Trump Sends Message to Tankers as Oil Prices Spike: ‘Show Some Guts!’

President Donald Trump demanded tanker crews sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, south of Iran, “show some guts” as oil prices spike, claiming in an interview with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade that there was “nothing to be afraid of” after the U.S.-Israeli joint operation against the regime.

Global oil prices reached over $100 per barrel early Monday amid fears of a longer-term disruption to energy supplies through the key Strait of Hormuz shipping route.

Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil typically passes through the narrow waterway, but shipping has largely ground to a halt since the conflict began more than a week ago.

U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran’s military installations have resulted in strikes from Iran, in the form of drone and rocket fire, against neighboring oil and gas-producing nations, some of which are the location of the region’s U.S. military bases.

Kilmeade revealed on Fox & Friends Monday that the president had urged oil transportation companies that use the route to “get to it” as he argued Iranian regime’s capability to attack the ships had been weakened.

He explained that during the call, he’d asked the president how he planned to “get the prices down,” then relayed Trump’s words:

He says, ‘Tell these tankers to get themselves, get to it, we have wiped out most of their launchers.’ Here is exactly what he said: ‘These ships should go through the Strait of Hormuz and show some guts, there’s nothing to be afraid of. [The Iranians] have no navy, we sunk all their ships.’

He went on to say: ‘Look, there is risk in the region, the region is volatile, their launchers, there’s just about 150 left, that’s just about 20% of totals, they can’t regenerate, they can’t make any more. We are in the region and need to act quickly on all these type of attacks.’

The co-host further explained that he believes that the Trump administration is sending “some additional naval assets” to escort tankers, but reasoned that a tanker had traveled through the strait on Sunday with “no problem.”

Summing up Trump’s call, Kilmeade concluded: “He’s saying, ‘Come on, guys. Get to it!’”

Watch above via Fox & Friends.

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