Letters from an American - Iran War Affects Oil Prices and the Stock Market, Putting Pressure on Trump

Episode Date: March 10, 2026

March 9, 2026Trump had no plan for what would happen in Iran, Initial strikes killed the people the administration thought could take over in Iran, Stopping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has set off an energy crisis so severe it is threatening the global economy, Ties with Middle East countries are being strained by the spreading war, Increasing pressure over the Epstein files cause DOJ to release some missing documents, Desperate about the midterm elections, Trump attempts to force a vote on the SAVE Act to limit voting.  Trump issues conflicting message about the course of the Iran War. Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ-Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribeYou can also find me at:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.socialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

March 9, 26. It has become clear that Trump had no plan in Iran other than to strike it, knock out the leaders he didn't like, and hope the Iranian people would rise up and put in place new leaders he could deal with. It was supposed to look like what happened in Venezuela in January when U.S. forces launched a surprise military strike that enabled them to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores, leaving in his place the vice president, Delci Rodriguez, who promises to work with Trump and has given him access to the country's oil resources. Andrew Eger of the bulwark explains that the Trump administration didn't bother to have a theory for why the U.S. was going to war with Iran, or to explain to the American people why such a war would be a good thing, because they didn't think there was going to be a war,

just a fast, hard strike that would enable the U.S. to put a new Iranian leader in place. But the initial Israeli strikes killed most of the people the administration hoped would replace 86-year-old hardline Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as supreme leader. And yesterday, Iran proclaimed, as his successor, Kamenei's 56-year-old son, Moktaba Kamenei, despite Trump's statement that Kamenei's son is unacceptable to me. Moctaba Kamenei is thought to be even more extreme a hardliner than his father. Wall Street Journal National reporter Alex Ward reported today that according to current and former U.S. officials, President Trump has told AIDS he would back the killing of new Iranian supreme leader, Muktaba Kamenei if he proves unwilling to cede to U.S. demands, such as ending Iran's nuclear development. This morning, Joe Wallace, Summer Saeed, Rebecca Feng, and Georgi Kanchov of the Wall Street Journal.

wrote an article titled, The Long Feared Persian Gulf Oil Squeeze is upon us, warning that the stoppage of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has set off the most severe energy crisis since the 1970s and is threatening the global economy. Ships move not only oil, but also fertilizer used for crops around the globe

through that strait. On March 3rd, Trump offered government insurance for shipping and floated the possibility of Navy escorts for ships in the strait, but that has not been enough to restore voyages. So this morning, on the Fox News Channel, Brian Kilmead, who cheered on Trump's attack on Iran from the television studio, told the captains of oil tankers they must simply conquer their fear and start up. If you want to diminish the Iranian threat, if you want to make sure this ends up with complete Iran capitulation, he said, show some guts and go through that straight and do it. The spreading war in the Middle East threatens the ties between the region and the U.S. that Trump has

pushed since taking office. As Elliot Brown, Georgie Kanchov, and Lauren Thomas of the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, the richest countries in the Persian Gulf last year tried to strengthen ties with Trump by pledging billions of dollars of investment into the the U.S. Now they are having second thoughts. A prominent Dubai businessman posted at Trump on social media, who gave you the authority to drag our region into a war? Trump had placed the Gulf states at the heart of a danger they did not choose, he wrote. On Saturday, Vivian Walt of the New York Times warned that such investments have gone both ways, with U.S. tech giants like NVIDIA, Microsoft and Oracle, investing in large-scale facilities across the Middle East with an eye to making the region a global center for AI.

Now they are questioning the security of such investments. Aaron Kuterski and Josh Margolin of ABC News reported today that shortly after the death of Ayatollah Ali Kameen on February 28th, the U.S. intercepted encrypted messages suggesting that Iran has activated COVID-Qapeuted. overt operatives or sleeper assets in other countries. When Eric Cordillessa of Time magazine asked Trump if Americans should worry about a tax at home, Trump answered, I guess, but I think they're worried about that all the time.

We think about it all the time. We plan for it. But yeah, you know, we expect some things. Like I said, some people will die. When you go to war, some people will die. Under increasing pressure over the Epstein files, the Department of Justice, or DOJ, today released some of the missing documents concerning an allegation from an Epstein survivor that Trump raped her when she was 13 or 14.

The so-called 302 report released today concerns four separate FBI interviews with the woman. FD302 is the form used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to be a federal bureau of investigation to provide an official record of summarized interviews. The DOJ's initial document drop included only the interview in which she talked about her abuse at Epstein's hands. The other interviews discussed Trump. Some of the files related to that accusation and those interviews are still missing. The White House has responded to the pressure on Trump by posting an image of what appears to be a pilot in an aircraft under the caption, Patriots are in control. The steady state, a group made up of former national security officials,

explains that in QAnon's circles, that phrase refers to the longstanding belief that Trump and a hidden network inside government were secretly running things the entire time. Trump has become so desperate to force Republicans in Congress to limit voting before the 26 midterms, that yesterday morning he took to social media to threaten them. He said that unless the Senate weakens the filibuster to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility or Save America Act over the objections of Democrats, I, as president, will not sign other bills until this is passed

and not the watered-down version, go for the gold. Must show voter ID and proof of citizenship. No mail-in ballots, for military, illness, disability, travel, no men in women's sports, no transgender mutilation for children, do not fail. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat of New York, responded, The Save Act is Jim Crow 2.0. It would disenfranchise tens of millions of people. If Trump is saying he won't sign any bills until the Save Act is passed, then so be it. There will be total gridlock in the Senate. Senate Democrats will not help pass the SAVE Act under any circumstances.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican of South Dakota, does not have the votes even to make up a majority in favor of the act, let alone the 60 he would need to overcome a filibuster, and has said he will not change the filibuster to try to pass the measure. Brian Funukin noted today in just security that Congress, especially the same, Senate could cause other problems for Trump. Although it has so far declined to reclaim its power to reign in his military adventures, it could still do so through the power of the purse. The administration appears to be planning to ask for more money to fund the war in Iran. Congress could refuse that money or could place restrictions on it by passing laws establishing such restrictions, although Trump could veto such measures, and it would take a supermajority in each chamber of Congress to override his veto. In the midst of Trump's tanking numbers on all the issues that used to be Republican's strength,

the economy, immigration, national security, Trump spoke today to Republican members of the House at their annual policy retreat at Trump's property in Doral, Florida. The Republican majority is now so thin that Johnson can afford to lose just a single vote on the House floor, and as of this morning, that seat seemed to be in jeopardy with Representative Tony Gonzalez, a Republican of Texas, facing calls to resign after admitting to an affair with a former staffer who later died by suicide. This afternoon, Representative Kevin Kylie of California announced he was leaving the Republican Party to become an independent. When California, California redistricted the state to counter Texas' redistricting,

Kylie's district became much more competitive. Kylie says that going forward, he will have to consider every bill on its own merits. This afternoon, Weija Jang of CBS reported, New, in a phone interview, President Trump told me the war could be over soon. I think the war is very complete, pretty much. they have no Navy, no communications, they've got no air force. He added that the U.S. is very far ahead of his initial four to five week estimated time frame. Asked about Iran's new Supreme Leader, Muktaaba Kameni, who Trump has openly criticized,

he said, I have no message for him, none whatsoever. Trump said he has someone in mind to replace Kamenei, but he did not elaborate. As for the Strait of Hormuz, Trump noted that ships are moving through now, but he is, thinking about taking it over. Trump warned Iran, they've shot everything they have to shoot, and they better not try anything cute or it's going to be the end of that country. The price of oil had spiked overnight, up to its highest levels since global trade surged in 2022 after the COVID-19 lockdowns, peaking briefly at over $100 a barrel. News that the Group of Seven advanced economies, or G7, is willing to consider releasing strategic oil reserves, if necessary, brought it down from its highs. A dropping stock market reflected the spike in oil prices. Those drops moderated after news

about the possible release of strategic oil reserves, and the news that Trump considers the war ending meant the market ended up higher by the end of the day than it had begun. But once the market had closed, Trump changed his tune, telling House Republicans, we have won in many ways, but not enough. We will go forward more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory that will end this long-running danger once and for all. When asked at a later news conference if the war would be over this week, Trump said no. This evening, Trump's account posted, if Iran does anything that stops the flow of oil within the Strait of Hormuz,

they will be hit by the United States of America 20 times harder than they have been hit thus far. Additionally, we will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back as a nation again. Death, fire, and fury will reign upon them. But I hope and pray that it does not happen. This is a gift from the United States of America to China and all of those nations that heavily use the Hormuz straight. Hopefully it is a gesture that will be greatly appreciated. Aaron Rupar of Public Notice commented,

Trump is completely flailing. He didn't anticipate the economic blowback, and now he's trying to undo the past 10 days and contain the damage. As part of its apparent war on what the administration calls narco-terrorists in Latin America, U.S. Southern Command announced yesterday that it has struck another small vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing another six men.

Letters from an American was written and read by Heather Cox Richardson. It was produced at Soundscape Productions, dead in Massachusetts, recorded with music composed by Michael Moss.