Trump Says US Helped Move 100 Million Barrels Through Hormuz—Marjorie Taylor Greene Asks: 'Why Are Americans Paying…'
Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has questioned why ordinary Americans were still grappling with high gas costs despite President Donald Trump‘s claims of secretly moving oil out of the Strait of Hormuz amid the Iran war.
Trump Touts ‘Secret’ Military Operation
On Wednesday, Trump took to the social media platform Truth Social to shed light on a “secret mission” the U.S. undertook on his direction to aid the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
The effort resulted in “over 100 million barrels of oil” and “more than 200 commercial ships” passing through the area over the past month, Trump said. “The United States of America controls the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said, adding that the Iranian military is “defeated” and it was “over for Iran!”
Source: Donald Trump via Truth Social
According to a CNBC report on Monday, investment bank JPMorgan analysts had earlier said that more oil could be moving through the area than visible, estimating over 2 million barrels per day moving on ships that shut off their transponders.
However, the same report cited military officials saying that the U.S. was not escorting ships through the Strait, but was communicating with ships that sought to freely move through the area.
Before the war in Iran, an estimated 15-20 million barrels of oil were moving through the Strait on a daily basis. The route has accounted for over a fifth of the world’s crude oil shipments.
Marjorie Taylor Greene Questions Trump
Following Trump’s comments, Greene took to the social media platform X to share her views, saying that if Trump’s comments were true, “why are Americans paying an avg of $4.50 per gallon for gas??” She asked.
Greene had earlier questioned how the new Chair of the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh, could lower interest rates, but the new rates were not translating into lower prices of groceries and gas.
“Fuzzy math doesn’t lower the cost of food and gas even if it allows the new Fed Chair to lower interest rates," Greene said in a post on X.
Notably, American Automobile Association data points to several states in the U.S., including California, Arizona, Illinois and more, paying upwards of or close to $4.5/gallon for gas on Wednesday. The national average price, however, was $4.1510/gallon.
Illinois Cuts Gas Tax Hike
Meanwhile, Gov. Jay Robert ‘JB' Pritzker (D-IL) announced that Illinois would be freezing an automatic hike in state tax levied on gas, touting the move as relief for Americans grappling with high fuel costs. The administration has decided to delay the tax increase to January next year.
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