Trump rejects need for curbs on oil exports after trade surge

President Donald Trump said there’s no need for curbs on US oil or jet fuel exports to address global shortages sparked by the war with Iran.

“We don’t need them,” he told reporters Thursday in Washington. “And we have tremendous amounts of oil.”

Blockages to the vital Strait of Hormuz have driven a massive jump in US energy exports, propelling the US above Saudi Arabia as the world’s top exporter of crude oil.

But experts have also been warning that the US supply cushion is being pushed to its limits and it’s unclear how long exports can be sustained at this level before impacting the domestic market.

Trump shrugged off the concern and lauded the surge in exports. “Ships are coming all the way where they used to go to Hormuz,” he said. “We have hundreds of ships coming up to Texas, coming up to Louisiana and coming to Alaska, filling up, and they’re going back and making a lot of money.”

© 2026 Bloomberg