As the war in Iran continues, the Strait of Hormuz has become one of the most important places on the planet. This relatively small waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman includes shipping lanes that provide much of the world with oil and fertilizer.
Shortly after the U.S. military offensive began, traffic in the Strait of Hormuz effectively stopped, disrupting oil supplies and wreaking havoc in global markets.
With this in mind, Chris Wright, Donald Trump’s energy secretary, published an important announcement to social media on Tuesday. “The U.S. Navy successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz to ensure oil remains flowing to global markets,” the Cabinet secretary posted on X.
Almost immediately, investors celebrated, the stock market jumped and oil prices fell, as many took Wright at his word.
There was, however, an important problem. The energy secretary was completely wrong, and his post was deleted soon after it was published. Multimillion-dollar trades were wiped out in an instant.
About an hour later, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the information Wright shared wasn’t true.
Asked to explain what happened, the president’s spokesperson replied that she hadn’t “had a chance to talk to” the secretary. Pressed further on whether there might be some consequences in the wake of the screw-up, Leavitt referred reporters to ask the Department of Energy.
Time will tell whether the public ever gets a compelling explanation for the mistake, but as the events unfolded, I was reminded of something Sen. Chris Murphy told New York Magazine a few days ago. Asked whether he believes the White House is likely to deploy ground troops in Iran, the Connecticut Democrat replied, “I think it’s impossible to know because of the incoherence and incompetence of this administration.”
This predated the erroneous Wright post by a few days, but the point remains the same: The public might want to have faith in the competence of U.S. leaders during a war, but 12 days into the conflict in Iran, Team Trump has made this impossible.
As for the conditions in the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported that the U.S. Navy has “refused near-daily requests from the shipping industry for military escorts.” The report, which has not been independently verified by MS NOW, added that U.S. military officials have determined that “the risk of attacks is too high for now.”
For his part, the American president said Wednesday afternoon that he thinks ships “should use the strait” anyway, which is an easy thing for the Republican to say, but difficult advice for people in the region to actually follow.
