Fighter jets on Sunday escorted a civilian plane away from President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said the aircraft violated the temporary flight restriction around 1:15 p.m. “The situation was resolved safely,” NORAD wrote in a Sunday statement on the social platform X. The F-16 fighter… Source link
The paralyzed Hormuz chokepoint is becoming the worst disruption to global energy flows ever, as actual barrels quickly disappear from oil markets, driving prices sharply higher in Asia toward $150 per barrel and potentially setting the stage for demand destruction in the weeks ahead. The oil market has fragmented: Oil is now trading for $150/bbl in Asia (except the occasional sanctioned Iranian tanker) where demand destruction has started. China and India most pressured. Meanwhile it is still $100 in the US https://t.co/QweAyzEN0a pic.twitter.com/YyvgAMdMwl — zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 17, 2026 President Trump has been attempting to fast-track the reopening of Hormuz by providing naval escorts for tankers and other commercial vessels. However, there are a few problems. First, Western US partners have rejected Trump’s request to send warships to help reopen the strategic waterway, which is plagued by IRGC mines and kamikaze drones. Second, Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), told the Financial Times in an interview on Tuesday that even if naval escorts materialize in the narrow waterway, they will not provide …
The U.S. Navy will begin escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz as soon as “militarily possible,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Sky News on Thursday. “That was always in our planning, that there’s the chance that the U.S. Navy or perhaps an international coalition will be escorting oil tankers through,” Bessent said in that interview. “My belief, that as soon as it is militarily possible, the U.S. Navy and perhaps with an international coalition, will be escorting vessels through,” he said. Bessent’s comments came as the Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed to shipping because of the war against Iran by the U.S. and Israel that began Feb. 28. The strait is the world’s most sensitive chokepoint for oil tankers, and its closure has caused crude oil prices to spike. The Trump administration, for more than a week, has suggested that U.S. Navy vessels would escort oil tankers through the strait without that happening. Earlier Thursday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC in an interview that the Navy is not ready to escort …
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Thursday that he is going to personally review his posts on the social platform X after deleting a post about a military escort that the White House disputed. “My last question for you is, there was the X post the other day that came from the Department of Energy, that… Source link
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez, not pictured, speak with the media after attending a meeting, marking the highest-level U.S. visit focused on energy policy to the OPEC nation in nearly three decades, as Washington conducts its first on-the-ground assessment of the oil industry it aims to help rebuild, in Caracas, Venezuela, February 11, 2026. Leonardo Fernandez Viloria | Reuters Read more U.S.-Iran war news “I was made aware of this post,” Leavitt said. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to the Energy secretary about it directly.” “However, I know the post was taken down pretty quickly,” she said. Wright had written, “The U.S. Navy successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz to ensure oil remains flowing to global markets.” Leavitt said that the Navy escorting tankers through the strait remains “an option” that President Donald Trump “has said he will absolutely utilize if and when necessary at the appropriate time.” The Strait of Hormuz is the most significant chokepoint for oil shipments in the world. …
