Trump Warns Economic Warfare For Aiding Iran, Federal Debt Grows, Venezuela Oil Deals

**Leila Fadel** (0:02)
President Trump is threatening economic warfare on any country that helps Iran.

**Sasha Pfeiffer** (0:07)
He wants allies to add pressure on Iran to end the stalemate and the straight of her moves, but those allies live next door and are stuck with the fallout.

**Leila Fadel** (0:14)
I'm Leila Fadel, that's Sasha Pfeiffer, and this is Up First from NPR News. The US national debt has topped $40 trillion.

**Carolyn Bordeaux** (0:24)
You have to think about the impact that that will have on the interest payments. We are now spending more on interest than we spend on national defense.

**Leila Fadel** (0:31)
Experts say that higher debt is pushing up the cost of everything from mortgages to small business loans.

**Sasha Pfeiffer** (0:37)
And US oil companies are making new deals in Venezuela. That comes eight months after US forces captured Nicolás Maduro. Venezuela's politics and its future remain uncertain. Stay with us, we'll give you the news you need to start your day.
The war with Iran is in its sixth month and oil is still struggling to move through the Strait of Hormuz.

**Leila Fadel** (1:01)
President Trump's tried bombing Iran into submission. Now he's pivoting to economic warfare. In a lengthy post, he announced in all caps, quote, the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country.
And he called on allies to stand with the US to unleash economic D-Day, as he called it, on Iran.

**Sasha Pfeiffer** (1:21)
With us to talk about this is NPR international correspondent Eya Batraoui. Good morning, Eya.

**Aya Batraoui** (1:25)
Good morning.

**Sasha Pfeiffer** (1:26)
So this crushing economic operation that Trump posted about, do we know what this would look like?

**Aya Batraoui** (1:32)
I mean, more of the same sanctions, the existing blockade, and even more pressure now. He's calling on allies around the world, countries around, to join him in this isolation of Iran. And we've seen maximum economic pressure before by President Trump. You'll recall this was his policy the first time he was in office. But this is a step beyond because now there is that naval blockade in place. And it is blocking Iran from being able to export its oil. And this pivot from bombings to blockade comes, as AAA says, gas prices in the US are up 30% on average from a year ago. So in many states, people are paying a dollar or more per gallon than they were.
Diesel for trucks and jet fuel for flying are even higher. Now, that is because of Iran's chill cold on the Strait of Hormuz since the beginning of this war. Windward Maritime Intelligence Tracking says 5 million barrels of oil a day did exit the strait on average per day in July, but that is a fraction of the 20 million barrels that were going through before the war.

**Sasha Pfeiffer** (2:28)
And all that oil that had been pouring through was coming from Gulf Arab allies who depended on it for revenue, for their economies, yet they are now stuck with this stalemate and its consequences. What's the regional view on this?

**Aya Batraoui** (2:40)
Right, so the Iranian and Gulf oil is not going through that strait freely right now. Well, Trump's approach with Iran has swung wildly in this war. You know, we've heard him threatening to wipe out an entire civilization and then talking up a deal with Iran, but now there is no deal, and Trump says there are no talks with the Iranians.
And there are differences of opinion among Gulf Arab allies about all of this. Oman, for example, which borders the strait of Hormuz and is holding talks with Iran about its future management, Trump has threatened to bomb that country, Oman, because of those talks, which include possible tolls.
That is despite Oman's history as a mediator between Washington and Tehran. Meanwhile, you have the United Arab Emirates, which this week took a step that aligns with Trump. The UAE halted all trade, commerce and financial transactions with Iran after it says two Iranian missiles were fired toward it. It fell in open waters, but Iran denies that attack. However, you know, I spoke with Mohamad Beharoun. He runs the Dubai Public Policy Research Center in the UAE, and he backs Trump's current approach.

**Mohamad Beharoun** (3:41)
Everyone have realized the limitation of military power. And I think now what the US is trying to do is use the same weapon Iran is using against the world versus economic sanctions.

**Aya Batraoui** (3:54)
And he says that while the US. Israeli war launched on Iran triggered all of this, Iran's attacks now on oil and the global economy has to be stopped.

**Mohamad Beharoun** (4:01)
Attacking the world economy is not justifiable. Attacking other countries because you've been attacked by one country is not justifiable.