been hit thus far,” she said.

Leavitt’s remarks came on the 11th day of the war, one that started with War Department officials stating that they were once again escalating military operations against Iran, and that there’s little sign right now that a diplomatic solution to the conflict is in sight.

They also came shortly after an apparent errant social media post by Energy Secretary Chris Wright illustrated just how volatile the energy markets are at the moment.

Wright’s post, which was quickly deleted, stated that the U.S. Navy had escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for nearly 20% of the world’s seagoing oil, which has been closed since the start of hostilities on Feb. 28.

For the few moments that the post was live, the price of crude oil fell to below $80 a barrel, only to make a U-turn and begin to rise again after the post was taken down.

By the time Leavitt took to the podium in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, U.S. oil futures traded about 10% lower, near $84 a barrel, while Brent crude traded near $89 a barrel in New York.

Asked what had happened, Leavitt said she was aware of the post, but hadn’t had a chance before the briefing to talk to the Energy secretary about it directly.

“However, and I can confirm that the U.S. Navy has not escorted a tanker or a vessel at this time, though of course that’s an option the president has said he will absolutely utilize if and when necessary at the appropriate time,” she said.

Leavitt went on to note that the post was “taken down pretty quickly” but referred further questions about the matter to the Energy Department.

In a statement, the department said only that the post was deleted after it was “determined to be incorrectly captioned by Department of Energy staff.” 

Leavitt said moving forward, the White House’s objectives for Operation Epic Fury remain the same as they were on day one of the military effort: to destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles and its missile manufacturing capabilities; to ensure Iran’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region; and to ensure that Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon. 

“President Trump remains confident these goals will be accomplished in swift fashion,” the White House press secretary said. “As for the oil, President Trump fully expected the rogue Iranian regime to try and disrupt the global markets. That’s why President Trump and his energy team have been planning for this long before the strike and have moved quickly to address these temporary disruptions.”