Trump News

CNN's John Berman was staggered by a high-ranking administration official's comments about President Donald Trump's view of global energy shocks.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright appeared Thursday morning on "CNN News Central," where he told co-host Kate Bolduan that the 79-year-old president was thinking long term and therefore not concerned with short-term disruptions in the global oil market caused by his war in Iran.

The White House's "Rapid Response" team quickly went to work attacking CNN after the network broadcast the first public message from new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

The White House included a clip from CNN with part of the Iranian message in its attack.

A combination of an unpopular war with Iran, the looming cloud over the Jeffrey Epstein files, and plummeting poll numbers has Donald Trump on the ropes, claimed Axios founder Jim VandeHei on Thursday morning.

Taking part in a panel examining Donald Trump’s rally in Kentucky on Wednesday, the editor agreed that Trump has lost touch with his base and has no idea how put out all the fires his administration is facing, which is also dragging Republicans down.

Trump is seething over Iran's exploitation of one of his biggest political vulnerabilities as soaring oil prices threaten to undermine his ability to declare victory in the war and devastate his economic messaging ahead of midterms.

While the president attempts to put on a happy face over the military successes in Operation Epic Fury, Iran's deliberate disruption of energy markets has become an acute political headache. The regime is weaponizing oil prices—Trump's most visible economic liability—as a strategic response to the military campaign.

According to Axios, Trump administration officials warn that the conflict could extend indefinitely if Iran successfully throttles the Strait of Hormuz and drives prices beyond Trump's tolerance threshold. "The Iranians f------ around with the Strait makes him more dug in," a senior administration official told Axios, describing a vicious cycle where energy market manipulation only hardens Trump's commitment to prolonging the conflict.

RELATED: Iran is scheming to 'freak Trump out' by going after his 'soft underbelly': expert

Oil has already become Trump's obsession, consuming as much of his attention as battlefield intelligence. A Trump adviser acknowledged the internal tension: "The president sees the briefings. He sees the numbers. And he feels good about his decision, militarily. Oil is another matter. No one is panicking, but it's a concern. He's pulling out the stops. There's plenty of oil. It's just getting it on the market that's the thing."

Trump's preferred price point is $50 per barrel. The oil industry targets around $60. Despite Trump's intervention, crude topped $100 Wednesday night after spiking as high as $120 earlier in the week.

Iran has threatened to push prices to $200 per barrel—a move that would translate to approximately $5 per gallon at U.S. pumps, according to analysts.

Domestically, the war is deeply unpopular. Trump's personal approval ratings are at historic lows, and gas prices—once his signature economic achievement—have become his most visible political liability heading into critical midterm elections.

President Donald Trump's "head-spinning" reversal plan to release strategic oil reserves in response to his war against Iran could drain U.S. strategic oil reserves to levels not seen in nearly two decades, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

"According to the officials, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright gave his counterparts in the Group of Seven nations the White House’s position Tuesday morning: A massive intervention in oil markets was premature because the price of oil had recently dipped below $90 a barrel," said the report. "Less than two hours later, U.S. officials reversed their earlier position and pushed their counterparts for a major release of oil, said people familiar with the matter. The 180 degree turn was entirely due to a change of heart by President Trump, said a senior administration official."

Two weeks into the war with Iran, President Donald Trump said that he had concluded that high oil prices benefit America.

"The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money," the U.S. President wrote in a Truth Social post on Thursday. "BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stoping [sic] an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World. "

President Donald Trump has worked behind the scenes to tank Republican support for a bipartisan bill in the Senate that would tackle housing affordability, Punchbowl News reported on Thursday.

The main issue, noted the report, is his insistence that his pet voter suppression bill, which just passed the House, be adopted in the Senate — something GOP leaders have said they don't have the votes for.

Donald Trump’s sojourn to Kentucky on Wednesday, where he used his bully pulpit to attack Rep. Thomas Massie (R) in his home territory, led to questions over whether the president is his own worst enemy.

Massie, a far-right Republican, has been a thorn in Trump’s side not only on the Jeffrey Epstein files, but also with his attacks on the president for not living up to his promises to the MAGA supporters.

The images of two oil tankers set ablaze Thursday in Iraqi waters offered a jarring split-screen to President Donald Trump's declaration that "we won" the war against Iran.

The 79-year-old president held a campaign-style rally in Hebron, Kentucky, on Wednesday, where he insisted that joint U.S.-Israeli military operations had "virtually ⁠destroyed Iran," but that statement was quickly punctured by stepped-up attacks in the Persian Gulf, reported Reuters.