The Editor: President Trump repeatedly told reporters that the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz was costing Iran $500 million per day.

Trump Claims His Blockade Is Costing Iran $500 Million A Day - Siladitya Ray - Forbes

The Editor asked ChatGPT the estimated cost of the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz to the USA and the estimated cost to America is $1.5B – $1.7B per day.

The estimated cost to the world

Estimated global cost: ≈ $5B – $9B per day

The blockade started April 13, 2026. The days to date are 12 days:

To date costs: Iran: $6 B US: $18 B - $20.4 B World: $60 B - $108 B

The US consumes 376 million gallons of gasoline and 161 million gallons of diesel every day.

The increase of gas resulting from the blockade is estimated at $1 extra per gallon for gas and $1.50 extra per gallon of diesel.

The estimated extra price we pay for gas and diesel each day is:

Gas: 376,000,000 x $ 1.00 = $376 million

Diesel: 161,000,000 x $1.50 = $241.5 million

When added together, just is gas and diesel, Americans are paying $617 million.

Kinda crazy to brag about hurting Iran with a $500 million per day cost and be sticking the American consumer with a $617 million bill every day, for fuel alone.

The discussion with ChatGPT:

The daily net cost to the USA resulting from the USA blockade of the Strait of Hormuz

There isn’t a single official “daily net cost” figure for the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, but you can get a realistic range by separating direct military costs and indirect economic costs (especially oil prices).

1) Direct U.S. military cost (daily)

Early war estimates: about $891 million/day during initial operations
Ongoing operations estimate: roughly ~$1 billion per day

👉 Baseline direct cost:
≈ $0.9B – $1.0B per day

This includes:

Carrier strike groups
Air operations and munitions
Mine-clearing operations (which may last months)
Logistics across the Persian Gulf

2) Indirect cost via oil prices (this is the big one)

The Strait normally carries ~20% of global oil supply

During the blockade:

Oil prices jumped to around $95–$106 per barrel
Pre-conflict baseline was closer to ~$70–$75

Price shock:

Increase ≈ $25–$35 per barrel

U.S. consumption:

~20 million barrels/day (standard EIA-level consumption)

Cost impact:

20M barrels × $25–$35 increase
= $500M – $700M per day extra cost to the U.S. economy

👉 This shows up as:

Higher gasoline prices
Inflation across goods (transport, food, logistics)
Reduced consumer spending power

3) Secondary macroeconomic costs

Harder to quantify daily, but real:

Stock market declines and volatility
Higher interest rates due to inflation
Supply chain disruptions
Airline and shipping cost spikes

These can amplify total economic drag beyond the oil calculation, but aren’t easily expressed per day.

4) Context: Who is being hit hardest?

Iran: ~$400M–$435M/day losses
Global economy: tens of billions in disruption

Bottom line (best estimate)

Total daily net cost to the U.S.:

Direct military: ~$1.0B/day
Oil price impact: ~$0.5B–$0.7B/day

👉 Estimated total:

Voice of the Mainland

Friday, April 24, 2026

The Editor: The Cost of the Blockade of the Strait of Hormuz to Iran and to the USA