POLITICO — 2026-03-03
News from Brussels
The White House will offer naval escorts and political risk insurance for oil and gas tankers traversing the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump said Tuesday, in a bid to cool energy prices that have surged since Iran warned it would attack ships at the choke point.
The announcement brought some immediate relief to the overheated crude oil market, curbing the rally that had added more than $10 a barrel of oil since the U.S. and Israel began launching strikes against Iran on Saturday. Still, energy markets remain nervous that key oil and gas assets in the Persian Gulf may be targeted by Tehran.
“Effective IMMEDIATELY, I have ordered the United States Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to provide, at a very reasonable price, political risk insurance and guarantees for the Financial Security of ALL Maritime Trade, especially Energy, traveling through the Gulf,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “This will be available to all Shipping Lines. If necessary, the United States Navy will begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, as soon as possible.”
“No matter what, the United States will ensure the FREE FLOW of ENERGY to the WORLD,” Trump continued, promising “more actions to come.”
POLITICO reported earlier Tuesday that the administration was considering offering military support for tankers that have been avoiding Hormuz after Iran struck several vessels in the area. U.S. oil prices were trading near $73 on Tuesday afternoon, down from more than $77 earlier in the day.
The gains in oil prices have started to filter down to gasoline prices, which are poised to climb higher than when Trump took office last year.
A person familiar with the White House discussions, who was granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations, said the administration was closely eyeing the economic fallout from its military strikes against Iran.
“It’s becoming a growing concern that the energy markets could face pressures in the coming days as the military campaign intensifies and expands in geographic scope,” the person said. “Access to the Straits of Hormuz is obviously vital for both natural gas and crude oil shipments, especially from Qatar and Saudi.”
While the strait remains technically open, marine insurance companies are hiking rates and in some cases canceling coverage for tankers that traverse the area. That has convinced tankers to forgo the area, analysts said, causing a slowdown that eventually could cause strain oil shipments and production.
A former defense official familiar with the talks said the Pentagon is having ongoing discussions about a maritime mission that would closely resemble previous Defense Department operations in the Red Sea, where the U.S. deployed carriers and destroyers to the region in attempts to preserve freedom of navigation amid threats from an Iran-linked group.
The new move is the first action by Trump to address the surge in oil, natural gas and road fuel prices since the start of the U.S.-Israeli attacks against Iran on Saturday that killed Iran’s supreme leader and sparked a war in the Middle East.
The widening war, which has resulted in six American service members killed and attacks against the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia, has made oil and gas facilities a major target for Iran. Qatar shut down a major natural gas export plant, Saudi Arabian fuel refineries have come under attack, and Iran has fired on ships traversing Hormuz, a major thoroughfare for 20 percent of the world’s waterborne oil deliveries.
The U.S. military says it has sunk 11 Iranian ships since the start of the joint operation with Israel, meaning the mission is likely to focus more on intercepting Tehran’s missiles that could target civilian shipping traffic than deterring maritime incursions. That could put further pressure on U.S. stockpiles of air defense interceptors, which have already been run low from the campaign against Yemen’s Houthis and Israel’s 12-year war against Iran last year.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that the administration would unveil a plan Tuesday to combat the rise in oil prices triggered by the U.S. military strikes against Iran. He did not divulge what those plans would be, only stating, “We’re going to destroy their Navy.”