President Donald Trump and members of his administration are attempting to defuse concerns over skyrocketing energy costs. The problem may, however, get a whole lot worse before getting better.

Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil normally transits the Strait of Hormuz, a stretch of water between Iran and Oman that links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman.

The latest Middle Eastern conflict, now in its second week, has not only prompted various regional energy giants to temporarily shutter their operations but effectively halted traffic through the strait, as illustrated by Marine Vessel Traffic’s real-time map.

‘The sky is the limit.’

These interruptions to the global energy supply have driven up oil prices to over $100 per barrel of crude.

Prior to the opening bell on Monday morning, the international benchmark Brent crude saw an intraday high of nearly $120 per barrel. After trading at over $104 per barrel after opening, Brent fell closer to $102.

Citing data from over 12 million individual price reports, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at the price-tracking service GasBuddy, noted, “The nation’s average price of gasoline has risen 51.1 cents over the last week and stands at $3.45 per gallon.”

“The national average is up 54.1 cents from a month ago and is 41.6 cents per gallon higher than a year ago,” continued De Haan. “The national average price of diesel rose 85.9 cents in the last week and stands at $4.599 per gallon.”

RELATED: Iran promises to cease attacks on neighboring countries as Trump warns it will be ‘hit very hard’

Photo by Alain JOCARD/AFP/Getty Images

De Haan projected the national average for gasoline prices might soon reach $3.65-$3.85 per gallon and suggested that the three remaining states with gas prices below $3 per gallon — Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arizona — won’t be able to maintain that ceiling for long.

When asked on Saturday whether he might consider utilizing America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to alleviate some of the pressure at home, Trump told reporters, “We’ve got a lot of oil. Our country has a tremendous amount.” The president then criticized former President Joe Biden’s massive withdrawals from the reserve.

Facing market signals that oil prices would continue rising, the president and his administration attempted the following day to downplay the issue and emphasize the short-lived nature of the cost increase.

Trump noted on Sunday, “Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace.”

“ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!” added the president.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright told “Fox News Sunday” that coalition forces are “massively attriting” Iran’s ability to strike oil assets in the Middle East and “that rate of attrition will increase in the coming days” such that “energy will flow soon.”

Wright claimed further that the surging cost of oil and gas “has nothing to do with any shortage of barrels of oil or natural gas. It’s just fear and perception.”

The energy secretary also pushed this notion on CBS News, claiming that the price spikes are resultant of “emotional reactions and fear that this is a long-term war,” adding that “it’s a temporary movement.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt similarly emphasized that the cost increases will be brief, telling Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that the price rises amount to a “short-term disruption for the long-term gain of taking out the rogue Iranian terrorist regime and finally ending their restriction of the free flow of energy in the Middle East.”

Neil Atkinson, the former head of oil at the International Energy Agency, is among the analysts who believe this disruption has all the makings of a historic crisis.

“Though there are oil stocks around the world, the point is that if this closure of the Strait persists, those oil stocks, if they are deployed, will be depleted and we are going to be in a situation where, with the oil production actually shut in, in Iraq and possibly in Kuwait, and maybe even, in time, in Saudi Arabia, that we are going to be in a crisis the likes of which we have never seen before,” Atkinson told CNBC.

When asked about oil prices, Atkinson said, “There is no precedent for this. The sky is the limit.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Oil, Gas, Energy, Market, Markets, Barrel, Crude, Iran, Iran war, Iran strikes, Strait of hormuz, Donald trump, Trump, Politics 

A 20-year-old Florida female gave birth in a toilet in her home last week, left her newborn girl there, waited until her baby stopped “crying and moving,” and watched her baby die, police said.

Authorities received a call around 4 a.m. Friday requesting a welfare check on Anne Mae Demegillo, 20, of Palm Coast, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said.

‘May God bless this infant and hold and comfort the baby in his loving hands with the love the baby never received on earth.’

The caller told dispatchers Demegillo had sent messages to the caller stating she had been secretly pregnant and unexpectedly gave birth at home, officials said. The message indicated that Demegillo’s baby was born alive and crying, but Demegillo had done something to the infant, officials said.

Deputies arrived on scene and met with Demegillo, who told them she wasn’t sure she was pregnant but began experiencing severe abdominal pain around 3 a.m. Thursday and later delivered the newborn in her bathroom toilet, officials said.

Demegillo claimed she thought the infant was deceased, so she hid the infant in a duffle bag in her closet and went about her normal daily routine, officials said.

When Demegillo returned home from a theater performance in New Smyrna Beach, she buried the deceased infant in a shallow grave in her backyard, officials said, adding that at no point did Demegillo contact emergency services for assistance.

Detectives determined that Demegillo knowingly and purposefully allowed the newborn to drown in the toilet, officials said.

Chief Deputy Joe Barile of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office told WESH-TV, “It baffles me, to be completely honest. Sometimes you can’t explain everything.”

The newborn girl weighed three pounds, six ounces, and measured 18 inches long, the station noted.

“She goes to the bathroom, she thought she had cramps, pains, and … she goes into labor, and then delivers a child,” Barile said, according to WESH. “She sees it in the toilet, leaves it there, watches it, hears it cry, and waits until it stops crying and moving.”

RELATED: University of Kentucky cheerleader arrested after allegedly stashing her dead baby in garbage bag, hiding body in closet

Barile added to the station that “she hid the infant in a duffel bag in her closet and went about her normal routine. She went to her college.” Barile told WESH the suspect also went to the Little Theatre in New Smyrna Beach for a performance in which she played the character Virtue in the musical “Anything Goes.”

Detectives said Demegillo returned home around 10 p.m. Thursday and buried the baby, wrapped in a towel, in the backyard grave, the station said. Barile added to WESH that “deputies only had to remove, I’d say, four to five inches of dirt to find the baby.”

Deputies told the station the newborn appears to have died from abandonment.

Demegillo faces aggravated manslaughter charges, WESH said, adding that she showed no sadness or remorse. She appeared before a judge Saturday morning and was denied bond, the station reported.

“This is a heartbreaking tragedy for our community, for the family involved, and an emotionally difficult case for our team,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said. “I want to remind our community, especially our expectant mothers: Florida law allows you to bring a child at birth to a local fire station, hospital, or law enforcement agency and surrender the child. That is a much better solution than what we are investigating today — for everyone involved, but most importantly the infant who was prevented from the life they deserve. May God bless this infant and hold and comfort the baby in his loving hands with the love the baby never received on earth.”

Under Florida’s Safe Haven Law, parents who cannot care for a newborn may safely surrender the child at any fire station, hospital, or police station, officials said. Palm Coast’s Safe Haven Baby Box allows for complete anonymity and is located at Fire Station 25, officials said. Parents can quietly and safely place their newborn inside the secure, climate-controlled box without having to interact with anyone face-to-face, officials said.

Those with information are encouraged to contact the sheriff’s office at 386-313-4911.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Florida, Newborn, Toilet, Arrest, Birth, Aggravated manslaughter of a child, Bond denied, Jailed, Secretly pregnant, Flagler county sheriff’s office, Palm coast, Buried newborn, Crime 

A tense exchange between press secretary Karoline Leavitt and CNN’s Kaitlan Collins unfolded at a recent White House press briefing — and BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales couldn’t be more impressed with the way Leavitt handled it.

“You have CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, who started out at the Daily Caller, was hired by Tucker Carlson. She was writing for conservative media, and somewhere along the way, her brain melted,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales explains.

“So clearly, it is her life’s mission now to just make Donald Trump look bad,” she says.

“Is it the position of this administration that the press should not prominently cover the deaths of U.S. service members?” Collins asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt at a recent press conference.

“No,” Leavitt answered. “It’s the position of this administration that the press in this room and the press across the country should accurately report on the success of Operation Epic Fury.”

“So we can all be very grateful that we have an administration and that we have men and women in our armed forces who are willing to sacrifice their own lives for the rest of us in this room and for every American across the country and for every troop that is based in the Middle East,” she added.

Collins then interjected that Pete Hegseth “was complaining that it was front-page news about these six service members who were killed.”

“That’s not what the secretary said, Kaitlin, and that’s not what the secretary meant. And you know it — you know you’re being disingenuous. We’ve never had a secretary of defense who cares more,” Leavitt responded.

Collins again interjected, reading Hegseth’s comment, which included that “the press only wants to make the president look bad.”

“The press does only want to make the president look bad. That’s a fact,” Leavitt said.

“We expect you to cover that as you should, Kaitlan. But you and your network know that you take every single thing this administration says and tries to use it to make the president look bad,” she added.

Collins continued to argue, but she was no match for Leavitt, who pointed out that “CNN’s overwhelming coverage” of President Donald Trump is “negative” and that the American people would agree with that.

“There’s no disputing that,” Gonzales comments. “The American people don’t want to hear from CNN, because we all know this is, of course, the agenda. This is the playbook. It’s the only playbook that they have.”

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Kaitlan collins, Press secretary, Karoline leavitt, Pete hegseth, President trump, President donald trump, Cnn 

There’s good news at the Nelson residence. I no longer have to pay my rent!

That is, I don’t have to pay it the way I used to pay it. I now have options. I have been empowered. I can choose when I’m going to pay it. And how much I’m going to pay.

They are counting on you being stupid. And not being able to keep your head above water. That’s what they like to see. Millions and millions of heads, barely above sea level.

I can pay some of my rent now, and some of it later, according to my personal “cash-flow needs.”

Unlike in the past, I am released from the burden of coming up with all that rent money in one unwieldy chunk at the beginning of the month.

Now, I can spread my rent out into multiple payments, giving me freedom, flexibility, and financial control!

Flex my life

This has been made possible by a new product called Flex Rent, which my landlord has been pushing on me all month.

I have been receiving emails from Flex (the company behind Flex Rent) every single day. My landlord was helpful enough to give Flex my email address. Which leads me to conclude my landlord must really want me (and all his other tenants) to enroll in Flex.

Looking into it, I realize why. Because my landlord will get all the rent at the beginning of the month, just like he does now. Flex Rent will pay him.

Meanwhile, I can pay my rent to Flex Rent according to my “values” and my “financial goals” and my “monetary situation.”

In other words, when I’m not dead broke.

Land of the fee

Of course, Flex Rent is just trying to make a buck off renter Americans. Especially those in financial difficulties: people living paycheck to paycheck and doing so by a thin margin.

Flex Rent is trying to help those special people who, thanks to inflation, higher taxes, and job discrimination, are barely surviving financially.

Imagine you’re drowning. Onlookers call for help. Your friends at Flex Rent immediately arrive with a life preserver — only to ask for a small fee in order to throw it to you.

Ah yes, the small fee.

And what is that small fee? You start by paying Flex Rent $14.99 a month and 1% of your rent amount. Where I live that adds up to around $40/a month.

In exchange, they will front my rent money to my landlord. And I will get a few extra days or weeks to scratch up the rest.

With Flex Rent, everybody wins. My landlord gets his money. I am given “financial flexibility.” And Flex Rent — if the company can sign up enough people — will get rich off the growing number of financially desperate renters.

Klarna chameleon

Of course, Klarna started this trend. Klarna is that fun company that inserts itself between you and many of the companies you shop from online.

Let’s say you’re really hungry. You want to order a large pepperoni pizza. But you’re a little short on cash right now. Klarna magically appears in your pizza delivery app and offers to help.

Klarna will pay for your large pizza right now. All you have to do is pay Klarna back in installments. And there’s no interest! Not yet, anyway.

RELATED: Coffee is for closers; ‘artisanal’ coffee is for self-hating libs

Washington Post/NASA/Getty Images

You better, you bet

What’s interesting about Klarna and Flex Rent is that they exist in a crowded marketplace. Nowadays, there are many, many companies fighting for those last scraps of your paycheck.

All of which is happening during a time when your average American is having trouble even procuring a paycheck.

The various gambling websites are typical of these companies. They have figured out ways to transform your love of sports into highly addictive betting opportunities.

Outfits like Polymarket make it possible for you to gamble on non-sporting events. You can now bet on your local congressional race. Or who will win an Oscar. Whatever your interests, there are ways to lose money on them.

Meanwhile, Big Pharma also wants your last 20 bucks. As do your local streaming services. As does your local gas station.

It seems the less money Americans have, the more companies appear to fight over what’s left of it.

Stupid tax

Of course, the strategies used by Flex Rent and Klarna have existed as long as humans have exchanged goods and services. But these days, monetizing the moneyless is a growth business.

Even as I write this, more of these companies are coming into existence. There’s now a useful acronym used to describe their services: BNPL. “Buy now, pay later.” Here is just a sampling of some of the newer BNPL companies:

NOWpaymentsAffirmCredeeSezzleQuickFeeAfterpaySplitIt

Each of these new outfits has its own particular gimmick. But they all do the same thing: take advantage of your fiscal misfortune, while pretending they’re “empowering” you.

You might ask yourself, “Do these companies think I’m stupid?” And the answer is yes, they do.

They are counting on you being stupid. And not being able to keep your head above water. That’s what they like to see. Millions and millions of heads, barely above sea level.

But maybe it’s good that these companies will help you buy that large pepperoni pizza. Don’t you need your pizza? And why should the pizza maker get all your pizza money? The Klarna folks need money too. Aren’t we all in this together?

​Lifestyle, Men, Blake’s progress, Rent, Buy now pay later, Personal finance, Flex rent, Klarna, Polymarket