Vice President JD Vance backed President Donald Trump's economic measures against Iran, describing economic pressure as the U.S.'s most effective tool for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and achieving denuclearization. Vance said oil prices had come down substantially from their high point because the U.S. military had enabled more oil and gas to leave the waterway, though flows would need to increase further to ease prices at American gas stations. He said Iran was being punished for shooting at commercial ships and that the U.S. would do everything it could to prevent further attacks. The White House's Rapid Response 47 account posted clips of Vance's interview on The Clay and Buck Show on August 20, 2026. Separately, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. environmental regulator, issued an emergency waiver allowing an early transition to winter gasoline blends, which the agency said could add hundreds of thousands of barrels per day to supply and reduce pump prices. U.S. diesel prices remained high, with the diesel crack spread, a measure of refiners' margins for converting crude into diesel, previously reaching $102 per barrel.