Trump Stumped over Oil

May 12, 2026

There seems to be a lull in the Iran war as if Trump is not sure what to do. On Saturday, he said that, if Iran did not accept the deal put before it, he would restart “Project Freedom Plus,” but he didn’t say what the plus was. Well, Iran flatly rejected the deal today, going so far as to call it “TOTALLY unacceptable;” and, yet, no plus has arrived. It does not even appear that Project Freedom is back on.

Trump retorted that …

he had reviewed Tehran’s response and described it as “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE,” without clarifying which points Washington opposed.

“Oh, yeah!” he said. “Well yours is even more unacceptable” … or something like that, and then he did nothing, at least, not that I can see in the news. But this will scare them: Trump warned that his schmeasefire is now on “massive life-support.”

Iran’s response to the latest US proposal includes demands for an immediate end to the economic siege imposed on the Islamic Republic, alongside guarantees securing freedom for Iranian oil exports….

It also included a demand for guarantees for Lebanon. Oh, and Iran gets to keep all the uranium as well as, apparently, plutonium, because Russia said there had been a deal to ship plutonium from Iran to Russia that both sides had accepted but then Trump backed out, saying the plutonium has to go to the US.

Oh, and then, Iran demanded, “Surrender and accept new regional order.” I guess that means the latest imposed order wherein Iran controls the strait moving forward and charges huge tolls to anyone it wants to charge—a massive gain from the war for Iran. So, in all, the same deal Iran has been pushing for since Trump started the war.

Iran’s National Security Spokesman Ebrahim Rezaei to President Trump: “The Best Course Is to Surrender.”

Since both sides say the other side’s deal was “TOTALLY unacceptable,” and with Iran demanding the US surrender, what is Trump waiting for? Could it be that he cannot go back to Project Freedom because there is not another tanker or container ship in the world interested in braving the offer? Is Project Freedom dead in the water because there aren’t any tankers that are takers, as I said would be the case?

[Iran’s National Security Spokesman Ebrahim Rezaei] went on to say “As of today, our restraint is over. Any aggression against our vessels will be met with a heavy and decisive Iranian response against American vessels and bases….”
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran has made an announcement in light of US military actions against Iranian tanker vessels:
“From now on, we will Strike one of the US military Bases or Ships in the region every time the United States carries out an Airstrike against an Iranian Oil Tanker….”
“Our missiles and drones have locked onto American targets in the region and the enemy aggressor’s ships. We are awaiting the order to fire.”

It does sound like Trump’s schmeasefire is on shaky grounds. What excuse will he be able to create at this point to be able to keep delaying its end?

“They didn’t want to go that far,” Trump said of Iran’s latest proposal. “How stupid. Are they stupid people?” the president asked. “They think that well, I’ll get tired of this, or I’ll get bored, or I’ll have some pressure. But there’s no pressure, there’s no pressure at all.”

Or maybe they’re bored. Nothing keeps happening on the battlefield, other than little skirmishes from the UAE. Meanwhile, Iran is winning the war of attrition because the oil situation keeps getting worse by the day for the entire rest of the world, as the price of oil went back on the rise again today.

“A genuine breakthrough toward a peace deal could trigger a sharp $8–12 correction, while any escalation or renewed blockade threats would quickly push Brent back toward $115 +.”

Oh, maybe that’s the plus part—a return to Project Freedom plus the higher oil prices that come with it.

Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser warned on Monday that disruptions to oil exports through the strait may delay a return to market stability until 2027.

Oh, I think we are already beyond 2027, unless he means stability at much higher prices (the plus part) than we had before the war.