Trump to Address Nation on Iran with Important Update Wednesday Night

The average American paid $4.01 for a gallon of gas Wednesday, more than a dollar above the price on Feb. 28 when U.S. and Israeli forces launched joint strikes on Iran, and that number hung over President Trump's 9 p.m. ET prime-time address to the nation.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the speech Tuesday evening on X, saying Trump would "give an Address to the Nation to provide an important update on Iran." Her post followed Trump telling reporters in the Oval Office that U.S. forces could wrap up their role in the conflict within "two or three weeks."

The cost at the pump traces back to one chokepoint. Iran has effectively sealed the Strait of Hormuz since the opening strikes, and more than 20 percent of the world's daily oil supply, which normally moves through it, is now stranded in the Persian Gulf. The Kuwait-flagged Al-Salmi crude tanker, fully laden when an Iranian drone struck it off the coast of Dubai on Tuesday, captured the stakes in real time: hull damage and a threatened oil spill in waters already in crisis.

Trump's response to allied frustration over the supply shock was unambiguous. Writing on Truth Social, he told European nations struggling to get jet fuel to "build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT." He singled out the United Kingdom by name, noting that Prime Minister Keir Starmer had repeatedly refused to join the military campaign. "Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!" Trump wrote.

The administration has pulled several levers. In early March, Trump authorized the release of 172 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, anchoring a broader international move in which 32 countries agreed to release a combined 412 million barrels into global markets over four months, the largest coordinated stockpile release in history. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC the administration also had plans to increase diesel supply. The U.S., now the world's largest oil and gas producer, pushed allied nations to buy American crude directly as a hedge against the Hormuz disruption.

Analysts are candid about the ceiling on those tools. Cornell historian Nicholas Mulder, who studies the economic impact of wars, said the SPR release "can help, but it's not a silver bullet, and it's not going to take away all the pressure on consumer prices." Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, warned that the $4 threshold breaks a "psychological wall" and said prices could hit $5 if the strait remains blocked. Strategists at Macquarie Group put a 40 percent probability on a scenario in which the war extends into summer and crude oil reaches $200 a barrel, which would push retail gas toward $7 a gallon nationally.

Diplomacy was accelerating in parallel. China and Pakistan presented a five-point ceasefire proposal on Tuesday that included immediate restoration of Hormuz passage. Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country was prepared to stop fighting, provided it received assurances against further attacks. Trump, asked about the proposal, said only that diplomacy with Iran was "going well."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war had already achieved more than half its aims. Whether Trump's Wednesday address signaled a concrete off-ramp or held firm to more military pressure carried consequences well beyond the region: every week the Strait stays closed is another week gas prices have no structural reason to fall.