A Fox News host has demanded that civilian ship captains put their lives on the line to help Donald Trump’s war in Iran.
Brian Kilmeade was on the Fox and Friends couch early Monday when he demanded that tanker crews “show some guts” and sail through the Strait of Hormuz.
Around 20 percent of the world’s oil trade passes through the Strait, a narrow passage around the Musandam Peninsula that forces ships close to the Iranian coast. Iran, however, says it’s closed for business.
There are fears that President Donald Trump’s attack on Iran, which began more than a week ago, could lead to skyrocketing oil and gas prices. They have already passed $100 a barrel for the first time since 2022. Oil prices will likely play a role in shaping public opinion of the conflict, putting pressure on Trump to keep tankers moving and oil flowing.
“The administration announced a $20 billion maritime reinsurance plan,” Kilmeade said. “So he’s saying, ‘Hey, guys, even though we’re not, we get the oil, the market’s flush, this is fear. I’m still going to ensure your ships, so go through the strait.’
“And, you know, that’s just part of it,” Kilmeade continued. “If you want to diminish the Iranian threat, if you want to make sure that this ends up with complete Iran capitulation, show some guts and go through that strait and do it.”
The Musandam Peninsula is located in the north-east of Oman and the United Arab Emirates, joins the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and creates a thin chokepoint well within range of Iranian weaponry.
A week ago, Iran announced via state media that it would fire on ships passing through the Strait.
Ebrahim Jabari, a senior adviser to the Guards commander-in-chief, said, “The strait (of Hormuz) is closed. If anyone tries to pass, the heroes of the Revolutionary Guards and the regular navy will set those ships ablaze.”
Elsewhere in the evening’s show, Kilmeade said he had spoken to Trump on the matter, when the president revealed he believed Iran’s missile launchers had been reduced to around 20 percent of their full strength.
“So I asked him, how do you get that, how do you get the prices down?” he said. “I know how much you care about oil and gas. And he says, ‘Tell these tankers to get themselves, get to it. We’ve wiped out most of their launchers.’
“Here’s exactly what he said. ‘These ships should go through the Strait of Hormuz and show some guts. There’s nothing to be afraid of. They have no Navy. We sunk all their ships.’”
Despite the assurance, he then added that Iran still has around 150 operational launchers.
“He went on to say: ‘Look, yeah, there’s risk in the region. The region’s volatile. There are launchers. There’s just about 150 left. That’s just about 20 percent of totals. They can’t regenerate. They can’t make any more. And we are in the region. We’re ready to act quickly on all these types of attacks.
“Now, I think they’re gonna get some additional naval assets in there to do some escorting, but there was a tanker that came through last night… successfully. No problem. And he’s saying, come on guys, get to it.”
