Trump makes chilling vow to keep US in Iran even AFTER war ends as gas prices skyrocket

President Donald Trump floated that the US may have a footprint in Iran long after the war ends, noting he may take a page out of his playbook for Venezuela. Speaking about Iran over the weekend, Trump told reporters he is interested in remaining in the oil-rich Islamic Republic after the war's end to extract its liquid gold as a sort of prize. After repeating that the war would likely end after the US midterm elections in November, the president said he may 'stay and keep the oil.' 'We’ll ultimately get out unless we decide to stay and keep the oil, like Venezuela,' Trump said.The Trump administration, through the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital, recently struck a deal with North American Blue Energy Partners, a private company that is Venezuela's second-largest producer, to purchase up to 20 percent of Venezuela's oil at the cost of production. 'We have the oil now,' Trump said Sunday about the Venezuelan deal. 'We’re bringing millions and millions in.' The deal could help refill the US's depleted strategic oil reserve and help stabilize gas prices that were elevated due to the war. Though given Iran's distance from the US and its hostile leadership, it remains to be seen how the US, using military or civilian means, could organize a large oil transfer from halfway across the globe. President Trump said over the weekend that the US may stay in Iran after the war to extract oil from the Islamic Republic Global oil prices have jumped dramatically during the Iran war because of the restrictions placed on the Strait of Hormuz. With Houthi fighters now threatening the Bab al-Mandeb Strait off of Yemen, prices have shot even higher The nationwide average for a gallon of diesel fuel is at a record high $6.23 The plan, if Trump were to follow through, may require US military personnel on the ground in Iran to help oversee operations. Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez has stated the deal with the US has a production target of up to 1.5 million barrels of oil per day. Still, experts note that she was willing to partner with Trump, whereas Iranian leaders may not be as eager. 'The Venezuela deal worked because the people left running Caracas after Maduro were pragmatists who valued survival over ideology, and the President read that correctly,' César Dager, a partner at Tower Strategy advising on energy and Venezuela, told the Daily Mail. 'The state apparatus stayed in place and the oil sector was ready to transact within weeks. Iran is a different negotiating partner.' 'Any arrangement in Iran that looks like the Venezuela model would require a sustained U.S. security presence to protect the fields, the infrastructure, and the companies operating there, and that carries a cost and a timeline the Venezuela deal never faced.' Details aside, the president has grasped for solutions to abate ballooning US gas prices before the November elections. The nationwide average cost for a gallon of regular-grade gasoline reached $4.32, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). The highest-ever gas price for a gallon of regular topped out at $5 in 2022 following inflation from the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, diesel fuel prices hit a record high on Monday, reaching $6.23 a gallon, per AAA. Fishermen motor past a commercial vessel anchored off Yemen's coast at Bab al-Mandeb, in the straits connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean on September 12, 2026 A satellite image shows a closer view of the damage at the Saudi Arabia East-West pipeline, located across the Arabian Peninsula, after a strike that hit it on September 11, 2026,US gas prices have shot up well over $1 per gallon compared to prices before the war began.The president has claimed on numerous occasions that gas prices 'will drop like a rock' after the elections, but he has done far less explaining about how or why they would. Inflation and prices were ranked as the top concerns of both Republican and Democratic respondents in a poll from The Economist published last week.The second-largest concern among voters in the survey were the economy and jobs.Those concerns are not likely to dissipate quickly given the Iran war's protracted timeline. Trump initially estimated the war would be wrapped up within six weeks, but now the conflict has raged for over six months.Global oil prices have jumped dramatically during the Iran war because of the restrictions placed on the Strait of Hormuz, through which some 20 percent of the world's oil supply flows. The US is currently blockading all Iranian vessels from transiting the critical waterway.Furthering the oil price woes are the recent advances Houthi forces have made within Yemen and an Iranian-backed attack on Saudi Arabia's critical East-West oil pipeline. An attack launched out of Iraq severely damaged the important pipeline, through which some four percent of the world's oil supply flows. With Houthi fighters' recent advances within Yemen, gaining new territories, they now have more control over the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, forcing oil prices even higher. Brent crude oil has shot up roughly 20 percent over the past month, with the renewed regional instability threatening supplies. As of Monday morning, Brent hovered around $109 per barrel.