Iran War Affects Oil Prices and the Stock Market, Putting Pressure on Trump

March 9th, 2026.

It has become clear that Trump had no plan in Iran other than to strike it, knock out

the leaders he didn't like, and hope the Iranian people would rise up and put in place

new leaders he could deal with.

It was supposed to look like what happened in Venezuela in January, when US forces launched

a surprise military strike that enabled them to capture Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro

and his wife, Celia Flores, leaving in his place the Vice President, Delsey Rodriguez,

who promises to work with Trump and has given him access to the country's oil resources.

Andrew Egger of the Bulwark explains that the Trump administration didn't bother to have

a theory for why the US was going to war with Iran, or to explain to the American people

why such a war would be a good thing, because they didn't think there was going to be a war,

just a fast, hard strike that would enable the US to put a new Iranian leader in place.

But the initial Israeli strikes killed most of the people the administration hoped would

replace 86-year-old hard-line Ayatollah al-A'Khamenei as supreme leader.

And yesterday, Iran proclaimed as his successor, Khamenei's 56-year-old son, Moktaba Khamenei,

despite Trump's statement that Khamenei's son is unacceptable to me.

Moktaba Khamenei is thought to be even more extreme a hardliner than his father.

Wall Street Journal National reporter Alex Ward reported today that according to current

and former US officials, President Trump has told AIDS he would back the killing of new

Iranian supreme leader Moktaba Khamenei if he proves unwilling to cede to US demands.

Such as ending Iran's nuclear development.

This morning, Joe Wallace, Summer Saeed, Rebecca Feng, and Georgi Kanshev of the Wall Street Journal,

wrote an article titled The Long-Feared Persian Gulf Oil Squeeze is Upon Us,

warning that the stoppage of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has set off

the most severe energy crisis since the 1970s and is threatening the global economy.

Ships move not only oil, but also fertilizer used for crops around the globe through that

Strait. On March 3, Trump offered government insurance for shipping and floated the

possibility of Navy escorts for ships in the Strait, but that has not been enough to restore voyages.

So this morning, on the Fox News Channel, Brian Kilmead, who cheered on Trump's attack on Iran

from the television studio, told the captains of oil tankers they must simply conquer their fear

and start up. If you want to diminish the Iranian threat, if you want to make sure this ends up

with complete Iran capitulation, he said, show some guts and go through that Strait and do it.

The spreading war in the Middle East threatens the ties between the region and the US that Trump

has pushed since taking office. As Elliott Brown, Georgi Kachev and Lauren Thomas of the Wall Street

Journal reported on Friday, the richest countries in the Persian Gulf last year tried to strengthen

ties with Trump by pledging billions of dollars of investment into the US. Now they are having

second thoughts, a prominent Dubai businessman posted at Trump on social media, who gave you the

authority to drag our region into a war. Trump had placed the Gulf states at the heart of a danger

they did not choose, he wrote. On Saturday, Vivian Walt of the New York Times warned that such

investments have gone both ways, with US tech giants like Nvidia, Microsoft and Oracle,

investing in large-scale facilities across the Middle East with an eye to making the region

a global center for AI. Now they are questioning the security of such investments.

Aaron Katersky and Josh Margolin of ABC News reported today that shortly after the death of

Ayatollah Ali Kamehni on February 28, the US intercepted encrypted messages suggesting that Iran

has activated covert operatives or sleeper assets in other countries. When Eric Cordolesa of Time

magazine asked Trump if Americans should worry about attacks at home, Trump answered,

I guess, but I think they're worried about that all the time. We think about it all the time.

We plan for it, but yeah, you know, we expect some things. Like I said, some people will die.

When you go to war, some people will die. Under increasing pressure over the Epstein files,

the Department of Justice, or DOJ, today released some of the missing documents concerning

an allegation from an Epstein survivor that Trump raped her when she was 13 or 14.

The so-called 302 report released today concerns four separate FBI interviews with the woman.

FD302 is the form used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to provide an official record of

summarized interviews. The DOJ's initial document drop included only the interview in which she

talked about her abuse at Epstein's hands. The other interviews discuss Trump. Some of the files

related to that accusation and those interviews are still missing. The White House is responded

to the pressure on Trump by posting an image of what appears to be a pilot in an aircraft

under the caption, Patriots are in control. The steady state, a group made up of former national

security officials, explains that in QAnon circles, that phrase refers to the long-standing belief

that Trump and a hidden network inside government were secretly running things the entire time.

Trump has become so desperate to force Republicans in Congress to limit voting before the 2026

midterms that yesterday morning he took to social media to threaten them. He said that unless the

Senate weakens the filibuster to pass the safeguard American voter eligibility or save America act

over the objections of Democrats, I, as president, will not sign other bills until this is passed

and not the water down version, go for the gold, must show voter ID and proof of citizenship,

no mail-in ballots except for military, illness, disability, travel, no men in women's sports,

no transgender mutilation for children, do not fail. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer,

a Democrat of New York, responded, the save act is Jim Crow 2.0. It would disenfranchise tens of

millions of people. If Trump is saying he won't sign any bills until the save act is passed,

then so be it, there will be total gridlock in the Senate. Senate Democrats will not help pass the

save act under any circumstances. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican of South Dakota,

does not have the votes even to make up a majority in favor of the act, let alone the 60 he would

need to overcome a filibuster and has said he will not change the filibuster to try to pass the measure.

Brian Fanuchen noted today in just security that Congress, especially the Senate, could cause

other problems for Trump. Although it is so far declined to reclaim its power to reign in his

military adventures, it could still do so through the power of the purse. The administration appears

to be planning to ask for more money to fund the war in Iran. Congress could refuse that money

or could place restrictions on it by passing laws establishing such restrictions, although Trump

could veto such measures and it would take a super majority in each chamber of Congress to override

his veto. In the midst of Trump's tanking numbers on all the issues that used to be Republican

strength, the economy, immigration, national security, Trump spoke today to Republican members of

the House at their annual policy retreat at Trump's property in Doral, Florida.

The Republican majority is now so thin that Johnson can afford to lose just a single vote on the

House floor, and as of this morning, that seat seemed to be in jeopardy with Representative

Tony Gonzalez, a Republican of Texas, facing calls to resign after admitting to an affair with a

former staffer who later died by suicide. This afternoon, Representative Kevin Kylie of California

announced he was leaving the Republican Party to become an independent. When California redistricted

the state to counter Texas' redistricting, Kylie's district became much more competitive. Kylie

says that going forward, he will have to consider every bill on its own merits.

This afternoon, Ouija Zhang of CBS reported,

New, in a phone interview, President Trump told me the war could be over soon.

I think the war is very complete pretty much. They have no navy, no communications, they've got no

air force. He added that the U.S. is very far ahead of his initial four to five week estimated

time frame. Asked about Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mokhtaba Kamene, who Trump has openly criticized,

he said, I have no message for him, none whatsoever. Trump said he has someone in mind to replace

Kamene, but he did not elaborate. As for the Strait of Hormuz, Trump noted that ships are moving

through now, but he is thinking about taking it over. Trump warned Iran, they've shot everything

they have to shoot, and they better not try anything cute, or it's going to be the end of that country.

The price of oil had spiked overnight, up to its highest level since global trade surged in 2022

after the COVID-19 lockdowns, peaking briefly at over $100 a barrel.

News that the group of seven advanced economies, or G7, is willing to consider releasing strategic

oil reserves, if necessary, brought it down from its highs. A dropping stock market reflected

the spike in oil prices. Those drops moderated after news about the possible release of strategic

oil reserves, and the news that Trump considers the war ending meant the market ended up higher by

the end of the day than it had begun. But once the market had closed, Trump changed his tune,

telling House Republicans, we have won in many ways, but not enough. We will go forward more

determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory that will end this long-running danger once and for all.

When asked at a later news conference if the war would be over this week, Trump said no.

This evening, Trump's account posted, if Iran does anything that stops the flow of oil within

the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America 20 times harder than

they have been hit thus far. Additionally, we will take out easily-destroyable targets that will

make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back as a nation again. Death, fire, and fury

will rain upon them. But I hope and pray that it does not happen. This is a gift from the United

States of America to China and all of those nations that heavily use the Hormuz Strait. Hopefully,

it is a gesture that will be greatly appreciated. Aaron Rupar of Public Notice commented,

Trump is completely flailing. He didn't anticipate the economic blowback and now he's trying to

undo the past 10 days and contain the damage. As part of its apparent war on what the

administration calls Narco Terrorists in Latin America, US Southern Command announced yesterday

that it has struck another small vessel in the Eastern Pacific, killing another six men.

Letters from an American was written and read by Heather Cox Richardson. It was produced at

SoundScape Productions, Dead and Massachusetts, recorded with music composed by Michael Moss.