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By Hugh Cameron
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President Donald Trump has downplayed the recent sharp increase in oil prices, describing it as a "very small price to pay" for American and global security.
Oil prices have been on the rise since the U.S. and Israel began their coordinated strikes on Iran on February 28. Iran responded by launching its own strikes across the Gulf region, and has attempted to limit the transit of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
The price of Brent crude—the international benchmark—has now soared to over $100 per barrel and is closing in on the $110 mark as of Monday morning, its highest level since 2022.
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But Trump said that these effects would be short-lived and were outweighed by the need to stop Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.
"Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace," he wrote on Truth Social on Sunday. "ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!"
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Why It Matters
As analysts warned at the outset of the conflict, global crude prices eventually feed into domestic gas prices, meaning sustained increases in the former eventually translate into far higher pump costs for Americans. These effects have already become evident, with gas soaring to its highest level of either of Trump’s terms.
What To Know
According to the latest estimates from OilPrice.com, Brent crude prices are currently sitting at around $107, up over 40 percent from $73 the day before the U.S.-Israeli strikes on February 28.
Experts say the recent spike is caused primarily by Iran’s multipronged retaliation strategy, including its attacks on military and economic targets across the Gulf region—prompting some refineries to temporarily halt operations—and threats against vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz.
"The global oil market now faces a situation where critical energy infrastructure in the Middle East is being hit directly at the same time as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has ground to a halt," Torbjorn Soltvedt, principal Middle East analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, told Newsweek last week.
Around 20 percent of the world’s oil supply is shipped through the vital maritime passage, but traffic has now come to a "near-total" pause, according to an advisory note from the Joint Maritime Information Center.
But the U.S administration maintains that the increase in global prices can be contained. On Sunday, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNN: "In the worst case, this is a weeks, this is not a months thing."
"You’re seeing a little bit of fear premium in the marketplace, but the world is not short of oil today or natural gas," he added.
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump told Reuters on Thursday regarding domestic gas prices: "I don't have any concern about it. They'll drop very rapidly when this is over, and if they rise, they rise, but this is far more important than having gasoline prices go up a little bit."
A spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in a response to recent strikes on the country's energy infrastructure translated by Al Jazeera, said: "If you can tolerate oil at more than $200 per barrel, continue this game."
What Happens Next
The Trump administration has floated several measures aimed at stemming the ongoing oil rally, including providing insurance for maritime trade in the Gulf, deploying naval escorts for tankers and lifting sanctions on Russian oil.
Additionally, the Financial Times reported on Monday that G7 member states were considering tapping their emergency oil reserves to boost supply and rein in prices.
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