The White House has done it again. Barely a month after it blamed a staffer for “mistakenly" sharing a video depicting former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes, it has once again blamed an intern for its latest gaffe on theStrait of Hormuz.
The chaos began when a short-lived social media post from US energy secretary Chris Wright triggered confusion across global energy markets this week after claiming the United States Navy had escorted an oil tanker through theStrait of Hormuz. The statement was quickly deleted and later contradicted by the White House, but not before it rippled through financial markets and sparked a propaganda exchange with Iranian officials.
The now-deleted message suggested the operation ensured “oil remains flowing to global markets". However, within hours, the White House clarified that no escort had actually taken place, and the claim was inaccurate, the Wall Street Journal reported.
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Officials later said the post was the result of an incorrectly captioned message by an intern, and it was removed soon after publication.
JUST IN: The White House just blamed an intern for the worst information warfare defeat of the 21st century.Here is the sequence. Energy Secretary Chris Wright posted on social media that a US Navy-escorted oil tanker had successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz. The claim…https://t.co/1jt2KcLhEepic.twitter.com/wtDdq2FZJu
— Shanaka Anslem Perera ⚡ (@shanaka86)March 11, 2026
The correction assumed significance as it came at a sensitive moment: the United States and Israel are engaged in a military confrontation with Iran, and shipping through the Strait has been severely disrupted.
The narrow waterway normally carries around 20 per cent of global oil supplies, making even small changes in its status extremely important for markets.
While America may have thought it was quick to delete the tweet, social media, unfortunately for them, always has evidence.
Source: World News in news18.com, World Latest News, World News
