WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that oil prices that have surged because of the Iran war likely won’t come down until after U.S. midterm elections.

Oil prices on Wednesday jumped more than 3%, pushing international Brent crude past the $100 threshold for the first time since July as salvos between the U.S. and Iran escalated.

“Right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward,” Trump said. “I think it’s going to take a little bit longer than the midterm.”

The comments were a striking acknowledgment from Trump about the conflict as his Republican administration faces mounting pressure to address high gas prices as the war in Iran grinds on with no conclusion in sight.

Trump, in an exchange with reporters before traveling to Dallas for the midterm Republican convention, added that he believes Iran will finally relent after the pivotal elections are held in the U.S.

“They’re desperate to try and affect the election, so that we can get a nice weak group of people in there, and leave them alone and let them have their nuclear weapon,” Trump said. He added, “I think the war’s going to end immediately after the election because they can’t hold out any longer.”

Trump also spoke at length about the war in Iran during his keynote address to the convention Wednesday evening. He acknowledged it caused energy prices to spike and financial markets to struggle, but said it was necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Trump also polled the audience, asking, “Does anyone here think Iran should have a nuclear weapon?” The crowd responded with a resounding “no.”

The president at the outset of the war said it would last a matter of weeks. The conflict is now in its seventh month. The U.S.-Israel war against Iran has led to a dramatic slowdown of Gulf oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz, which about 20% of the world’s petroleum passed through prior to the conflict.

Trump last week downplayed the conflict as “small potatoes” even as Republicans expressed concern the war will loom large with voters left navigating elevated gas prices and higher inflation.

The U.S. has tapped its strategic petroleum reserves, which in early August fell below 300 million barrels, down by more than 100 million barrels since the start of 2026.

Trump’s prediction that the war won’t be wrapped up until after Nov. 3 comes after Vice President JD Vance last week steered clear of predicting that the conflict would be over by the midterm elections, in which Republicans are trying to hang on to their narrow majorities in Congress.

Vance told reporters he didn’t want to set “artificial timelines” for the war’s end.

“But when you ask, ‘When will this end?’ You’re asking me a question like, ‘When will the Iranians stop shooting at ships?’” Vance said. “I think the reality is, I don’t know the answer to that question. You would have to ask the Iranians.”

U.S. benchmark crude on Wednesday stood at around $96 a barrel, and U.S. gasoline prices rose sharply overnight.

The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline ticked up 7 cents overnight t o hit $4.22, now more than a dollar above what it cost at this point last year, according to AAA.

Diesel prices, which can have an outsize impact on consumers because it is used in shipping and production, hit an all-time high Friday and have continued to climb since. The average price per gallon rose to $5.94 overnight, up 9 cents from Friday.

Jet fuel has become so expensive that U.S. and international carriers have cut flights while raising fares and fees.

The latest market gyrations come after the U.S. military reported striking five Iranian tankers in response to attempted missile attacks on a Navy warship and after attacks by an Iranian-backed Houthi rebel group ignited fires at oil facilities in Saudi Arabia.

MIAMI (AP) — Investigators are still trying to determine what caused an Amazon cargo jet to overshoot a runway in Miami and plow into two vehicles, killing five people on the ground.

The Boeing 767 hit a van on Miami International Airport property on Sunday before ramming through a fence and hitting an SUV on a public street. Five people who were a part of a cleaning crew in the van died while two survived. The pilot and co-pilot also lived.

National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy called the scene at the airport “utter devastation.”

Hundreds of flights at the Miami airport have been delayed or canceled as authorities investigate the crash site, where the jet and a mangled white van have remained. By late Tuesday, only one of the airport’s four runways was still closed, raising the likelihood that the cancellations would begin to ease.

Here’s what to know about the crash.

Jet spent a long time over the runway before touching down

The NTSB said the plane barreled roughly 1,300 feet (396 meters) past the end of the runway.

It was landing after a two-hour flight from Puerto Rico as storms brewed around the Miami airport.

Homendy called the scene “utter devastation,” with pieces of the vehicles, air bags, destroyed navigational equipment and fencing along the plane’s route. Investigators didn’t have full access to the site until all the jet fuel was recovered from the plane Monday evening.

Former FAA official Mike O’Donnell said that the fact that the plane landed on its nose and right landing gear first demonstrates this was an unstable landing. He said the pilot might have been attempting a “go-around” to retry the landing approach.

Video of the landing showed the plane hovering above the runway for a long time without flaring the nose to force the wheels onto the ground. Experts said it appeared a strong tail wind propelled the plane far past the point where it was supposed to land. Air traffic controllers also had not changed the approach to the runway to allow the plane to land into a headwind. Investigators will want to know how quickly the winds shifted.

All the people killed were in a cleaning service van

Amazon said in a statement that it is cooperating with the investigation and the company’s deepest sympathies go to the victims and their families.

The five people killed were all in a van owned by Professional Ocean Service Corp., a company that cleans planes. The company said it wouldn’t comment on the crash out of respect for the families who lost loved ones.

“Our employees are far more than the people who work beside us each day, they are family, and they are deeply loved. Our hearts and prayers are with every employee and every family whose lives have been forever changed,” the company said in a statement Tuesday.

The Miami-Dade sheriff identified the deceased as Rolando Aleman Leon, 55; Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo, 53; Julio C. Pineda, 75; Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53; and Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47.

The jet started as a passenger plane before converting to cargo

The 32-year-old Boeing 767 was originally built to carry passengers and flew for several airlines in foreign countries for more than two decades before being converted to a cargo plane in 2015, according to flight-tracking site Flightradar24.

The final flight was operated by 21 Air, a cargo carrier based in North Carolina.

Homendy said the jet’s ownership history, maintenance records and operations by 21 Air would all be reviewed by NTSB investigators.

It’s the second crash of a cargo jet in the U.S. in less than a year. A UPS plane crashed after losing its engine while accelerating down the runway at Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport in October. The crash killed all three pilots and 12 people on the ground. Twenty-three more were injured.

Miami airport lacked system to stop speeding jets

Homendy has said the NTSB will look at Miami’s lack of a special system to slow and stop speeding jets at the end of runways. But investigators will examine everything that may have contributed.

About 120 airports in the U.S. have the lightweight, crushable material that the Federal Aviation Administration says has saved around 500 lives.

Even without a runway excursion system, Miami’s airport appears to be compliant with federal rules because it has a 1,000-foot (305-meter) safety buffer at the end of its runways, experts said.

Homendy said her agency’s goal is to prevent tragedies, but runway excursions continue to happen even after the board has suggested installing the systems in the past.

“Our recommendations must be implemented or we’re going to be here again,” she said.