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As the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran enters its second month,
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this concern around the way in which the U.S. could exit from the conflict.
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This growing speculation that the U.S. could exit the war without putting things
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back to the way they were, specifically regarding the Strait of Hormuz,
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the concern is being fueled by comments overnight from the Defense Secretary,
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Pete Hegseth, and his doubling down of Donald Trump's comments.
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So I just wanted to give us a sense of just what has been said in the last 24 hours.
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Overnight Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that criticism of countries not helping reopen
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the Strait of Hormuz. He said, quote, build up some delayed courage, go to the strait and just take it,
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you know, he's talking about the oil. And he says that the U.S. won't be there to help you
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anymore, just like you weren't there for us. Now, of course, when he fronted the mic and it has
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been rare that Pete Hegseth has done this. He hasn't spoken for almost two weeks now at a press
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conference. He was questioned about how big a priority reopening the Strait was for Washington,
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specifically if it was an essential objective to Operation Epic Fury or if it was really just
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the responsibility of other countries. Our core objectives from this podium from day one to
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been clear, defense missile production and missile programs, defense industrial base and
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production ability to build and Navy and power projection. And then, of course, wrapping it all
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is Iran's never going to have a nuclear weapon. So those have been very clear. But ultimately,
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I think the president's truth this morning lays that out very well that this Strait of Hormuz
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issue is not just a United States of America problem set. And he's pointing out, you know, you might
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might want to start learning how to fight for yourself. You can hear his Fox News commentary skills
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out that he's relying on to sell the president's social media posts there. But in that answer, he does
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not say that reopening the Strait is an objective of the war. And he's pointed to all these things
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that the administration has been saying it's already accomplished. And the notion that it has
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completed its initial objectives is catching on. This week on 730, we heard Australian Prime
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Minister Anthony Albanese say that the objectives outlined at the beginning of this conflict have been
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largely achieved. So, you know, what about the problems created by this conflict? Earlier this
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morning, we heard the Atlantic Council's Alison Miner say that we could be in a situation where the
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war ends and the world could still be dealing with a closed Strait of Hormuz. So is there a risk that
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the US and Israel say mission complete without doing the washing up, Sally? That is a question
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worth asking. Yeah, it was really interesting hearing from Alison Miner in the previous half hour
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that question, not when the war will end, but who wants it to keep going? Who's got a vested
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interest in it continuing? Well, it's hard to keep up with what's happening on the markets at the
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moment. Wall Street has staged a dramatic surge with stocks climbing on hopes that the war in the
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Middle East could soon be over. Carrington Clark is with me. Carrington, what's happened overnight
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in New York? Yes, Sally, you complain that I never bring you positive news. So there is some,
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although it comes with a giant butt at the end of the day. He did it when you're taking away,
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exactly. So there has been this burst of enthusiasm on the markets to end the month in the US
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trading. Nasdaq, that's the tech heavy indices. It's up, the stock exchange is up more than 3%,
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the S&P 500, up more than two and a half percent. Now, traders are excited by the signs that perhaps
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the war could be coming to a close. But one of the butts is Donald Trump seems to be okay with
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declaring mission accomplished, even with the Strait of Humors closed, that he's actually stating
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very clearly that this isn't one of their priorities and that other countries need to take ownership
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of opening up that Strait of Humors, which means even if America declares that they have found
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that almost mystic exit ramp at this point, that it could still mean that we're dealing with a
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major interruption to the flow of oil. Now, the timing is also interesting, particularly on the
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American side. We spoke yesterday about how we'd seen West Texas intermediate. This is the most
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important price of oil for Americans had settled above 100 US dollars a barrel. I suggested that
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perhaps that would cause even more political pressure to be put on Donald Trump. Well, that's
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immediately flowed through to the price of fuel that a petrol that Americans are paying for.
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What they call gas has now breached on average $4 a gallon, which is how they measure it,
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and that is even more critical in actually mounting a political blowback against Donald Trump. You
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can see why he has every motivation to try to get out of this situation. Now, this is all really
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people buying on rumors at the moment, and therefore we could see them sell on the fact if we don't
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actually see these negotiations go anywhere. But at the moment, at least investors are buying the
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story that perhaps we're getting closer to this being resolved, and that's why we've seen such a
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strong rally in the US.