President Donald Trump took a bow Tuesday night for his 5-0 record for his endorsed candidates in the Republican elections held in Mississippi and Georgia.

‘March 10th election update: 5 wins, 0 losses,’ an election night image posted to Truth Social blared. ‘President Trump endorsements 100%.’

The image hailed a 4-0 record in Mississippi (Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss.; Reps. Mike Ezell, R-Miss.; Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss.; Rep. Trent Kelly, R-Miss.) and 1-0 in Georgia, albeit with a bullet.

‘President Trump’s endorsed candidates keep winning because Republican voters trust his leadership and want America First champions in Congress,’ RNC spokeswoman Emma Hall told Fox News Digital in a statement. ‘From cutting taxes to securing the border, every Republican candidate in the country is proudly running on President Trump’s record and competing for his endorsement because it remains the single most decisive factor in GOP primaries.’

In one of the marquee matchups, an all-party special election for an open House seat, Republican Clay Fuller earned an April 7 runoff against Democrat Shawn Harris for the seat vacated by former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., in Georgia’s ‘solid red’ 14th Congressional District.

‘Clay Fuller is going to be a fantastic Congressman in representing the Great State of Georgia,’ Trump wrote Wednesday morning on Truth Social.

‘Now we have to be careful and finish it off. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!’

While Fuller did not earn the special election victory, and Harris won the most votes (37.3%) in a 17-candidate field that included nine Republicans, Harris only had to outdistance two Democrats. Fuller trailed Harris by only 3,000 votes at 34.9%. Republican Colton Moore finished third and out of the running at 11.6%, while no other candidate reached 5%.

‘I think the Republican Party is going to unite around us because they know that the Democrat is too dangerous,’ Fuller said Tuesday night. ‘We can’t have a Democrat representing Georgia 14. That would be a tragedy for our community, a tragedy for Georgia 14 and a tragedy for the MAGA movement.’

The total number of votes cast across all candidates in this election result thus far is 115,823, and Republicans outdistanced Democrat votes by nearly 20 points. GOP candidates garnered a total of 59.7%, while Democrats had 39.8% and independents had less than 1%.

‘Congratulations to Clay Fuller, of Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, on getting such a high percentage of the vote with 12 Republicans running,’ Trump wrote Tuesday night on Truth Social. ‘We want to make the next vote ‘TOO BIG TO RIG.’ Clay will be a GREAT Congressman — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!’

Fuller was a White House fellow in the first Trump administration and is a lieutenant colonel in the Georgia Air National Guard. He finished fourth in the 2020 Republican primary that Greene won. He credited Trump’s nod for propelling him to the runoff.

‘They want to know who President Trump was endorsing in this race,’ Fuller said. ‘And that’s why they came out in droves to support him, because they want an America First fighter on Capitol Hill fighting for his policies that are going to make a difference for our community.’

Harris said he is not worried about further Trump intervention.

‘If Donald Trump wants to come and do what he wants to do, that’s his business,’ he said.

The House GOP majority is a narrow 218-214 right now, making the Fuller-Harris April 7 runoff an important one for upcoming 2026 votes. There are two other vacancies awaiting special elections this year, including blue-state seats formerly held by New Jersey Democrat Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who resigned from the House in November, and the late Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., who died Jan. 6.

Illinois is next up on the GOP primary schedule on Tuesday, March 17, when three Trump-endorsed candidates are incumbents: Reps. Mike Bost, R-Ill., Mary Miller, R-Ill., and Darin LaHood, R-Ill.

The next big GOP primary challenge forged by Trump is frequent MAGA foil Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., on May 19. Trump-backed Ed Gallrein is vying for that seat.

‘I predict that ‘Representative’ Thomas Massie will go down as the WORST Republican Congressman in the long and fabled history of the United States Congress, even worse than Crazy Liz Chaney, Cryin’ Adam Kinzinger, and Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Brown (Remember, Green turns to Brown under stress!),’ Trump wrote Wednesday morning on Truth Social.

‘They are all misfits and losers, but Massie, who is running against a great American Patriot in the Kentucky Primary, will hopefully lose BIG. I LOVE KENTUCKY!!!’

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A group of House Republicans is urging the Trump administration to choke off Russia’s profits from one of its largest energy companies as global oil prices spike.

It comes as the U.S. and Israel’s conflict with Iran, one of Russia’s closest allies and another major energy producer, is threatening to spiral the market out of control both overseas and here at home.

Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, who chairs the Republican Study Committee, is leading five fellow GOP lawmakers in a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent regarding Lukoil — which accounts for roughly 2% of the world’s oil output.

Western sanctions have forced Lukoil to announce it would sell certain international assets as countries like the U.S. and U.K. attempt to whittle down Russia’s control over global energy.

‘The U.S. government has a significant role — in fact, a responsibility — in determining the ultimate fate of these oil and gas assets. We encourage you to exercise the utmost caution to ensure we do not inadvertently squander this opportunity and relinquish our leverage to U.S. adversaries,’ the Republicans wrote.

They warned against a situation where ‘transaction loopholes or back-room deals with Lukoil’s senior management’ could allow Lukoil assets to ‘slip back into Russia’s hands as tensions subside or U.S. sanctions are lifted.’

The six Republicans on the letter, all from Texas, are also lobbying the administration to ease a pathway for Lone Star State companies to acquire those assets.

‘President Trump has created a once-in-a-generation opportunity not only to defund Russia’s war machine but also for leading American energy companies — including at least two headquartered in the great State of Texas — to acquire the LIG portfolio, permanently removing globally significant oil and gas assets from Russian control, enhancing energy security, affordability, and reliability, and strengthening President Trump’s America First agenda,’ they argued.

‘[W]e encourage the Department of the Treasury — in concert with the White House and Departments of Energy, State, and War — to scrutinize every detail of the various proposals to ensure that any sale of LIG’s assets ‘completely severs’ ties with the Russian parent company, paving the way for American energy companies to meet this moment with the urgency and precision it so deserves.’

The push comes at a particularly consequential time on the world stage as Iran continues to retaliate against U.S. allies in the Middle East.

Earlier this month, the U.S. and Israel began a joint operation launching strikes against Iran that targeted its military and nuclear assets as well as top leadership ranks.

Russia, which has been wreaking havoc on European energy markets with its invasion of Ukraine since February 2022, has reportedly been aiding Iran against the U.S. operation.

The Washington Post reported that Moscow was providing intelligence to Tehran to help it target U.S. forces in the region. It’s a particularly significant development in the wake of eight U.S. service members’ deaths since the conflict began.

Pfluger cited the conflict in the new letter, but did not mention Russia’s alleged role in aiding Iran.

‘American energy dominance is critical to our national security, and as the events of the last several days in Iran and the broader Middle East region have highlighted, our ability to promote peace through strength is enabled by our role in facilitating the stable and secure supply of energy to world markets,’ the letter said.

‘In this increasingly complex geopolitical era, we believe America’s energy companies, and not those of our adversaries, should continue leading the way.’

Meanwhile, AAA reported that the average national gas price in the U.S. rose by 27 cents to $3.25 as of March 5 since the Iran conflict began.

As of March 11, AAA’s calculations put the national gas price average at nearly $3.58.

U.S. forces destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz Tuesday, U.S. Central Command said, in what officials described as a move to prevent Iran from disrupting one of the world’s most critical maritime choke points.

The strikes come as oil traffic through the strait remains at a near standstill, threatening a corridor that carries roughly 20 million barrels per day — about one-fifth of global consumption — and squeezing Gulf exporters like Iraq and Kuwait that rely on the narrow passage to ship their primary source of revenue.

Prior to taking out the mining vessels, Trump demanded Iran remove them ‘IMMEDIATELY!’ warning that if it doesn’t, ‘the Military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before.’

U.S. officials have long warned that Iran maintains a significant naval mine inventory and has rehearsed tactics designed to threaten commercial shipping in the Gulf. The destruction of the vessels appears aimed at stopping any potential deployment before mines could be laid in shipping lanes.

The Strait of Hormuz, bordered by Iran to the north and Oman and the United Arab Emirates to the south, is a critical artery for global energy markets. Even the threat of mining operations can further disrupt traffic and spike insurance and shipping costs.

It was not immediately clear whether any mines had already been placed in the water before the U.S. action. Citing intelligence sources, CNN reported Iran had laid a few dozen mines in the strait in recent days and had the capability to place hundreds more. 

Since Friday, seven vessels, including four tankers and three bulk carriers, have passed through the strait, according to data from trade intelligence platform Kpler.

The U.S. Navy has been weighing escorts for commercial ships through the strait. 

‘We’re looking at a range of options there and will figure out how to solve problems as they come to us,’ Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine told Fox News Tuesday. 

The world is watching to see whether the Navy will step in to try to free up shipping. Immediately after an inaccurate and since-deleted post from Energy Secretary Chris Wright claiming the Navy had escorted a tanker, oil prices fell nearly 12%.

European allies are moving in as well: France sent two frigates to join a European Union-led escort mission for ships through the strait, though their arrival timeline is unclear.

While U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has claimed the U.S. and Israel have ‘total air dominance’ over Iran’s skies, that doesn’t mean the threat from missiles and drones is entirely eliminated yet. 

The Navy won’t escort tankers until Iran’s missile and drone threat is eliminated, retired Gen. Jack Keane told FOX Business. 

‘Makes no sense in terms of the risk when we’re going to finish them off entirely in a few weeks,’ he said.  

Recognizing the squeeze on prices around the globe, Trump announced Monday the U.S. would remove oil-related sanctions. 

‘We are also waiving certain oil-related sanctions to reduce prices,’ he said during a press conference. ‘So in some countries, we’re going to take those sanctions off until this straightens out. Then, who knows, maybe we won’t have to put them on.’

The United States currently maintains sanctions affecting oil Iran, Venezuela, Russia, Syria and North Korea. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to detail what that relief would look like. A 30-day waiver was already recently issued for Russian oil stranded at sea to reach India.

A naval mine costing only a few thousand dollars can cripple or even sink a $2 billion U.S. destroyer. 

The danger is not theoretical: In 1988, USS Samuel B. Roberts nearly sank after striking an Iranian mine in the Persian Gulf. 

Mine-laying operations are often conducted covertly at night using small vessels such as fishing dhows or fast-attack craft, allowing mines to be deployed with little warning and potentially devastating consequences.

Jeremy Carl, President Donald Trump’s nominee for assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs, withdrew his nomination Tuesday after facing bipartisan criticism over past comments about race, religion and Israel.

Carl, a conservative commentator and senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, wrote on X that he lacked the unanimous Republican support needed to advance his nomination out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was nominated to the State Department role by President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

‘I am withdrawing my nomination for consideration as Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs,’ he wrote Tuesday afternoon. ‘I am tremendously grateful to President Trump for nominating me and then (upon expiration of my original nomination) renominating me for this role, and I am also grateful to Secretary Rubio and his team for their continued support throughout this long and time-consuming process.’

Republicans hold a 12-10 majority on the panel, meaning a single GOP defection would result in a tie vote and block the nomination from moving to the full Senate.

‘Unfortunately, at this time this unanimous support was not forthcoming,’ Carl wrote, adding that he did not want the administration to ‘waste valuable time and energy’ attempting to change the outcome.

During his confirmation hearing last month, senators pressed Carl on previous remarks concerning ‘white identity,’ immigration and Israel. Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, specifically pressed him on an October 2024 podcast, in which Carl said, ‘the United States spends too much time and energy on Israel, often to the detriment of our own national interests.’ Curtis challenged Carl on what American interests were harmed, and asked if he recognized the benefits that the U.S. gains from the relationship with Israel. Carl dodged the questions, but did say that he wishes that ‘the UN would stop being antisemitic all the time.’

Curtis also cited the same podcast, in which the host accused Jews of claiming a ‘special victim status’ over the Holocaust, and said, ‘Israel is not a victim, but instead a perpetrator,’ to which Carl responded, ‘Right, right. Yeah, no, I mean, I think that’s true.’ Carl at first said that he would have to review the question, but when Curtis noted that he gave Carl’s exact words, Carl admitted, ‘I’m sure that they’re accurate.’

Curtis said afterward that Carl was not the ‘right person to represent our nation’s best interests in international forums.’

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., questioned Carl about his references to ‘white identity’ and what he believed was being ‘erased.’ Carl responded that he was concerned about the erosion of what he described as a majority American culture due to mass immigration, saying he stood by those comments. Murphy later called him a ‘legit white nationalist’ on social media.

Carl rejected that characterization, saying he is ‘not a White nationalist’ and that his remarks referred to a broadly shared American culture that people of all backgrounds could embrace.

‘Unfortunately, for senior positions such as this one, the support of the President and Secretary of State is very important but not sufficient,’ Carl added on X. ‘We also needed the unanimous support of every GOP Senator on the Committee on Foreign Relations, given the unanimous opposition of Senate Democrats to my candidacy, and unfortunately, at this time this unanimous support was not forthcoming.’

The position Carl was nominated to oversees U.S. engagement at the United Nations and other multilateral organizations. He previously served as a deputy assistant interior secretary during Trump’s first term.

‘I remain extremely confident in President Trump, Secretary Rubio, and the rest of the outstanding team at State (a group of leaders that includes many close friends),’ Carl concluded on X. ‘I know they will continue to pursue a foreign policy that puts America first, and that they will work to ensure America is able to exercise its power and influence in the world like never before.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and the State Department for comment and has not heard back.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Republicans sharply criticized former President Joe Biden over rising prices at the gas pump, but a spike in energy prices amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict in Iran threatens to scramble the party’s affordability messaging.

The Iran conflict has led to a surge in gas prices for Americans, leading to an average 50 cents a gallon increase since Operation Epic Fury began on Feb. 28.

The average price of gas reached $3.54 per gallon on Tuesday, according to AAA. Diesel prices have also risen to $4.72 per gallon. The increases have been mostly fueled by volatility in oil prices, which rose above $100 per barrel on Monday as the Strait of Hormuz remained effectively shuttered.

The president characterized the gas price hike amid the Iran conflict as ‘a very small price to pay’ in a Truth Social post Sunday.

That statement represented a sharp break with Trump’s typical messaging touting low gas prices prior to Operation Epic Fury.

‘Gasoline, which reached a peak of over $6 a gallon in some states under my predecessor — it was quite honestly a disaster — is now below $2.30 a gallon in most states. And in some places, $1.99 a gallon,’ President Donald Trump said during his Feb. 27 State of the Union address. ‘And when I visited the great state of Iowa just a few weeks ago, I even saw $1.85 a gallon for gasoline.’

The surge in gas and diesel prices threatens to undermine the economic message of President Trump and congressional Republicans, who have touted low gas prices as a major win in the lead-up to November’s midterm elections. Cost of living issues are expected to be a key concern among voters as both parties claim to be laser-focused on making everyday life more affordable.

During the 2024 presidential contest, Trump frequently campaigned on ending Biden’s ‘war on American energy’ and pledged to reverse a surge in gas prices that occurred under his predecessor’s tenure.

Gas prices averaged $3.45 per gallon across all fuel grades during Biden’s four-year term, surging to a record high of more than $5 per gallon in June 2022 after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

‘Starting on Day 1, we will drive down prices and make America affordable again,’ Trump said during a speech at the Republican National Committee convention in July 2024. ‘People can’t live like this.’

Democrats have seized on rising prices at the pump amid the conflict in Iran.

‘I wish the administration thought about this before they started this unnecessary war,’ Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with Democrats, said Monday when asked about the gas price hike.

‘Donald Trump’s war has sent gas prices skyrocketing through the roof,’ Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote on social media Monday. ‘What contempt. What cluelessness.’

Schumer has called on the president to release oil from America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to combat supply bottlenecks in the Middle East. The top Democrat notably opposed a Trump-led effort to replenish the stockpile in his first term when oil prices were much lower.

Republicans have voiced confidence that the rise in gas prices would be temporary. GOP lawmakers have frequently cited their efforts to roll back Biden-era energy regulations and boost domestic production as evidence that their policies are working to lower energy prices.

‘It’s going to be probably volatile for a period of time. I think what’s going to be key is ensuring we can get safe access to the Strait of Hormuz,’ Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said Monday, adding that he was confident the disruption would be short-lived.

Daines, who abruptly suspended his re-election campaign last week, highlighted that average gas prices were under $3 per gallon prior to Trump’s State of the Union speech. 

‘That’s an important win for the American people,’ the retiring Montana lawmaker said. ‘Something you’re reminded of usually weekly when you’re gassing up your vehicle.’

Some Republicans and Trump administration officials are also arguing that a defeated Iran will ultimately spur lower gas prices, even if there is pain in the short run.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt characterized the recent increase in oil and gas prices as ‘temporary’ during a briefing Tuesday.

‘Once the national security objectives of Operation Epic Fury are fully achieved, Americans will see oil and gas prices drop rapidly, potentially even lower than they were prior to the start of the operation,’ Leavitt said.

‘At the end of the day, we’re going to destroy this regime, and their ability to disrupt oil is going to be less, and we’re going to have more production, not less,’ Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters Monday. ‘Once you take the largest state sponsor of terrorism off the planet, who depends on oil for their revenue, that’s a more stable world.’

Nearly seven in 10 Americans — including 44% of Republicans — expect gas prices to keep increasing in the coming months, according to a Reuters-Ipsos poll released Monday.

Trump has threatened Iran with unprecedented force if the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz is further restricted.

‘Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them — But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen!’ Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social.

A top Senate Republican wants answers on why the Biden administration drained the nation’s oil stockpile but did little to replenish it.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., charged that decisions under President Joe Biden to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) could have a ripple effect as the U.S. continues its war with Iran and as the Iranian government continues its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.

Cotton, in a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital to Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright, charged that the Biden administration released 180 million barrels from the nation’s reserves in 2022 ‘to suppress gas prices ahead of the midterm elections.’

‘That decision drained the reserve to a 40-year low,’ Cotton wrote. ‘The decision to drain the SPR was not a response to a supply emergency; it was a deliberate political act designed to protect Democrats from the consequences of their own failed energy policies.’

Biden tapped the reserve twice — once in 2021 to relieve soaring fuel prices as the nation still grappled with the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and again the following year to combat increased energy costs at the onset of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The SPR has capacity for over 700 million barrels of crude oil, but currently, the reserve has far less following the drawdown under the previous administration.

At the end of Biden’s term, the reserve had about 415 million barrels of crude on hand, according to data from the Department of Energy.

Cotton said that it wasn’t ‘the first time Democrats undermined the reserve’ and noted that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and congressional Democrats blocked President Donald Trump’s bid to refill the SPR in 2020, when barrels were cheap, with $3 billion from a colossal COVID-19 stimulus package moving through Congress.

He also said that in 2021, Biden signed an executive order that halted new oil and gas leases on federal lands and offshore, which Cotton charged ‘constrained domestic production while the administration was draining the reserve.’

Cotton demanded that Wright answer how blocking the $3 billion oil purchase and halting oil and gas leases impacted the nation’s overall domestic supplies that could have been used to replenish the SPR.

Meanwhile, congressional Democrats are demanding that Trump tap into the SPR after oil prices spiked to four-year highs over the weekend as the war in Iran intensifies.

Schumer said that the reserve ‘exists for moments exactly like this.’

‘The Strait of Hormuz is the world’s most important oil transit choke point, with roughly 20% of global petroleum liquids consumption moving through it in recent years,’ Cotton said. ‘That is precisely why the SPR must be treated as a strategic national security asset, not a political tool.’

Some House Republicans are getting worried over the prospect of colleagues quiet-quitting after losing their primary races as election season heats up, threatening to whittle down the GOP’s already perilously slim majority.

House Republicans will likely only be able to lose two votes on any party-line measure after a special election in a deep-red Georgia district this week. 

Some told Fox News Digital they’re worried, however, that their colleagues could begin missing key votes before the end of their terms if their ambitions for higher office do not go as planned.

‘It’s a real problem,’ one House Republican who was granted anonymity to speak candidly told Fox News Digital. ‘Is one of them going to be gone for his runoff? Will another not come back at all because he’s mad? Is another one not going to come back because he lost?’

Asked if such absences could translate to Republicans losing a functional majority in the House, that GOP lawmaker said, ‘We could, that’s why everybody’s nervous about it.’

In the Lone Star State alone, two House Republicans are guaranteed not to be returning next year after last week’s primaries. Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, lost his bid to unseat Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is headed for a runoff with state Attorney General Ken Paxton. And Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, faced an upset against a primary challenger running to his right, conservative state lawmaker Steve Toth.

Neither has indicated they will be skipping House votes for the remainder of the term due to those losses, but Hunt’s attendance record has already generated frustration among his colleagues.

Aside from them, there are 18 other House Republicans currently vying for different positions in upcoming primaries and general elections.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., a high-ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, told Fox News Digital that he too was worried about GOP attendance as election season heats up.

‘Our margins are as razor-thin as they can possibly be, so we need everybody to show up,’ he said. ‘So yeah, that could potentially be an issue. I hope it isn’t.’

Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital, ‘I think it’s a concern.’

‘I hope that they recognize the moment. There’s still a lot of lane left in this Congress, and people have put their faith in their elected representatives to get the job done. So they need to be here,’ Fry said.

But the election season starting up is not the first time this Congress — or even this year — that worries about the GOP’s margins have flared up.

For example, a small group of Republicans was able to join with Democrats to successfully force a vote on extending expired Obamacare subsidies that the GOP largely opposed. And just last month, President Donald Trump’s tariff strategy faced a public setback when a similarly small number of GOP lawmakers voted with Democrats to rebuke it.

Neither of those measures will likely be taken up in the Republican-held Senate, but it’s a testament to the slim margins Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is presiding over.

And aside from the legislative setbacks seen earlier this year, the sudden, tragic death of one House Republican and abrupt resignation of another have served to further whittle down the conference’s numbers.

Car accidents and other health problems have also at times forced the House to amend its schedule. It’s prompted House GOP leaders to warn their lawmakers to be as cautious as possible when outside of Washington.

‘The margins are really, really close. A few of us were in a car the other day, driving … if that became an accident, that would have tipped the scale,’ Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., told Fox News Digital back in January. ‘It’s a big deal to change power outside of a normal election cycle.’

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters last week that attendance is ‘always a concern’ but was optimistic about navigating through it.

‘We’ve had elections along the way, and yet we’re still able to move our agenda,’ Scalise said. ‘We track people that have surgeries, tell us in advance, and we work around that. But at the end of the day, we’ve been able to move President Trump’s agenda and our agenda, and get the things done for the American people that we ran on.’

Vietnam’s trade ministry is urging businesses to encourage employees to work from home to curb fuel consumption as the country grapples with supply disruptions and sharp price increases triggered by the U.S.-Israeli war involving Iran.

In a statement on Tuesday, the government said Vietnam has been among the nations hardest hit by the turmoil due to its heavy reliance on energy imports from the Middle East. Citing a report from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, it called on companies to ‘encourage work-from-home when possible to reduce the need for travel and transportation.’

Fuel prices have surged since the end of last month, with gasoline up 32%, diesel rising 56% and kerosene climbing 80%, according to data from Petrolimex, the country’s top fuel trader. Long lines of cars and motorbikes were seen at petrol stations in Hanoi on Tuesday.

The ministry also urged businesses and individuals not to hoard or speculate on fuel.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Minh on Monday held calls with leaders of Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to secure additional fuel and crude oil supplies. The government has also removed import tariffs on fuels through the end of April in a bid to ease pressure on the market.

President Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran have made for volatile crude markets, with prices surging to $120 a barrel in the U.S. over the weekend before dipping back to just over $80 on Monday night as Trump spoke to a Republican retreat in Florida.

Prices have stabilized after Trump assured investors the Strait of Hormuz will be safe for oil tankers in the Middle East, a notorious chokepoint for the largely dismantled Iranian regime.

The situation in the region remains tenuous as Iran has announced Mojtaba Khamenei as the next supreme leader, a decision that Trump told Fox News that he ‘was not happy’ about.

‘I don’t believe he can live in peace,’ Trump said from Air Force One.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said Tuesday they would not let any oil out of the Middle East until U.S. and Israeli attacks cease, a threat that had prompted Trump to threaten to hit Iran ’20 times harder’ if it blocked exports.

Despite the defiant rhetoric from both sides, investors placed strong bets Tuesday that Trump would call off his war soon, before the unprecedented disruption it has caused to energy supplies causes a global economic meltdown.

‘I’m hearing they want to talk badly,’ Trump said, as the Department of War has claimed 50 Iranian naval vessels have been sunk and Trump is suggesting the war objections are weeks ahead of schedule, if not nearly ‘complete.’

‘It’s possible,’ Trump added of engaging the new Iranian leadership, descendants of the deceased leaders, but said it ‘depends on what terms, possible, only possible.’

‘You know, we sort of don’t have to speak anymore, you know, if you really think about it, but it’s possible,’ he said.

Fox News’ Trey Yingst and Reuters contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump said he is ‘not happy’ with Iran’s choice of a new supreme leader but that early results from Operation Epic Fury have been ‘way beyond expectation.’

Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been installed as the next supreme leader.

‘I don’t believe he can live in peace,’ Trump said in an interview with Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst.

The president touted what he described as the success of the joint U.S.-Israeli military operation.

‘Way beyond expectation in terms of result this early,’ Trump said.

More than 5,000 targets have been hit by the U.S. military since the operation was launched on Feb. 28, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced Monday.

‘When we attacked them first, we knocked out 50% of their missiles and if we didn’t, it would have been a much harder fight,’ Trump said.

He framed the opening strike as decisive and necessary.

‘No other President had the guts to do it…I don’t want some president who hasn’t got the courage in five years or in ten years to go in. It’s like a gun slinger, where he draws his gun first.’

‘If we waited three days, I believe we would have been attacked.’

Trump described what he called a surprise element in the timing of the operation.

‘Breakfast attacks are unusual and they were misled because they thought we weren’t going at that time and all that… And they just met. It was very, very surprising. And they all met together and it was open.’

‘If they would’ve had a bomb, they’d have used it on Israel and other parts of the Middle East. I think, and probably us, if they could get it there, but it would have been tough.’

Trump said Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner told him Iran claimed it had enough enriched uranium to build 11 nuclear bombs.

‘I said, you know, they’re not playing this smart. Because they’re basically saying that I have to attack them. They should have just said, ‘We’re not going to build a nuclear missile.”

Asked whether he would be willing to speak with Iranian leaders, Trump said: ‘I’m hearing they want to talk badly.’

‘It’s possible, depends on what terms, possible, only possible… You know, we sort of don’t have to speak anymore, you know, if you really think about it, but it’s possible.’

Trump also said he was taken aback by Iran targeted Gulf countries in response to the American and Israeli attacks.

‘One of the things that surprised me most was when they attacked countries that were not attacking them,’ he said.

The president also weighed in on reports of a strike that hit a girls school. Iranian state media and UNICEF estimates put the death toll at roughly 165 to 180 people, most of them young schoolgirls, with dozens more injured. The figures have not been independently verified.

‘It’s only under investigation, but we are not the only ones with that particular rocket,’ Trump said.

Iran’s Assembly of Experts has elected Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country’s new supreme leader, according to reports.

Iran International cited sources who claimed the decision was made ‘under pressure’ from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, is the second-eldest son of Ali Khamenei and was born in Mashhad in 1969.

His early childhood coincided with his father’s rise as a revolutionary figurehead opposing the monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Ali Khamenei moved from a dissident cleric to a senior government official, holding key posts in the regime including deputy defense minister.

The family moved from Mashhad to Tehran, where Mojtaba attended Alavi High School, which is a school that is known for educating members of Iran’s political and religious elite.

There, he received a general and religious education and graduated in 1987. In 1989, after the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Ali Khamenei was appointed supreme leader.

That same year, Mojtaba began his formal clerical studies in Tehran. He studied under his father as well as Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, who later served as Iran’s chief justice.

Over the years, Mojtaba was seen constantly with his father and was also regarded as an influential figure behind the scenes.

In 2019, the U.S. sanctioned Mojtaba Khamenei under Executive Order 13867. The U.S. Treasury Department stated that he had been ‘representing the supreme leader in an official capacity despite never being elected or appointed to a government position aside from work in the office of his father.’

The Treasury also said that the supreme leader had delegated part of his leadership responsibilities to Mojtaba. 

It said he worked closely with commanders of the IRGC’s Quds Force and the Basij Resistance Force, positioning him as a key player in both domestic and international security affairs.

Mojtaba is married to the daughter of former Iranian Parliament Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel.

Among Ali Khamenei’s sons, he is considered the most powerful and politically influential, according to reports.

Initial reports had indicated Mojtaba was among around 40 officials killed in Feb. 28’s strike targeting Iran’s highest-ranking cleric.

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, President Trump said strikes on Iran eliminated much of the regime’s anticipated leadership succession bench.  ‘Most of the people we had in mind are dead,’ Trump told reporters Tuesday.

As yet, Iranian state media has not confirmed the succession reports.