U.S. Asks for Help to Address Energy Crisis

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0:18The U.S. tries building a coalition to address the growing energy crisis. We'll look at how American allies are responding. And nobody, including the U.S. Navy at this point, seems to want to put ships in harm's way because the Strait of Hormuz is so small. It's so easy for the Iranians to hit ships. Plus, airline execs lean on lawmakers to end a partial government shutdown causing long lines at airports. And Europe's far left gets its moment. It's Monday, March 16th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM edition of What's News. The top headlines and business stories moving your world today.

1:01The U.S. is appealing for help in its push to keep the Strait of Hormuz open to marine traffic. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One last night, President Trump said that seven countries had been approached about policing the waterway, a mission he seemed to imply was low stakes, and adding that the U.S. would remember which countries declined to help. It'd be interesting to see what country would help us with a very small endeavor, which is just keeping the strait open. While Trump declined to name names, he all but confirmed that China was asked to help protect the strait. As we await a response from Beijing, our Brussels bureau chief Dan Michaels told me that several NATO countries and other close U.S.

1:43allies in the Pacific could disappoint Trump with their lack of interest in joining the mission. So far, Japan and Australia both have signaled that they are not going to send any ships. For Japan, it's not really surprising because their entire defense posture really is homeland security. The big question will be Europeans because the almost complete cutoff of fuel from the Persian Gulf is hitting Europe hard already and the energy situation is only going to get worse for Europe. So the issue Europe faces is whether to participate in a war that most Europeans object to or to look out for their economic interests and join the U.S.

2:28Dan, in terms of where this leaves us, we've heard a little bit from the United Kingdom and from France, the U.K. seemingly erring towards maybe sending anti-mining ships while the French, as vocalized by President Emmanuel Macron, may send escort ships, but only after intense fighting is over. I guess the question over the next few days is going to be, if that's kind of what we hear from Washington's NATO allies in Europe, is that going to be enough? The European perspective on this seems to be that they don't want to actively contradict or go against Trump and anger him that way. But at the same time, they don't want to commit to doing something that they don't want to do.

3:04Another issue is the Europeans don't have a lot of ships that they can send and, in fact, recently committed a lot of ships to Arctic security, in part because of Trump's desire for Greenland. One possible type of ship they could send is the Europeans do have anti-mine ships to look for and sweep naval mines that Iran might put in the Persian Gulf. But those ships are not meant to go into live combat. And nobody, including the U.S. Navy at this point, seems to want to put ships in harm's way because the Strait of Hormuz is so small, it's so easy for the Iranians to hit ships. So it's a very dangerous place for any ship, including the world's most advanced warships, to be sailing.

3:50That was the Journal's Dan Michaels. Speaking on CBS News' Face the Nation, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Arangchi blamed the situation in the strait on President Trump and said that Tehran was working with certain unnamed countries to let their ships through. So we provide them security to pass because we have not closed this strait. They are not coming themselves because of the insecurity which is there because of the aggression by the U.S. Meanwhile, after previously predicting that any energy price jump caused by the war would be very temporary, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright is refusing to rule out that prices could now stay higher for longer.

4:26Here he was speaking to Martha Raddatz on ABC News' This Week. Yes, we go through this period of short-term disruption, but better to do it now than to have a nuclear-armed Iran. Are you really sure it's going to be short-term? Can you guarantee it'll just be weeks before prices go down? Hey, there's no guarantees in wars at all. I can guarantee the situation would be dramatically worse without this military operation to defang the Iranian regime. Those comments come as we exclusively report that oil execs told White House officials last week that the energy crisis could continue to worsen and that the options available to the U.S.

5:06would do little to address the situation. President Trump didn't attend the meetings with CEOs. According to AAA, gas prices across the U.S. today are averaging$3.72 a gallon, up 24 cents from a week ago. Meanwhile, WTI and Brent Crude Futures are both trading above$100 a barrel this morning.

5:29Roughly 3 ,800 workers at a major Colorado meatpacking plant are set to go on strike this morning after failing to negotiate a new labor contract after months of negotiations. The union representing workers wants plant owner JBS to align wages with the higher cost of living in Colorado and to stop charging employees for certain protective equipment worn on site. The union's president for Colorado and Wyoming, Kim Cordova, spoke to 9 News Denver. Our members are prepared. They voted to strike, and we're ready to take on this fight. JBS maintains that its offer to workers is strong and fair. The walkout would be the first at a U.S.

6:07beef slaughterhouse since the 1980s. and comes as cattle populations hit a 75-year low, driving the price of ground beef up 17 % over the last year. The higher prices are hurting manufacturers' profits, with JBS, Cargill, and Tyson Foods all closing plants and slashing shifts this year. U.S. airline executives are urging Congress to restore funding to the Department of Homeland Security and ensure that air traffic controllers and airport security officers are paid. That says the ongoing partial government shutdown is causing long wait times at airports at the start of the busy spring travel season.

6:43In an open letter to Congress published Sunday online and in the Washington Post, top executives from airlines including Delta, American, and Southwest wrote that air travel had once again become a political football. According to the letter, U.S. airlines are expecting a record 171 million passengers this spring. And China's economy has started the year on a strong footing, giving leaders there more breathing room as they try to shift the country's growth engine toward consumption. Industrial output, fixed asset investment, and retail sales all grew as expected. Jonathan Cheng is our Beijing bureau chief.

7:20We have an economy that is generally doing better to start the year than generally expected. And that's good because it gives China and its policymakers just a little bit more wiggle room right now to maneuver the consumption. It's the sort of thing that is going to be somewhat painful because the country has had a different model for all these decades. And China recognizes that the limits of exports as a growth engine may be upon them. And therefore, they recognize that they do need to shift. But it's very difficult in a country where people are not accustomed to spending in the same way that Americans are.

7:52And just there's a lot of apprehension about the future because China's growth rate has been so strong for so long. And now it's really slowed down and that's made people concerned about the future. China's new GDP target lies between four and a half and five percent for the year. Coming up, are Europe's political winds changing? We'll look at a wave of momentum powering a rise of the far left from the UK to Italy after the break.

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8:55Voters in France went to the polls yesterday in local elections. The far-right national rally performed well, hardly a surprise after several years of gathering momentum. But so did candidates from the far-left France unbowed, part of a trend of rising left-wing enthusiasm across Europe that's caught the attention of our Germany bureau chief Bertrand Benoit. Bertrand, I imagine that the crucial distinction for listeners is going to be, is the far left having a moment, as you report that it is, the same as actually winning? What are you seeing? Yes, Lou, exactly. The left is having a bit of a moment.

9:32To be sure, it's nothing on the scale of the moment that the far right has had across the region, but it's something that you can distinguish. And you see this in opinion polls, but you also see this in election results. The latest example was in the UK, where we had a by-election and the Green Party won the election. And this was in a constituency that used to be dominated by the Labour Party, the softer left, if you like, for about a century. So it was a big deal. And then, you know, we're seeing this in Germany as well to a slightly lesser extent. It started just before the general election in February last year.

10:07And the left party called the Linke, which is the successor party to the East German Communist Party, had a big jump in ratings just before the election and ended up in double digits, which was quite remarkable. What's driving this? Many of the economic anxieties that are present in the countries you've been describing are not new exactly. Has something changed otherwise? There are three main drivers. One is it's a bit of a pushback against the right. So it's a reaction or a counter reaction, if you like. The second is the international context. A lot of the supporters of these parties think that they are more effective at pushing back against the trends coming from the US, for instance, and the very aggressive policy there, while many governments have been quite supine in their reaction or relationship with Trump.

10:55And then the last one is, and they say it's the biggest one and the most important one is economic anxiety. You're right that these problems have been around for some time, but the cost of living is a huge issue, especially for younger people. And so is the job prospects with the rise of AI, which is making career very uncertain. Yeah, we've definitely heard that sentiment from voters in a number of countries, Bertrand. But as you report, not everyone views electoral politics as necessarily the way to address those issues. Yes, and there's a noticeable uptick in far-left violence or violence by far-left groups.

11:29Just to be clear, we're not suggesting that the parties we've mentioned are backing the violence or fomenting violence or even agree with it. There's no hint of a connection between these parties and these groups. But you've seen attacks by eco-terrorists in Germany, for instance, on the power grid. You've seen beatings and even a murder in France that has caused. quite a lot of uproar in the country. So this is also a part of the general trend, if you like, which is one towards more polarization at all levels. What's the chance we see any of these parties really sweep into power? We've seen how more establishment parties have responded to the rise of the far right in recent years, often kind of banding together in somewhat awkward alliances on occasion to stop them.

12:14I'm curious how they're reacting here. So the prospect of this party is coming to power is still very low, at least at the national level. Even the far-right parties that are doing much better are having really a difficult time coming to power in many of these countries. What you could see, though, is this party is growing big enough to influence politics more generally. And then you see also in some more centrist, left-of-center parties, the discourse is changing because they're seeing the victory of Zoran Mamdani in New York as a bit of a signal that the soft centrist discourse is not doing it anymore and you need something a little more muscular.

12:52It looks different because in the US it's happening within the parties and this conversation is happening within two big parties. The discussion about the pros and cons of Mandani's approach and platform and program and ideas, it's a conversation that's happening within the Democratic Party. Here it would be, you know, a lot of what is talking about are policies that would be more at home with the linker or a party like the Greens in the UK than with Labour or the SPD, you know, or the socialist in France. I've been speaking to Wall Street Journal Germany bureau chief Bertrand Benoit. Bertrand, thank you so much for the update.

13:27Thanks, Luke. Anytime.

13:32And finally, it was a big night for one battle after another at the Oscars, with the Paul Thomas Anderson movie taking home best picture, director, adapted screenplay, and supporting actor. Reporting from the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, Journal's Ben Fritz says there were also a few surprises. Sinners won for cinematography. The first time a woman or a person of color has ever won that prize. It's been all white men for the past 97 years. So that was a tremendous change for the entertainment industry, for Hollywood. And the applause in the room was rapturous. Also tonight was the first ever Oscar given for casting, which is, of course, the person who finds the actors to fill every role big and small.

14:11This year's nominees were all movies that were also nominated for Best Picture. Sinners, The Secret Agent, Marty Supreme, Hamnet, and One Battle After Another. And the prize went to One Battle After Another. And that's it for What's News for this Monday morning. Today's show was produced by Hattie Moyer and Daniel Bach. Our supervising producer is Sandra Killhoff. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.

15:01that unpacks the stories making news in Washington right now and how they may affect your finances and portfolio. Listen at schwab.com slash WashingtonWise.