Democratic senators are pressing the U.S. government’s top intelligence official about the war with Iran. That includes whether Tulsi Gabbard had advised President Donald Trump that Iran was likely to to block the Strait of Hormuz if Iran was attacked. Gabbard appeared at a Senate hearing Wednesday and she repeatedly deflected questions about the intelligence she had offered Trump. Democrats are trying to use a rare public forum to extract answers from intelligence officials about the widening conflict in the Middle East.

Farmers are bracing for effects of the Iran war on fertilizer prices and availability as the spring planting season nears. Farmers have complained about costly fertilizer for years, but prices have soared even higher since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. The war prompted Iran to largely block shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas. Besides increasing the price of fuel, which is key in the production of fertilizer, the shipping disruption also has reduced the export of nitrogen fertilizers manufactured in the Persian Gulf and limited access to key fertilizer ingredients.

The Treasury Department is easing sanctions on Venezuela’s state oil company, with some limits. The Trump administration is looking for ways to to ease oil prices that have soared during the Iran war. The U.S. issued a license on Wednesday that lets Venezuela's state-run company sell and export Venezuelan oil to U.S. buyers and on global markets. The move could have the effect of getting more oil into the world market. Separately, the White House says Trump will waive, for 60 days, requirements for goods shipped between U.S. ports to be moved on U.S.-flagged vessels for 60 days. That 1920s law is often blamed for making gas more expensive.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is calling for "new people in charge" of Cuba as the socialist island experiences its third nationwide blackout in four months. U.S. President Donald Trump has called Cuba a “very weakened nation.” He said on Monday that he believes he’ll have the “honor of taking Cuba.” On Tuesday Rubio, who is of Cuban heritage, said the current government is incapable to addressing the problems. The island's government blames its woes on a U.S. energy blockade after Trump in January warned of tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba. The country's aging grid has drastically eroded in recent years, leading to daily outages.

President Donald Trump relied on his gut and largely side-stepped diplomatic coordination as he made the decision to launch strikes on Iran with Israel. But now with the Iran war’s economic and geopolitical consequences unfurling rapidly, the Republican president is cajoling allies and other global powers to help mop up the mess. Trump says he’s asked roughly a half-dozen other countries to send warships to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz to oil traffic. So far, none has committed. Trump even indicated he'd use his long-planned trip to China to pressure Beijing to help with the coalition — a notion his Treasury secretary later downplayed.