Trump’s comments added a sharp new element to a war that has already upended energy markets and spread across multiple fronts. Speaking to reporters after signing an executive order unrelated to the conflict, he criticized allies he said have not been willing to do more to support the United States’ military campaign against Iran, and he directed the message at partners including the United Kingdom and France.
Trump said he could end U.S. involvement in the offensive in “two or three weeks,” but he said the United States would have “nothing to do with” what happens next in the Strait of Hormuz, which he said Iran had closed. He told reporters that the responsibility for keeping the vital shipping route open would fall on the countries that depend on it. “No hay razón para que nosotros hagamos esto,” Trump said, adding that the task “will be for France” and for “whoever is using the strait.”
Later, the White House said Trump would deliver a prime-time address on Wednesday evening to update the public on the war against Iran. The backdrop for that planned speech included a rise in fuel costs in the United States and fresh military developments across the region.
The Strait of Hormuz closure helped lift prices both at the pump and in global markets. The AP report said the average gasoline price in the United States rose above $4 per gallon (about $1.05 per liter). It also said global crude prices climbed, with the Brent spot price around $107 a barrel on Tuesday, up more than 45% since the war began on Feb. 28, as well as attacks by Tehran on regional energy infrastructure and shipping routes.
U.S. and Iranian strikes described in the AP report underscored the war’s intensity more than a month after the United States and Israel began bombing Iran. The report said the U.S. attacked the Iranian city of Isfahan, while Tehran attacked a Kuwaiti oil tanker in the Persian Gulf. It also said the conflict had resulted in more than 3,000 deaths and caused major disruptions to global oil and natural gas supplies, contributing to higher costs for many commodities.
Trump had also taken aim at allies in a separate social media post, the AP report said. In that message, he wrote that allies would need to “learn to fight for yourselves,” that the United States would no longer be there to help, and that “Iran has been, essentially, decimated.” He added: “The difficult part is already done. Go get your own oil,” and he singled out France for not allowing French airspace to be used by aircraft flying supplies to Israel.
In Europe, the AP report said some countries have refused to participate in the conflict’s military logistics or operations. Spain, described as the most critical European country on the war, said Monday that it had closed its airspace to U.S. aircraft involved in the conflict. The report also said Italy had recently refused to allow U.S. military assets to use the Sigonella air base in Sicily for an operation linked to the offensive, citing an unnamed official familiar with the matter. That official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Italy’s defense minister, Guido Crosetto, wrote on X that Italy was still allowing the United States to use its bases, adding that there had been no cooling in relations between the two countries. Separately, the report said France had allowed the U.S. Air Force to use a base at Istres after receiving guarantees that aircraft landing there would not be involved in carrying out attacks.
While the diplomatic disagreements and battlefield developments continued, the AP report also described an incident in Iraq involving a journalist. Iraqi security forces were pursuing those who kidnapped a U.S. freelance journalist in Baghdad on Tuesday, according to Iraqi officials. The journalist was identified as Shelly Kittleson by Al-Monitor, a media outlet for which she worked. A U.S. official blamed Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi militia with Iranian backing. Two vehicles were involved in the kidnapping, with one of them colliding and a person inside being detained, the report said, before Kittleson was transferred into a second vehicle that fled. Dylan Johnson, the U.S. State Department undersecretary for public affairs, said on X that the State Department had “fulfilled with our duty to warn this person of the threats against her.”
The AP report also said the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush departed from Norfolk, Virginia, on Tuesday and was expected to head to the Middle East, citing two unnamed U.S. officials who spoke about sensitive military planning. The report said it would be the third carrier sent to support the war against Iran, alongside the USS Gerald R. Ford, which was being repaired, and the USS Abraham Lincoln, which reached the region in January.
In comments at the Pentagon this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was quoted as saying he did not want to say whether U.S. ground forces would enter the war. “We don’t want to have to do militarily more than what we have to do,” he said, according to the AP report. The report also said Trump had discussed expanding U.S. offensive operations if there is no “soon” cease-fire and if the strait is not reopened, including striking the oil export hub at Jark island and possibly desalination plants.
On the Israel-Iran-Lebanon front, the AP report said Israel’s military early Wednesday stated that it killed a senior Hezbollah commander and another Hezbollah leader in two separate strikes around Beirut. It said Israeli military officials described their targets as Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon’s capital, and it quoted Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, as saying Israel planned to control the area south of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border. The AP report said Israel invaded southern Lebanon after Hezbollah began firing missiles toward northern Israel days after the Iran war began.
The AP report listed casualties and displacement from the conflict: Iranian authorities reported more than 1,900 deaths, with 19 deaths reported in Israel. It said more than two dozen people died across the Persian Gulf states and in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. In Lebanon, the report said officials said more than 1,200 people had died and more than 1 million were displaced, and it said 10 Israeli soldiers had died in Lebanon, including four announced on Tuesday.
Trump’s remarks, combined with the reported energy-price pressure and continued strikes, set the stage for his planned Wednesday night address as the war entered another phase and allies argued over roles, access and risk-sharing.