Daines on Fox Business: If We Were Playing Poker, the Iranians Have No Cards and America Has Them All

• April 16, 2026

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Steve Daines today joined Stuart Varney on Fox Business to discuss the latest on the Iran war and energy prices.

Watch the full interview HERE.

Daines on the success of the U.S. military:

I'm cheering for the good guys. It's remarkable what the U.S. military has done under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth's leadership. They have decapitated the command and control structure in Iran. They've removed their political leadership. They've destroyed the nuclear capabilities. They've destroyed their ballistic missiles. Remember, the Iranians did fire one intermediate ballistic missile that went 2,500 miles near Diego Garcia. To put that in perspective, that tells us the Iranians had the capability to hit capitals in Europe, including London and Paris. Thank God for the leadership and the clarity of President Trump, because we are doing something now, Stuart, that is for our children and our grandchildren, ending a 47-year war that the ayatollahs have wreaked havoc.

Daines on why the Iranians should accept America's terms:

If we're playing poker right now, the Iranians have no cards in their hands. President Trump, the United States of America has all the cards. We've destroyed their capabilities on the ground on Iran militarily. We have blockaded their lifeline, economically speaking, here to the rest of the world. 90 percent of the Iranian oil revenues go through the Strait of Hormuz. That's all they've got. We now control the chokehold on their economy, on their military, their political structure. It's game over for the Iranians. They either are going to surrender. That is what they are going to do and accept our terms, or Secretary Hegseth has clearly said there is a lot more power and force coming if they don't accept our terms.

Daines on the future of gas prices:

First of all, I think Secretary Bessent is exactly right. Stuart, go back and look at the five-year prices on gas in the United States. Back in June of 22, following the invasion of the Russians into Ukraine, gas got up to nearly $5 a gallon. By September, it was down nearly $2 a gallon. It's very realistic to assume this spike we see, this temporary spike… we are going to see the gas prices at around $4 now will clearly be sub $3, probably two and a half bucks by the time we get into late summer, early fall. The trend line shows that, history shows that over the last five years. I'm confident, I think it's probable that Secretary Bessent is exactly right, we're going to see gas prices below $3 by the end of the summer, early fall.

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