CNBC Anchor Swoops In To Fact-Check Trump Econ Chief On Oil Prices

CNBC anchor Becky Quick swooped in to fact-check Trump White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett when he claimed oil prices are predicted to drop “into the 60s” per barrel by “the fall.”

As the Iran war rages into a third week, attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz have exacerbated surging prices and roiled the stock market.

On Tuesday’s edition of CNBC’s Squawk Box, Quick pressed Hassett on experts who say prices won’t come down quickly even if the war ends quickly, citing the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures market.

When Hassett claimed the futures showed prices in the 60s by “the fall,” Quick interrupted to note it was trading north of 75 for December 2026:

CNBC ANCHOR BECKY QUICK: I just wonder how you’re starting to figure this out, how you are starting to try and anticipate what that will mean for prices.

NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL DIRECTOR KEVIN HASSETT: Yeah, well, we are basically getting briefed on every nuance of the war every day and then thinking through the economic implications.

We have an enormous amount of success so far in the sense that we’ve destroyed the military of Iran, we’ve coordinated 135 countries in the UN, including no veto for China and Russia, to isolate Iran.

And we’ve coordinated a strategic reserve release of 35 countries, which could go up if it needs to.

The bottom line is that the timeline that President Trump has stated over and over is that it’s a four- to six-week war and that we’re ahead of schedule.

And so, already, you’re seeing tankers are starting to dribble through the straits. And I think it’s the sign of how little Iran has left.

And so I think we’re very optimistic that this is going to be over in the short run. And then there’ll be price repercussions when it is over for a few weeks as the ships make it to the refineries and so on.

But we’ve really got a plan for every corner of the disruption, from fertilizer to getting fuel to the West Coast.

And so and we’re highly confident that we’ve got this thing under control and that it’ll end soon.

CNBC ANCHOR BECKY QUICK: Let’s talk that through. When you say end soon, you think a matter of weeks, not months?

NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL DIRECTOR KEVIN HASSETT: Correct, correct, that’s right.

CNBC ANCHOR BECKY QUICK: And when that happens, where do you expect–.

Let’s just say WTI, I mean we can talk through any of the energy prices, but most of the analysts that we’ve had on, and granted they’re all kind of dealing with the fog of war, trying to figure it out themselves, have said that they don’t think prices will come back down to the 60s any time soon.

Do you? Is that in your forecast?

NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL DIRECTOR KEVIN HASSETT: Oh, you know, if you look at futures markets, they’ve got them going down into the 60s again by the fall. And I think that’s relatively pessimistic–.

CNBC ANCHOR BECKY QUICK: I think 75 was what the WTI was for the December contract yesterday.

NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL DIRECTOR KEVIN HASSETT: It goes all the way down to the 50s past the year, you know.

And so I think that you’ve got to understand that there’s going to be, we believe, an incredible risk premium for ending the terrorism, really, of the Iranians.

Watch above via CNBC’s Squawk Box.

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