In what may be the most nakedly transactional foreign policy statement of his second term, President Donald Trump has told countries struggling to secure fuel in the wake of coordinated U.S. strikes on Iran to either buy American oil or sail to the Strait of Hormuz and “just TAKE it.”
In a post on Truth Social, Trump singled out nations “like the United Kingdom” that are unable to procure jet fuel due to disruptions at the strategically vital chokepoint. His message was blunt: countries “should start learning how to fight for themselves — the USA will no longer be there to help you, just as you were not there for us.” He described the nations that refused to participate in strikes against Iran as lacking courage and told them the “hard part is done.”
The remarks mark a dramatic escalation in Trump’s pressure campaign against traditional allies. According to reporting by Le Monde, the president has also accused France of being “very uncooperative” over Iran, further straining transatlantic relations already frayed by the conflict.
The economic blowback at home is mounting. As The Guardian’s Arwa Mahdawi notes, gasoline prices in the United States have now surpassed $4 per gallon — a politically dangerous threshold in a country “addicted to cheap energy.” A University of Massachusetts poll shows Trump’s approval sinking one month into what Mahdawi calls “the reckless and unconscionable war on Iran.” Vice President JD Vance, eyeing a 2028 presidential run, is reportedly trying to distance himself from the fuel-price fallout.
