National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett offered a peculiar explanation for the ongoing disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz during an interview with Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo on Wednesday. The exchange began when Bartiromo asked for an update on the strait, noting that oil prices had recently declined since the conflict with Iran escalated in February. The war had led to the closure of the strait, a critical chokepoint for global oil shipments.
“Today’s national average gasoline [is] now at $3.84 a gallon, that’s down from $4.32 a month ago, Kevin. Is there anything you could tell us in terms of the update in the strait this morning?” Bartiromo questioned, according to a clip obtained by Mediaite.
Hassett's Response and the 'Cave' Comment
Hassett replied, “Right. Well, the president gets an update on the movement every day and a lot of that update is classified so one has to speak carefully and gently about it. The bottom line is the traffic went way up basically after the deal was made ― way, way up, heading up close to what you would expect.” He acknowledged “there were a couple of hiccup days” but then attributed the problems to “guys living in caves.”
“One of the ways to think about the straits is that there are a bunch of guys living in caves that live in the straits that may or may not be in steady communication with the people that we’re negotiating with who have stuff, you know, like, little better than a rubber band that they can shoot at a boat,” Hassett said. He added, “Whether there will be a few more of those or not is something that nobody knows, but the bottom line is, there are very good faith negotiations going on with leaders. ... We expect very much that this is going to be something that cruises to normalcy sometime really, really soon.”
Context of Mixed Messaging
Hassett’s remarks come amid weeks of conflicting signals from the Trump administration and Iran regarding the status of the Strait of Hormuz, including issues related to nuclear inspections and shipping. The strait remains a focal point of geopolitical tension, with significant implications for global energy markets.
