The Houthis have blocked Saudi oil shipments through the Red Sea, squeezing global oil supply further and pushing US gas prices up — bad for drivers, bad for Trump, and more leverage for Iran.

• The blockade cuts off Saudi Arabia's main workaround after the Strait of Hormuz closed, taking another chunk of world oil supply offline.
• US gas hit $4 a gallon and oil topped $90 a barrel, and prices have only stayed this low because countries have been draining their emergency oil reserves.
• Those reserves are nearly empty and take a long time to refill, so the next disruption hits prices much harder.
• Iran has shown it can strike well-defended US bases in Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait, with likely help from Russia and China.
• The US is running low on missiles and interceptors even as it asks Congress for a bigger war budget, and there is no stated exit strategy.

Outlook: Expect more escalation talk and higher gas prices, with the political damage to Trump growing fast if American troops start dying before November's election.