US forces ON ALERT as Iran targets ships in Hormuz

out of the Middle East. President Trump. is planning an unprecedented pressure. campaign targeting Thyron's oil and. finances. >> The commander-in-chief calling it. economic D-Day as he warns any country. that attempts to help Iran, threatening. tremendous economic consequences. >> Chief foreign correspondent Trey Yinst. is live in Tel Aviv with more. Hey Trey. >> Yeah. Hey guys, good morning. Overnight, President Trump announced what he is. calling economic D-Day against Iran. The. president indicated that any country. around the world providing a lifeline to.

the Iranians could face economic. consequences of their own. He called on. allies to stand with the United States, posting a true social. No one has given. the Islamic Republic of Iran a greater. opportunity to make a deal than me. Tragically for them, they have failed to. take it. Therefore, today I am. announcing the most crushing economic. operation ever taken against any. country. This will be economic warfare. and isolation on an unprecedented scale. On Wednesday, the president described. the state of play amid reports that the. United States is still overseeing.

vessels through a safe corridor to. export millions of barrels of oil out of. the Persian Gulf each day. Well, we have things that we could. sanction. We have very draconian. sanctions and we'll uh see what happens. Right now, the strait is open. We a lot. of boats are coming through. People. aren't reporting that and that may slow. down a little bit at some point, but. right now a lot of boats are coming. through. Uh the naval blockade has been. extremely effective. >> The Iranians have responded to the.

president's comments overnight with. Iran's foreign minister saying the. so-called economic D-Day is a diversion. from America's own crisis, unprecedented. debt, and surging interest costs, doubling down on failed policies will. only bring further defeat and enmity of. Iranians. US economic terrorism. threatens global economy and sovereignty. worldwide. Regional intelligence sources. tell Fox News there are growing. indications of economic hardship inside. of Iran as a result of the US naval. blockade and economic isolation. Reports. indicate that inflation in Iran has.

reached 89% with food prices up 164%. The conflict is clearly shifting to. economic warfare. The question here. whether or not this pressure will. ultimately result in a deal or a return. to combat operations, guys. So, we know. Trey that UAA supplies 31% of Iran's. imports, roughly 21 billion in 2024. Uh, and was the was uh was destined to have. 13% of his exports this year, and. they've now cut off all trade after.

shooting at their ships one time too. many with Iran. Is that significant? >> It's very significant, and it's an. indication that Gulf countries may start. to take similar economic action against. the Iranians. And remember what happened. earlier this week. Iran reportedly. launched two ballistic missiles at the. UAE, triggering alerts there and sending. millions of people to seek shelter. And. they have routinely attacked a number of. Emirati oil vessels off the coast there. in the Persian Gulf over the past week.

It's an indication that the Iranians are. still launching attacks near the. straight of Hormuz. And while the. president says the waterway is open, only about 10% of the vessels that are. supposed to be passing through this. critical waterway are actually making it. out of the Persian Gulf. There is this. parallel story that's quite important. The president has indicated to Fox News. that they are still getting oil out of. the Persian Gulf. And so they have a. safe corridor to the southern part of. the straight of Hormuz and they're able. to export millions of barrels of crude. oil each and every day. And this. operation is expected to continue. And.

it's an indication that due to the US. naval blockade and the US military. presence in the region, they are still. able to escort some of these vessels out. of the Gulf. >> Okay. So, >> and this Thank you, John. At the top. where the Persian Gulf is on that map, how does the president plan to squeeze. them even harder? What would be ideal is. to squeeze them so hard that they have. to give up their nuclear weapons. They. just say, "Fine, take them. We'll give. them to you. We'll get them out of here. because we are we're we're in such dire. straits." But how much more what else. could the president do? Because he even. said in that tweet yesterday, "The.

Navy's gone. Air Force destroyed, military factories rebel, currency is. worthless, country is hanging on by. thread. You mentioned inflation, you. talked about food prices. What more. could our president do? >> Yeah, it's a great question. We have to. look at the facts on the ground here. And when we step back and we look at the. situation for the Iranians, much of. their navy was destroyed during. Operation Epic Fury. Many of the. production lines for the missiles and. drones inside of Iran were targeted. But. the Iranians still do have a military. industrial base. They have missiles, drones, cruise missiles that they can. use not only to attack the Gulf, but.

also US forces in the region and. possibly even Israel in the future. And. so the US military remains on alert. And. you have one side of the coin here that. is focused on military pressure, the US. naval blockade, and the ability of. President Trump if he orders future. strikes. On the other side, you have the. economic warfare campaign. And this is, you could look at this broadly like an. onion. At the center here, you have the. US naval blockade. And this is. preventing the Iranians from their. critical lifeline. and that is their oil. exports. But then you have secondary. sanctions that are already in place and.

there are discussions at the US Treasury. from Scott Bessent to try and target. some of the countries that actually use. Iranian oil such as the Chinese and. these companies that are still trying to. find creative ways to get around the. sanctions and the US economic pressure. And that's part of the reason that. President Trump last night ordered what. he is calling economic D-Day because he. wants to send a message to countries. around the world that if they try to. skirt these sanctions or US efforts to. pressure the Iranian regime that they. will face economic consequences of their. own. >> So obviously Iran has been isolated.

militarily and economically and it's the. we're going to ratchet up the economic. isolation now. uh do you have any sense. how long it's kind of mind-boggling that. Iran has managed to hang on given the. amount of isolation that they have faced. over the last uh eight or nine months. Uh do you have any sense how long Iran. can hang on with this kind of isolation? >> We don't and this is a game of who. blinks first and the Iranians feel. confident in their position but we have.

to look at their statements. They. continue to make this threatening. rhetoric from Thran about their military. capabilities in the region and the. economic what they consider warfare. against their country. When we look at. the Iranians though, they have prepared. for this reality and we have to face the. facts of the situation not only on a. military front. They prepared this. mosaic defense ensuring that if their. top commanders were taken out that. others could fill the shoes and that's. exactly what they have done. According. to reports in the Wall Street Journal, for example, over the past two months,

they have not been so focused on finding. a diplomatic off-ramp. Rather, they've. been preparing for the possibility of a. return to combat. And that means putting. these hardline IRGC officials in. positions where they can make decisions. to threaten international shipping and. put counter pressure on the United. States, its forces in the region, and. Gulf allies. And that is exactly what is. taking place. And that's part of the. reason that you have seen this what. really feels like an endless cycle of. statements and strikes in the Middle. East with no end in sight. >> Yep. I've got a million more questions. for you, Trey. I guess it'll wait for.

next hour. I appreciate all the insight. uh as everybody watches in the region. Uh Trey Y, thank you. Thanks. >> Meanwhile, >> all right, President Trump announcing a. crushing pressure campaign targeting. Iran's oil and finances. He's calling it. economic D-Day and warning any nations. giving a lifeline will face massive. economic consequences as well. House. Majority Leader uh Steve Scaliz joins us. now. How important is this and showing. patience right now with Iran? Well,

Brian, first great to be with you and. what President Trump has done is, you. know, he's shown patience. You had the. 60-day ceasefire uh but every step of. the way you see Iran violating all the. terms of that. And so what President. Trump is saying is don't mistake. patience for weakness. We are going to. hit you. Both Iran, their economy, their. military has been decimated by President. Trump's action. Their ability to get a. nuclear weapons been decimated. But now. we're going to look at all those people. that are doing business and feeding. billions of dollars into Iran's economy.

and say, "You got to stop doing it or. it's going to affect your economy, too.". But I see that what they're going to be. doing now is they're going to be. potentially punishing non-Iranian banks. that do deal deals with Iran, shipping. firms that do deals with Iran, insurers. as well as refiners, traders, ports, and. governments that facilitate Iranian. commerce. So that is the Treasury. Secretary taking taking offensive making. offensive moves. But does it bother you. that the Russians re seeming to be are. determined to rearm them and have be. rearming them through the Caspian Sea?

>> Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, look, we've got. our own problems with Russia. Russia's. got its own problems internally. I mean, Ukraine is making a really strong stand. right now against Russia. They're. hitting a lot more facilities. I hope. they keep doing that, by the way. Uh, but Russia's on their knees. You don't. want to see them getting involved in. Iran, but Russia's exposed their. weaknesses as well. So, we got gas up a. dollar where it was roughly from a year. ago. If you get that gas price going in. the right direction, it could really. result in your fortunes changing for the.

better on on midterms. I know you talk. to the president quite often. Is there a. plan in place if the if the economic. sanctions are taking too long to hit him. again? >> Well, you know, if you look, a lot of. the economic indicators are getting. better, but they're not where we want. them to be, Brian. But I'll tell you. what, you know, whether you look at gas. prices, if you look at all the costs. that you want to track costs at the. grocery store, they're all coming down. from where they were under President. Biden because of the work we've been.

doing with President Trump to make life. more affordable for working families. What we did on the tax code to really. benefit working families. Again, the. benefits of that tax policy helps mostly. 70% of the benefits go to families. making under a h 100,000 a year. No tax. on overtime. 30 million Americans have. taken that. That's like $4,000 more in. your pocket. No tax on tips, of course. Seniors got a big tax benefit. And every. Democrat voted no because they want that. money up in Washington. And we saw the.

fraud, by the way. We cut fraud in. places like Minneapolis. You know what a. learing center is? Because we cut fraud. Um, we took that fraud, $20 billion. dollar of stolen money, your tax dollars. just in Minneapolis, and that's what we. used to go and put money back in the. pockets of working families. That's. reducing costs, and it's also increasing. wages, Brian. Again, we're not where we. want to be. We have a lot more work to. do. But the socialist agenda, you know, takes us in the opposite direction. And. that's on the ballot this November.

>> I mean, how do you make the most of. that? It's not hypothetical. You have a. socialist uh who's got the nomination in. Michigan. He say he's not a socialist, but he certainly acts like that. You. have another one for get the Democratic. nomination in Florida. Uh so what are. the what's the Republicans mission when. they run against the socialists? Well, look, the the choice is really clear. November 3rd. It is common sense versus. crazy. I was in Michigan last week. campaigning with a number of our. candidates. Uh our my colleague and dear. friend John James who's running for.

governor. You got Mike Rogers who's. leading right now against Aliad who's. their Senate candidate who's a socialist. as well. Really to the left. He's. running to the left of some of the DSA. candidates in his socialist agenda and. and it's a bunch of mini mandamies all. around. It's not just one or two here. there. That is what the House will look. like if the Democrats get the majority. And Brian, people are getting this. everywhere I go. I was in Iowa last. week. Middle America. Uh I was in North. and South Carolina this week. Everybody.

understands what's at stake and why. everybody needs to vote November 3rd. >> And because they if they do get the. majority, they'll because the socialists. have won and they'll have tremendous. amount of power over whoever is the. leader there. So they will be really the. agenda. >> They'll write the agenda. Absolutely. >> The DSA agenda will be America's agenda. and America doesn't want that. But. everybody's got to vote, make their. voices heard. >> Steve Scaliz, thanks so much. Appreciate. you coming. Great being with you. Thanks. >> Dana. >> and President Trump announcing an. unprecedented pressure campaign.

targeting Iran's oil and finances. So. he's calling it economic D-Day and warns. of economic consequences against any. country that helps the regime. Iran's. foreign minister shrugged it off. He. said this on a post saying economic. D-Day is a diversion from America's own. crisis. Unprecedented debt and surging. interest costs. Doubling down on failed. policies will only bring further defeat. and emnity of Iranians. US economic. terrorism threatens global economy and. sovereignty worldwide. Joining us now, Brent Sadler from the Heritage.

Foundation Center for National Security. We've had a lot of sanctions on Iran for. many, many years. What would be. different this time? >> Yeah. Well, the first thing is the. blockade on the shipping. That that is a. new wrinkle. That's not something that's. been done before, but it's not enough. And it's going to require the military. presence that's there to stay and. perhaps be proactively going after. threats rather than waiting for an. attack to respond to an attack on. shipping. But when they're talking about. a new economic D-Day, the expectation is. they're going to be even more sharper.

economic sanctions going after second. kind of second order sanctions on other. countries that do trade with them. But. countries like Russia and China, they're. not going to be affected as as much. So, there's going to have to be also perhaps. a kinetic element to this economic uh. warfare or statecraftraft. >> What do you mean by kinetic? >> Uh going after shipping is one of those. that you're seeing right now. Kinetic. like vessel boarding and seizures of the. dark fleet that's been going on since. late last year and has been picking up. with more countries participating. But.

that needs to also probably be ramped. up, not just coming in and out of the. straits or Hermuz. But wherever there is. shipping that's benefiting or those that. are doing business with the Iranians. need to start getting interdicted. >> Okay. The Israelis have said this to Fox. News. This is the intelligence official. saying that we are seeing indication. that Iran's ability to continue funding. its proxies is coming under strain. Iran. sends billions of dollars to its net. proxy network. So the assessment is that. sustained economic pressure on Iran. could ultimately starve its entire proxy.

network, choking off the financial. lifeline that keeps the entire network. alive. And if you don't mind, uh, let me. just also mention this, Brent. The. pressure on Iran is something I want to. read to you about this about UAE. >> It's intensifying economic pressure to. discourage Iranian efforts to control or. disrupt navigation through the straight. of Hormuz. That's what you just said. and Iran will likely respond to the. UAE's decision with greater military and. economic pressure against the UAE rather. than abandon its efforts to secure. greater control over the Strait of.

Hormuz. How will that go with it's like. a game of chicken between the UAE and. the Iranians? >> Well, the UAE is acting now somewhat. under and I would say it wasn't really. necessary US pressure because the. Iranians have been attacking the mo the. largest number of missiles been directed. at the UAE in this conflict. So I think. it was inevitable that the UAE at the. right time for them to sever all these. economic ties. With regards to the. proxy, that's another venue in which the. kinetic action to actually have an. economic angle to it also can play out.

And I think if the as we take a more. economic in the lead and the blockade. being sustained rather than threatening. wholesale strikes across Iran, I think. going after and further isolating and. degrading the proxies, this is one of. the levers that the regime in Tehran. still has, that also has to be a prime. target. And I think rather than letting. up the intensity of the attacks against. these proxies like the Houthis, of. course, those in Iraq also need to be. stepped up. Brent, we know that they.

don't the Iranians don't care about the. suffering of the people of Iran. Um, and. the regime leaders, they continue to I. guess I mean maybe they're not living in. luxury, but we know that the economic. pressure on the Iranian people has been. really devastating already. Do we have. any insight as to how much pain the. regime can withstand? because I know. that the people are afraid to come out. because they will be just be mowed down. But I'm wondering if you have any. insight into the regime's. >> basically capacity to take more hits on.

the economic front. >> Yeah. Two things. So there are a lot of. Iranians and family members that are. living in extreme luxury in Europe and. even in the United States. And so going. after that's I think something to to be. spoken to in the economic front. But on. the people's side, the thing to look for. is when the police, the IRGC members and. elements of them start to defect in. greater numbers or don't enforce the. dictat out of Thran, that'll be an. indication that the resources to. maintain power in Iran is starting to. break.

>> Brent, thanks for being here today. As. this development continues, we'll look. and see what economic D-Day uh results. in. Thank you so much. Be sure to like and subscribe for all. the Fox News latest on YouTube and catch. full shows streaming now on Fox.