Trump's unchecked power reshapes U.S. economy amid Iran war
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- Trump's Iran war has stalled traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which carries 20% of the world's crude oil, with U.S. gas prices spiking nearly a dollar (33%) over the past month according to AAA, and futures markets pricing oil above $80 a barrel through July 2027 per FactSet.
- Iran's forces attacked cargo ships and neighboring energy facilities, and the Strait of Hormuz also channels fertilizer components now becoming scarce — a Michigan farmer told CNBC U.S. agriculture is "in uncharted territory."
- The Senate voted Wednesday not to act on a Democratic push to limit Trump's war powers, and similar congressional efforts to rein in his tariffs have not become law, even after the Supreme Court struck down many of those tariffs in February.
- A federal court quashed DOJ subpoenas in the Fed building-renovation investigation on March 13, but the Department of Justice is appealing — keeping Jerome Powell in place and blocking Trump's nominee Kevin Warsh from advancing, since Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) has pledged to withhold votes until the probe resolves.
- Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told Trump in the Oval Office, "It is only you, Donald, who can achieve peace across the world," illustrating the diplomatic deference the article says now flows from Trump's unchecked decision-making.
- Trump said Friday he is not interested in a ceasefire and is not considering ground forces, even as the U.S. military moves more personnel and ships to the region — a posture the article warns could extend oil-price pain if a ground operation becomes necessary.
Why it matters: With Congress declining to assert itself on war powers or tariffs, the Supreme Court's tariff ruling immediately circumvented, and a Federal Reserve chair nomination frozen by Trump's own DOJ investigation, the institutional guardrails around presidential economic policy have effectively been suspended — meaning one person sets the trajectory of gas prices, food costs, and monetary policy simultaneously, and traders are already pricing in years of elevated oil as a result.
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