The move aims to prevent prices from rising further because of the war in the Middle East.
The United States and Israel launched more strikes against Iran, where crowds mourned military commanders killed in the war. Israel also bombed targets in Lebanon, where the death toll climbed.
Just before the war began, the Federal Bureau of Investigation told state officials that Iran might respond with drone attacks on California. No specific, credible threats have been identified.
Despite his tough talk, President Trump has consistently made allowances for countries he sees as powerful or dominant.
Outdated targeting data may have resulted in a mistaken missile strike, according to the ongoing military investigation, which undercuts President Trump’s assertion that Iran could be to blame.
America’s vast economic powers are able to wear down an adversary’s economy but are insufficient to topple leaders on their own.
The effects of the war are being felt through the Persian Gulf.
In the lead-up to the U.S.-Israeli attack, President Trump downplayed the risks to the energy markets as a short-term concern that should not overshadow the mission to decapitate the Iranian regime.
Trump administration officials cast the president as the sole arbiter on the U.S. war effort. International aid groups were warning of a growing humanitarian crisis in Lebanon, where nearly 700,000 people had been displaced, the U.N. said.
Senate Democratic leaders called on President Trump to dispatch the senior cabinet officials to make the case to Congress and the American public for the war in Iran.