Trump demands allies 'get your own oil' as Iran war pushes gas past $4

The war with Iran has now been running for more than a month, and the price of gasoline at American pumps has climbed past four dollars a gallon. On Tuesday, as U.S. warplanes struck the Iranian city of Isfahan—home to one of the country's main nuclear facilities—and Iranian drones attacked a Kuwaiti oil tanker in the Persian Gulf, President Trump took to social media with a message for the allies who had declined to join the fight. "Go get your own oil," he told them, his frustration with countries like Britain and France now public and unfiltered.

The conflict, which began on February 28, has already killed more than 3,000 people across the region. Iran has suffered more than 1,900 deaths. Lebanon, where Israeli forces have moved into the south after Hezbollah began firing missiles into northern Israel, has lost more than 1,200 people and seen more than a million displaced from their homes. Israel has recorded 19 deaths, while thirteen American service members have been killed. The numbers continue to climb as the fighting intensifies rather than winds down.

What has made this war economically consequential for Americans is Iran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil normally flows during peacetime. By closing or threatening that passage, and by attacking energy infrastructure across the region, Tehran has sent global oil prices soaring. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was hovering near $107 a barrel on Tuesday—a jump of more than 45 percent since the war began. That surge ripples through every economy connected to global energy markets, raising the cost of fuel, heating, electricity, and the goods that depend on cheap transportation to reach store shelves.

Trump's irritation with allied nations centers on their refusal to participate in a conflict they say they were never properly consulted about and that has no clear endpoint. France has restricted American military planes from flying over French airspace while carrying supplies to Israel, though it has allowed the U.S. Air Force to use the Istres base in southern France under strict conditions. Spain announced Monday that it had closed its airspace to American aircraft involved in the war. Italy recently refused to allow U.S. military assets to use the Sigonella air base in Sicily for operations tied to the offensive, though Italy's Defense Minister insisted that overall military cooperation between the two countries remains intact. Trump singled out France for particular criticism, viewing the restrictions as a betrayal at a moment when American forces are bearing the weight of the campaign.

The President has not ruled out a dramatic escalation. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to confirm whether ground forces would enter the conflict, saying only that the administration did not want to do "more militarily than we have to." But Trump has warned that if a ceasefire is not reached "shortly" and the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened, the U.S. will broaden its offensive to include strikes on the Kharg Island oil export hub and possibly desalination plants. A ground invasion, however, carries its own risks. It could unite Iranians who despise their government against what they would see as foreign occupation. A 25-year-old anti-government activist in the northern town of Babol said he would volunteer to fight if Trump followed through on such threats, putting aside his opposition to the regime in order to defend his country from invasion.

Meanwhile, the human toll of the conflict continues to mount in ways that extend beyond the battlefield. In Iraq, a foreign journalist with U.S. citizenship was kidnapped in what may or may not be connected to the broader war. Iran-backed militias in Iraq have launched regular attacks on American facilities since the fighting began. In Iran itself, supporters of Narges Mohammadi, the imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has spent decades fighting for women's rights and democracy, say she may have suffered a heart attack while in custody at Zanjan Prison. Authorities refused to transfer her to a hospital or allow her to see a specialist, according to her campaign. Mohammadi, 53, has a documented heart condition and has suffered multiple cardiac events while imprisoned before undergoing emergency surgery in 2022.

The war has fractured the international order in ways that will take years to repair. Trump's message to allies—secure your own interests, because America will no longer subsidize your security—marks a sharp break from decades of American foreign policy. Whether that shift reflects a genuine change in strategy or a moment of frustration remains unclear. What is certain is that the conflict shows no signs of ending, the price of oil continues to climb, and the human cost keeps accumulating across a region already scarred by decades of conflict.