03/13/2026 | News release | Distributed by Public on 03/13/2026 08:54
President Donald J. Trump's relentless pursuit of American energy dominance has "prepared the U.S. and its allies for the current troubles in the Persian Gulf," Kimberley Strassel writes in The Wall Street Journal.
"The Democratic-media complex seems determined to get everything wrong about Iran, though few efforts compare with this week's work to tag the Trump administration with a global energy crisis. Not only is this uninformed and overdone, the sudden concern over energy security comes about three years late.
The undermine-America crowd describes Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as an 'oil shock' that is 'spiraling,' 'chaotic' and the 'worst in history.' It seems to have evaded this crew that Iran's bombardment of peaceful trading vessels is yet more justification of U.S. strikes. Iran's been using energy threats to manipulate geopolitics for decades and won't stop until it is fully defanged.
They are blaming the administration, in particular Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, whom Politico described as the 'vaunted' team 'in danger of fumbling the biggest energy crisis' of Donald Trump's second term. The go-to quote comes from Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, who ranted that 'on the Strait of Hormuz, they had NO PLAN. . . . Which is unforgiveable, because this part of the disaster was 100% foreseeable.'
Let's talk about plans. That the U.S. was finally in a position to disarm Iran is largely thanks to a plan Mr. Trump initiated in his first term-to gain energy independence, which his team is now turning into energy dominance. Trump policies turbocharged a shale revolution that made the U.S. a net exporter of petroleum products and the world's largest exporter of natural gas. Alongside was Mr. Trump's plan to foster economic and security ties in the region against shared threats like Iran via deals like the Abraham Accords.
We are no longer hostage to Middle East fossil-fuel threats, which gives us room to weather temporary Hormuz disruptions."