The growing conflict in the Middle East is fast causing an international energy crisis with the potential to ripple through global economies.

"If you have some kind of, you know, conflict or geopolitical disturbance in one part of the world, that is like throwing a rock in a pond. And the effects just ripple all the way through the global oil market," said Seth Blumsack, Professor of Energy Policy and Economics at Penn State University.

The problem right now is transporting oil out of the Middle East, according to the director of the International Energy Agency:

"There is no shortage of oil globally. The issue is the dislocation," said IEA's Faith Birol.

That's largely because of a near standstill in the Strait of Hormuz, where about 20% of the world's oil supply passes through daily.

RELATED NEWS | What to know about the Strait of Hormuz, a key passageway essential for global energy supply

Markets sink on spiraling Iran conflict and reports of job losses

Since the start of the war, Iran has attacked several ships in the strait and threatened tankers that try to pass through it, effectively closing it off.

The U.S. only gets a fraction of its oil from the Middle East, but that doesn't mean Americans won't feel the impact of price shocks.

"This is a war that impacts the entire world and the U.S. isn't completely immune for it, said Amena Bakr, Head of Middle East & OPEC+ Insights at Kpler.

That's because oil is priced on a global market.

Americans are already seeing that at the pump, where the price of a gallon of gas is up more than 30 cents from a week ago, according to AAA.

But it could also ripple through other areas dependent on natural gas and oil, says supply chain management professor Sequin Ozkul.

"We're going to be seeing definitely some huge impacts. Fertilizers may impact food prices. Petrochemicals are going to impact eventually consumer goods, plastic, packaging. So all of this has some ripple effects," Ozkul said.

America's war with Iran is already causing gas prices to soar at home.

The average cost of a gallon of gas in the U.S. is up more than 20 cents since the conflict began, according to AAA.

"Right now we're looking at oil prices that are moving higher as a result of the conflict in the Middle East, said AAAs Mark Jenkins.

That's because of a narrow strip of water bordering Iran and separating the Persian Gulf from the Indian Ocean: The Strait of Hormuz.

About 20% of the world's oil supply passes through there daily.

Since the start of the war, Iran has attacked several ships in the strait and threatened tankers that try to pass through it, effectively closing it off.

That's sent the price of a barrel of oil up more than 10% since the weekend.

RELATED NEWS | US working to charter flights for Americans trying to leave Middle East

President Trump downplayed the effects on Tuesday.

"If we have a little high oil prices for a little while. But as soon as this ends, those prices are going to drop, I believe, lower than even before, he said.

But later he announced a plan aimed at getting oil moving again, promising political risk insurance for maritime trade traveling through the gulf -- and potentially even U.S. Navy escorts for tankers moving through the strait.

So how high could prices get? A look back could offer a guide.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, prices rose nearly a dollar in just 30 days. But after last year's June strike on Iran, prices actually fell over the following 45 days.

In this case, the status of the Strait of Hormuz could be key in determining what long-term impact this conflict has on prices at the pump.

WAR IN IRAN | Officials identify 4 US service members killed in Iran conflict

America's war with Iran is expanding throughout the Middle East.

On Tuesday, U.S. Central Command said American forces have struck over 1,700 targets, including mobile missile launchers, in Iran.

President Trump claimed early successes in the war.

"We've had a very, very powerful impact because virtually everything they have has been knocked out," he said.

"The big-scale hitting goes now. They no longer have air protection. They no longer have any detection facilities at all left. They're going to be in for a lot of hurt."

But the conflict is now spreading throughout the region as Iran retaliates.

Saudi Arabia's defense ministry says a drone attack struck the U.S. embassy there.

That follows an attack on the U.S. embassy in Kuwait.

No injuries were immediately reported in either incident.

Those embassies, in addition to the U.S. embassy in Lebanon, are now closed, and more in the region are likely to follow.

RELATED NEWS | US embassy in Saudi Arabia struck by Iranian drones as conflict expands

Meanwhile, the State Department is urging Americans to immediately depart 14 Middle Eastern countries.

That includes Israel, where the U.S. embassy posted it cannot help Americans leave.

"I know that there's a lot of anxiety from a lot of people about wanting to leave the country," Said Ambassador Mike Huckabee. "Right now the options are fairly limited."

Many countries have closed their airspace and major U.S. airlines are avoiding the region. Delta, United and American Airlines have all paused or canceled flights.

President Trump was asked about Americans stuck in the region, but gave no definitive answer.

Reporter: Why wasn't there an evacuation plan? And will you send planes to get people out?

President Trump: Well, because it happened all very quickly.

MORE FROM IRAN | Rubio walks back claim that US strikes on Iran were influenced by Israel

Denzil Quick speaks for many small business owners when he says he's unsure about what comes next following the Supreme Court's decision to strike down many of President Trump's sweeping tariffs.

"Now we're stepping into tomorrow which is a big unknown. Because we still can't plan our business because we don't know what tomorrow brings," Quick said. "We've tried to sit down and look at the 'what if' scenarios, and you play those out in a thousand different directions, and we simply don't know. Because we don't know what the administration or the Congress will do next."

RELATED NEWS | Trump signs order for new tariffs after Supreme Court blocked earlier plan

President Trump announced over the weekend he'll raise global tariffs to 15% using a different trade mechanism than the one the Supreme Court just ruled was illegal.

On Monday the president threatened that any country that wants to "play games" following the court's decision "will be met with a much higher tariff."

But questions remain about what will happen to the more than $130 billion the U.S. collected from the now struck-down tariffs.

Many companies have already sued in lower courts to demand refunds, likely setting up lengthly legal battles.

Sara Albrecht's nonprofit, the Liberty Justice Center, is representing some of those businesses.

Scripps News' Maura Barrett: Is there any likelihood businesses or consumers see a refund?

Sara Albrecht: Consumers, probably not, because the businesses paid the tariff. But it should flow back to the businesses. And I feel very strongly that it will.

"Tariffs get overpaid all the time," Albrecht said. "Tariffs get wrongly charged all the times and CBP knows how to get that money back to the importer of record."

RELATED STORY | No, Trump did not call into C-SPAN to complain about Supreme Court ruling

Rick Woldernberg, a plaintiff in the Supreme Court case, is confident his business will receive a refund.

"I think we need to hear from the lower court on how they wish to proceed," Woldenberg said. "But the DOJ in our case said that if the tariffs were held to be unlawful, they will be returned."

Is there something more out there?

President Trump pledged on Thursday "to begin the process of identifying and releasing government files related to aliens and extraterrestrial life and unidentified flying objects."

It comes after he accused former President Barack Obama of revealing classified information when he was asked about aliens on a podcast:

Podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen: Are aliens real?

Barack Obama: they're real, but I haven't seen them, and they're not being kept in, what is it?

Cohen: Area 51

RELATED NEWS | 'They're real': Obama clarifies statement on aliens

"He gave classified information. He's not supposed to be doing that," President Trump said.

Obama later clarified on instagram he "saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us... Really!"

An astrophysicist weighs in on Trump's plans to share government UFO data

The idea of life beyond earth has long fascinated the public.

In 2022, Congress held public hearings on UFOs, and later that year the Pentagon created an office to investigate them.

It published a report in 2024 saying it "has discovered no evidence of extraterrestrial beings, activity, or technology."

But Avi Loeb, an astrophysicist who heads a Harvard project searching for extraterrestrial life, think there's still more work to be done:

"If the government tells us that there are anomalies that they cannot figure out, it is the duty of scientists like myself to help them figure it out," Loeb said. "My guess is that the most exciting data or evidence was never disclosed."

Ahead of President Trump's State of the Union address, the state of America's economy is in the spotlight.

America's trade deficit jumped to $70 billion in December, according to new data out Thursday, much of that fueled by a drop in gold exports.

Overall, last year's deficit was just over $900 billion, down just slightly from 2024.

Economists say President Trump's tariffs haven't substantially altered America's trade imbalance yet.

"This idea that were going to see a significant reduction in the trade deficit, especially over a short period of time definitely not the case," said Abby Hall, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Tampa.

RELATED STORY | Inflation cools to 2.4%, closer to Fed's target

206,000 people filed jobless claims last week, the fewest since early January.

Those numbers beat analysts' predictions, and they're coming on the heels of a stronger-than-expected January jobs report.

But data from the past year points to a labor market that's seen slow hiring with the exception of a few select areas.

"The bulk of jobs creation's really been focused in two areas, health care and social assistance," said Mark Hamrick, Senior Economic Analyst with Bankrate. "So if you're working in those sectors, you probably are feeling pretty good. If you're working elsewhere, perhaps not so good."

RELATED NEWS | More older Americans are returning to work over finances, survey finds

Meanwhile, Amazon dethroned Walmart in earnings for the final quarter of last year.

Walmart still reported strong figures Thursday and noted the majority of its gains came from higher-income households.

Its CEO John Furner says many lower-income Americans are still struggling.

"For households earning below $50,000, we continue to see the wallets are stretched, and in some cases, people are managing spending paycheck to paycheck," said Furner.

The Department of Justice is now agreeing to correct redaction errors in its latest batch of files connected to Jeffrey Epstein, according to lawyers representing survivors of the convicted sex offender.

One of those lawyers told a judge that after discussions with the DOJ, they "trust that the deficiencies will be corrected expeditiously and in a manner that meaningfully protects victims from further harm."

Lawyers previously said more than 100 women had their names made public after the DOJ released more than 3.5 million pages on Friday. And there have been thousands of instances of survivors' personal information being made public.

"Names, IDs, emails. All sorts of personal information was out there," said survivor Lisa Phillips. "It just doesn't make sense to me. I feel like it's very deliberate."

RELATED NEWS | Judge will hear from Epstein survivors after released documents published their names

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) sits on the House Oversight Committee, which is overseeing the Epstein investigation.

"The fact that that somebody's name was, was put out, in an error or whatever, to me, it's egregious and, and, and that just it can't be," Burchett said.

Attorney General Pam Bondi blamed redaction mistakes on various factors including "technical or human error."

The Justice Department did not respond to a Scripps News inquiry into when redaction mistakes would be fixed.

TRUMP ON EPSTEIN | Trump says US should move on from Epstein files, lashes out at reporter for pressing questions

This comes as President Donald Trump says it's time to move on from focusing on Epstein.

"I think it's really time for the country to get onto something else," the president said on Tuesday.

Democrats immediately fired back.

"You want us just to forget about it and move on? What about the survivors?" asked Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA). "It just shows how immature, venal, corrupt the elite in this country are that they're saying 'let's just move on.'"