| By Denny Gulino
THE WHITE HOUSE (MaceNews) – As President Trump’s Marine One helicopter rose slowly toward the Washington Monument late Monday afternoon for the trip to Joint Base Andrews and on to New Mexico, it left nothing but questions in its wake. The time the president spent at the ropeline jammed with reporters and cameras prior to takeoff was much more brief than usual, probably because he had spoken less than hour before to pool reporters in the Oval Office and even then had little of substance to say. The Saudis “are very upset. They are very angry,” he said. “I think you won’t be surprised who did it.” He said, though, that he did not tell the Saudis the U.S. would protect them, only the oil supply. As to retaliation, ““I think it is certainly a responsibility of them to do a big deal of it.” Distilling all the presidential comments, they amounted to a wait-and-see approach to the biggest shock to the world’s oil economy since the 1973 embargo, instantly demonstrating the vulnerability of so much of the supply infrastructure. Back then, oil went from $3 a barrel to $12. This time the spasm of price increases was less than that era’s 400% but a sharp reaction nevertheless. The late afternoon price spike was about 13% for West Texas Intermediate. Earlier it had been as much as 15%. At the ropeline Trump had said, “We have plenty of oil in this country … . It’s not going to affect us. And ultimately, I don’t think it will affect the world either.” He had already tweeted that he was willing to send some of the U.S. Strategic Oil Reserve into the world market if necessary, after the few days of Saudi reserves are drawn down. Estimates of the damage from a swarm of drones and some suspected cruise missiles was as much as half the Saudi output is at least temporarily interrupted. The U.S. credit markets also reacted, with 10-year yields extending the escalation that began Friday, at 1.847%, having backed down from 1.899% earlier in the day. That took yields only back to where they were late in July as they were ramping down at a dramatic pace. In stocks, The Dow dropped half a percent, the S&P and Nasdaq less. Some analysts said they were surprised the losses were less than what might be expected. How soon would all the questions not answered yet be answered? Trump at the ropeline and earlier as he faced cameras sitting next to the visiting leader of Bahrain said “soon” the origin of the attack would be known, both in Washington and Riyadh. How hard is it to detect the launch site? Trump said there are many ways and the U.S. possesses all the necessary capability. Secretary of State Mike Pompleo already said Iran did it. Does he know more than you know? Trump was asked at the ropeline. He replied, “I think we’re the same.” He went on, “I think we just want to find ouit the final numbers and see” who did it. “There’s are lots of different things we can look t.” The only official other than Trump talking Monday about the extent of retaliation was White House veteran Marc Short. A familiar voice as the chief of staff for Vice President Mike Pence and a former director of White House legislative affairs, he nevertheless seemed a curious source for crisis information. Asked about Trump’s weekend tweet that the U.S. is “locked and loaded” and was awaiting only the Saudi confirmation of who was responsible, Short said it should be taken as meaning the U.S. has plenty of oil, not that any military action is pending. Short spoke again to a network news reporter on the sidelines of an afternoon ceremony in the East Room, where the president bestowed the Medal of Freedom on the greatest relief pitcher, the Yankee’s Mariano Rivera. Trump adhered to the three large Teleprompter screens and spoke only about baseball at the event, joking and otherwise giving no hint that he is under any unusual strain. Short repeated what he had said earlier. His boss, Pence, was in the room but ignored reporters. The disclosure that the New York District Attorney had subpoenaed eight years of Trump’s tax returns came up at the ropeline session, but Trump responded, “I don’t know anything about it.” Even if his accounting firm turns over the tax returns they would presumably be protected from Democrats on Capitol Hill by the shield of grand jury testimony. Other questions that remained as the sun set Monday was how reliably can the source of the drones and cruise missiles be determined, since these delivery systems can zig and zag, unlike ballistic missiles, and might well be programmed to do so to hide their origin. Would Trump still countenance talking to Iran President Rouhani if they cross paths at the United Nations next week? The attack on the Saudi oil facilities came just a few days after the man who had the reputation as the administration’s biggest hawk on Iran, John Bolton, had departed. The Washington Post reported that it was a difference on Iran policy that was the trigger that triggered the departure. Trump, the report said, wanted to consider lifting some Iran sanctions to encourage negotiations. For Bolton, that was the final straw, the report said. Now an acting National Security Adviser and a newly confirmed secretary of Defense have to wrestle with the Iran conundrums. Saudi Arabia said the debris left by more than a dozen impacts suggest Iran was the source of the equipment, if not the launch crews. The claim of the Iran-backed Houthis that they were responsible was widely disregarded as beyond their capabilities. Yet Saudi Arabia seemed hesitant to be more definitive. Oil in tankers on the high seas on the way to oil depots is considerable but various experts said it will be only a matter of a short time before gasoline prices begin to go up at the pumps. Experts also speculated that it will take weeks, perhaps longer, for the Saudis to restore their output. The attack appeared to signal the arrival of a new reality that will affect the energy market and virtually all financial markets in a way that had not been anticipated when the world assumed, erroneously, drones and cruise missiles could be kept at bay. Through it all, Trump kept up his attack on the Federal Reserve Monday which begins its two-day policy meeting Tuesday. “Jay Powell & the Fed don’t have a clue,” he wrote. “And now, on top of it all, the Oil hit. Big Interest Rate Drop, Stimulus!” While in the air heading to his rally in Albuquerque, Trump was reported to have said a preliminary trade agreement with Japan has been settled.
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