‘Price of everything is going to skyrocket’: Trump move sparks fears of economic crisis

The Trump administration’s attack on Iran Saturday morning has prompted Tehran to suspend all travel through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically vital shipping channel through which around a fifth of the world’s oil trade passes through regularly, sparking fears of an impending economic crisis in the United States and the world at large.

“The [Strait] of Hormuz is closed. Oil tankers are clogged up,” wrote Maram Susli, a Syrian-born political commentator and analyst, to their nearly 540,000 followers on X. “The price of everything is going to skyrocket. You can thank [President Donald] Trump and Israel.”

A top shipping executive told Reuters Saturday that their ships “will stay put for several days” at least, speaking with the outlet under the condition of anonymity. The executive’s ships presumably received a radio transmission from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that Reuters reported was sent out Saturday, warning sea vessels that “no ship is allowed to pass the Strait of Hormuz.”

Trump cited Tehran’s refusal to renounce pursuing nuclear weapons as reason for having authorized the unprecedented attack, though critics have pointed to a social media post the president shared just hours after the strikes – a post promoting the unverified theory that Iran sought to help former President Joe Biden in the 2020 election – as the operation’s true potential “justification.”

A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers is currently working to halt the Trump administration’s military operation in Iran by advancing a War Powers Resolution, a legislative tool to check the president’s authority to declare war and require congressional authorization before U.S. forces can engage in sustained military action.