Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Thursday refused to rule out oil prices skyrocketing to $200 a barrel and admitted the United States is “simply not ready” to escort tankers despite President Donald Trump’s claim that the Persian Gulf is safe for shipping. In a live interview with CNN outside the White House, Wright struggled to formulate an answer when asked about the chances of a large oil ...

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright speaks during a panel at the BlackRock Infrastructure Summit on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Washington, D.C. The global investment management company held the summit consisting of leaders from government, business, and labor to address expanding U.S. infrastructure.

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Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Thursday refused to rule out oil prices skyrocketing to $200 a barrel and admitted the United States is “simply not ready” to escort tankers despite President Donald Trump’s claim that the Persian Gulf is safe for shipping.

In a live interview with CNN outside the White House, Wright struggled to formulate an answer when asked about the chances of a large oil spike, which would send average American gasoline prices shooting up to near $6 a gallon.

“Um ... I would say unlikely,” Wright said.

In a sober assessment, Wright claimed the widespread pain at the pump for Americans would amount to “short-term energy disruption for just huge long-term gain.”

Wright conceded that the U.S. military is unable to escort oil tankers and cargo shipping through the Straits of Hormuz.

“It can’t happen now,” Wright said, a day after he deleted a tweet claiming the U.S. had started escorting tankers. “We’re simply not ready.”

Trump also seemed to downplay the danger of an oil price spike, noting that the U.S. is the world’s largest petroleum producer.

“When oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” Trump wrote on his social media site.

The less-than-reassuring comments came hours after Iran launched fresh drone attacks that hit at least two oil tankers in the Gulf, setting the giant ships ablaze. Crude prices shot up above $100 on the news of the attacks before falling back a bit.

Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Wednesday reportedly broke his silence in his first message since being appointed last week by a council of clerics, according to state television.

Khamenei, who was picked to succeed his slain father, hailed the nation’s military and defiantly vowed to keep fighting the U.S, and Israel. He said the Straits of Hormuz would only reopen if the the war is ended, the report said.

Khamenei was not shown and his voice was not heard, raising more speculation about his health and whereabouts after reports said he had been wounded in the initial hours of the war on Feb. 28

Trump has called for regime change in Tehran and says Mojtaba Khamenei is “unacceptable to me.”

The war has sparked divisions within Trump’s MAGA base and his Republican allies are worried it could harm their already precarious political standing ahead of the midterm congressional elections.