Andrew Ross Sorkin Warns Trump’s Threatened Iran Strikes Would Spike Oil Prices ‘Threefold’

Andrew Ross Sorkin warned Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s threatened strikes on Iran’s civilian infrastructure could result in oil prices spiking “threefold” for “an escalated period of time.”

The take came an hour after Trump doubled down on his threats against Iran via Truth Social, posting online that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if a deal is not reached by his imposed deadline of 8 p.m. ET. The president added that he hoped “less radicalized minds prevail.”

The escalated rhetoric comes after Trump demanded Sunday that the Iranian regime “open the f*cking” Strait of Hormuz, the vital energy trade route shuttered after joint U.S.-Israeli attacks began on February 28. The choking of traffic through the waterway has rocked oil prices, which rose to and remain at $100 per barrel.

Sorkin cautioned this price will only rise if the president carries out his threats after MS NOW Morning Joe co-host Jonathan Lemire invited him on to discuss the state of play and the market reaction to Trump’s latest post.

“I think that most people who are focused on oil prices right now think that if this happens tonight, you’re looking at much higher oil prices and for a very long time. That’s the fundamental issue here,” Sorkin began.

Rounding away from economics and into broader commentary, he continued: “So you’re seeing these comments from the president, I think there’s a real question about whether you can go from being… we can go from potentially being the victim of Iran to, depending on how this is executed, to being a villain. And I think that’s a real question in terms of not just the markets, but the sort of larger geopolitical question.”

Returning to the price of oil, Sorkin laid out a stark prediction: “As it relates to oil, you know, if in fact, not only do we lose the Strait and effectively have this retaliatory effort, you could see oil prices go up by two and threefold and for an escalated period of time. And so right now, I think the question in the markets is just: How do you price that in? Can you price that in? And what do these comments that he’s making now generally suggest? And what will we actually see tomorrow morning?”

Watch above via MS NOW.

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