Trump says oil prices may not fall until after US midterms

US President Donald Trump has said that oil prices would fall once the United States wins its war with Iran, as he claimed Washington was in control of the Strait of Hormuz and proposed renaming the strategic waterway the “Trump Strait”. “Oil prices will be going down as soon as we win the war with Iran, which is taking place right now. We’ll win it, ” Trump said late Wednesday while addressing a Republican midterm convention in Dallas, Texas. Earlier, talking to reporters before travelling to Dallas for the Republican midterm convention, Trump said oil prices, which have surged amid the war with Iran, are unlikely to fall significantly until after the US midterm elections. “Right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward, ” Trump told reporters, adding that he believed it could take “a little bit longer than the midterm” for prices to decline. Trump also said he believed Iran would eventually relent after the elections, suggesting that the conflict could continue until the key vote in the United States. Addressing the Republican midterm convention, Trump claimed the United States was “winning” the war and “controls the Hormuz trade”, before suggesting that the waterway should be renamed the “Trump Strait”. “I think we should call the Hormuz Strait, we should call it the Trump Strait. I should get something out of it, ” he said, adding that he was sure Iran’s leadership would be “thrilled” by the idea. Trump also claimed that Iran was “falling apart”, saying Tehran had been “the bully of the Middle East for 51 years” but was no longer in that position. His remarks came amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran over the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global energy shipments. The confrontation has intensified despite a memorandum signed in June that envisaged an agreement to reopen the strategic waterway as a prelude to a broader peace deal.

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