“They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore, and that’s the purpose of what we were doing”
During a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and reporters Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. is ending its bombing campaign against the U.S.-designated Yemeni foreign terrorist organization, the Houthis.
“We had some very good news last night. The Houthis have announced… that they don’t want to fight anymore. They just don’t want to fight. And we will honor that and we still the bombings,” Trump said.
The Houthis began launching coordinated attacks on U.S. ships in the Red Sea in 2023. The Houthis have repeatedly conducted missile and drone strikes on American merchant and war ships since then, aligning themselves with Iranian terrorist groups and citing America’s support for Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a reason for the attacks.
Through an executive order signed on his second day in office, Trump re-designated the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization and began an aggressive campaign against them. Former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz accidentally included Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg in a Signal messaging thread containing details of U.S. strikes against the Houthis in March. The administration recently moved Waltz to its United Nations ambassador role and put Secretary of State Marco Rubio in charge of the National Security Council. Rubio will hold both positions.
Trump’s administration has repeatedly touted its victories against the Houthis as a sign of its strength, but Trump exhibited a slightly gentler attitude toward the group Tuesday.
“They have capitulated, but more importantly, we will take their word. They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore, and that’s the purpose of what we were doing,” Trump said.
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Iran is reportedly weighing blocking a key commercial choke point known as the Strait of Hormuz, a move that could drive up energy costs in the U.S. and across the globe, according to energy sector experts who spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Israel began to bombard Iran to eliminate the Islamic Republic’s ability to build a nuclear weapon on June 13, and the U.S. carried out “Operation Midnight Hammer” on Saturday night, bombing three of Iran’s nuclear facilities. While Iran’s parliament has reportedly voted to close the Strait of Hormuz in a retaliatory move to choke the world’s oil supply in response to the American strikes, the U.S. is well-positioned to combat the inevitable energy cost spike that would follow if Iran succeeds, sector experts told the DCNF.
“The escalating conflict between Iran and Israel is already putting upward pressure on oil and natural gas prices—and that pressure will intensify if the Strait of Hormuz is blocked,” Trisha Curtis, an economist at the American Energy Institute, told the DCNF. “This kind of disruption would send global prices higher and tighten supply chains. Fortunately, the U.S. is well-positioned to respond — our domestic production strength and growing export infrastructure make American oil and natural gas increasingly indispensable to global markets.”
Iran does not have the legal authority to halt traffic through the strait, meaning it would need to usurp control through force or the threat of force, according to legal scholarsandmultiplereports. The Iranian parliament’s reported move to block the Strait on Sunday awaits final approval by Iran’s Supreme Council, according to Iran’s Press TV.
The Strait is only 35 to 60 miles wide and connects the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean, flowing past Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. The thoroughfare is vital for global trade, as tankers carried one fifth of the world’s oil supply through the Strait of Hormuz in 2024 and the first quarter of 2025, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Roughly 20 million barrels of oil pass through the Strait of Hormuz on a daily basis, Curtis noted. Some liquified natural gas (LNG) exports would also be blocked if the Strait of Hormuz were closed, she said.
Iran has reportedly beenwarning that it could close the strait for weeks, with one Iranian lawmaker and a member of the parliament’s National Security Committee presidium both quoted as saying that Iran could respond to enemy attacks by disturbing the West’s oil supply. Maritime agencies and the U.K. Navy have advised ships to avoid the Strait in recent weeks, given the potential threat.
Other energy experts pointed to how the Russia-Ukraine war led to a worldwidespike in energy costs.
“Energy markets do not like war — they particularly do not like war in the Middle East,” Marc Morano, author and the head of Climate Depot told the DCNF. Morano noted that the impact of the war did not immediately spike energy costs in the U.S. and abroad, though further escalation could spike them — especially Iran moving to block the Strait. “Even rumors of a blockade could instill fear into energy markets and drive prices up,” Morano said.
Despite the threat of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz being blocked, the U.S. has some cushion, given that it is a net exporter of oil and gas, according to energy sector experts.
President Donald Trump has promoted a pro-energy-growth agenda that paves the way for domestic oil and gas expansion, which positions the U.S. to withstand intense conflict escalations or even the closure of the Strait, energy sector experts told the DCNF.
Such a blockage would make US oil and gas exports more important. It underscores the importance of Trump’s agenda — to open Alaska and other areas to energy production, to speed up infrastructure permitting, and to increase exports to our allies,” director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment Diana Furchtgott-Roth told the DCNF.
Though the U.S. still imports oil from some nations in the Middle East, including those that use the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. has the capacity to become the dominant oil producer, energy sector experts told the DCNF.
If Iran were to close the Strait it would amount to “economic suicide” as the nation’s economy is reliant on Hormuz, both Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in interviews on Sunday.
James Taylor, president of the Heartland Institute, told the DCNF that any disruption in the oil markets would lead to price increases, which only highlights the need for pro-energy policies domestically.
“It is very important for American policymakers to support rather than impede American oil production because America, as a dominant energy producer, will be largely immune to such political crises,” Taylor said. “In fact, if America is a dominant oil producer and Iran takes steps to shock the oil markets, America would benefit and Iran’s nefarious plan would backfire.”
The State Department over the weekend warned Americans abroad to “exercise increased caution” in the aftermath of U.S. military strikes that destroyed three major Iranian nuclear facilities.
Key Details:
In a worldwide security alert, the State Department warned U.S. citizens to remain vigilant abroad due to the fallout from the strikes, which targeted Iran’s Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz nuclear facilities.
“There is the potential for demonstrations against U.S. citizens and interests abroad,” the alert stated, noting that the Israel-Iran conflict has already caused airspace closures and travel interruptions across the Middle East.
Iran’s U.N. Ambassador accused the U.S. of “destroying diplomacy” and warned that Iran’s military would determine a “proportionate response.” President Trump, in turn, vowed that any retaliation from Iran would be met with overwhelming force.
Diving Deeper:
The U.S. State Department issued a global security alert late Saturday, urging Americans overseas to exercise heightened awareness and caution following a major military operation that struck three of Iran’s most critical nuclear enrichment sites. The warning follows a surge in tensions between Iran and Israel, which have increasingly drawn in the United States.
“The conflict between Israel and Iran has resulted in disruptions to travel and periodic closure of airspace across the Middle East,” the State Department said. “There is the potential for demonstrations against U.S. citizens and interests abroad.”
The warning came just hours after President Donald Trump confirmed that the United States had launched what he called “massive precision strikes” on the Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz nuclear sites in Iran. “Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success,” Trump declared. “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.”
The operation marks one of the most significant escalations in U.S.-Iran relations in recent years. Trump had been tight-lipped in the lead-up to the strikes, telling reporters beforehand that “nobody” knew what he planned regarding Iran’s nuclear program.
In response, Tehran condemned the attacks. Speaking before an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council, Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani claimed the U.S. had “decided to destroy diplomacy” and warned that a military response was imminent.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reportedly traveled to Moscow on Sunday to meet with Russian officials, a sign that Tehran may be seeking support from its key strategic partner as it formulates its next move.
President Trump made clear on social media that the United States would not tolerate further aggression from Tehran. “ANY RETALIATION BY IRAN AGAINST THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL BE MET WITH FORCE FAR GREATER THAN WHAT WAS WITNESSED TONIGHT,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “THANK YOU! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.”
With tensions running high and travel in parts of the Middle East already constrained, Americans abroad are being advised to avoid public gatherings, monitor local media, and follow instructions from local U.S. authorities.
