U.S. Asks for Help to Address Energy Crisis

SPEAKER_1 (0:02)

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Luke Vargas (0:33)

The US tries building a coalition to address the growing energy crisis. We'll look at how American allies are responding.

Daniel Michaels (0:40)

And nobody, including the US. Navy, at this point seems to want to put ships in harm's way because the Strait of Hormuz is so small, it's so easy for the Iranians to hit ships.

Luke Vargas (0:52)

Plus, airline execs lean on lawmakers to end a partial government shutdown causing long lines at airports. And Europe's far left gets its moment. It's Monday, March 16th. I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM Edition of What's News. The top headlines and business stories moving your world today. The US is appealing for help in its push to keep the Strait of Hormuz open to marine traffic. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One last night, President Trump said that seven countries had been approached about policing the waterway, a mission he seemed to imply was low stakes, and adding that the US would remember which countries declined to help.

Donald Trump (1:36)

It'd be interesting to see what country wouldn't help us with a very small endeavor, which is just keeping the Strait open.

Luke Vargas (1:45)

While Trump declined to name names, he all but confirmed that China was asked to help protect the Strait. As we await a response from Beijing, our Brussels Bureau Chief Dan Michaels told me that several NATO countries and other close US allies in the Pacific could disappoint Trump with their lack of interest in joining the mission.

Daniel Michaels (2:03)

So far, Japan and Australia both have signaled that they are not going to send any ships. For Japan, it's not really surprising because their entire defense posture really is homeland security. The big question will be Europeans because the almost complete cutoff of fuel from the Persian Gulf is hitting Europe hard already and the energy situation is only going to get worse for Europe. So the issue Europe faces is whether to participate in a war that most Europeans object to or to look out for their economic interests and join the US.

Luke Vargas (2:43)

Dan, in terms of where this leaves us, we've heard a little bit from the United Kingdom and from France, the UK, seemingly airing towards maybe sending anti-mining ships while the French, as vocalized by President Emmanuel Macron, may send escort ships but only after intense fighting is over. I guess the question over the next few days is going to be if that's kind of what we hear from Washington's NATO allies in Europe, is that going to be enough?

Daniel Michaels (3:07)

The European perspective on this seems to be that they don't want to actively contradict or go against Trump and anger him that way. But at the same time, they don't want to commit to doing something that they don't want to do. Another issue is the Europeans don't have a lot of ships that they can send. And in fact, recently committed a lot of ships to Arctic security, in part because of Trump's desire for Greenland. One possible type of ship they could send is the Europeans do have anti-mine ships to look for and sweep naval mines that Iran might put in the Persian Gulf. But those ships are not meant to go into live combat. And nobody, including the US. Navy at this point, seems to want to put ships in harm's way because the Strait of Hormuz is so small, it's so easy for the Iranians to hit ships. So it's a very dangerous place for any ship, including the world's most advanced warships to be sailing.

Luke Vargas (4:05)

That was The Journal's Dan Michaels. Speaking on CBS News' Face the Nation, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Arangchi blamed the situation in the Strait on President Trump and said that Tehran was working with certain unnamed countries to let their ships through.

SPEAKER_6 (4:19)

So we provide them security to pass because we have not closed this strait. They are not coming themselves because of the insecurity which is there because of the aggression by the US.

Luke Vargas (4:29)

Meanwhile, after previously predicting that any energy price jump caused by the war would be very temporary, US. Energy Secretary Chris Wright is refusing to rule out that prices could now stay higher for longer. Here he was speaking to Martha Raditz on ABC News' This Week.