FOX News contributor Newt Gingrich on FOX Business’ “Kudlow” said it will be considered an American defeat if President Trump can’t keep the Strait of Hormuz open. “I don’t care what it costs. If they can’t keep it open, this war will in fact be an American defeat before very long,” Gingrich told host Larry Kudlow. “If we can get the Strait open, then the world will calm down, the price of oil will collapse, and everything will be fine,” Gingrich said. “So I think the president probably has two or three weeks-every day he can hold open the Strait of Hormuz. Every day that oil tankers go through that strait safely, he buys another week in terms of getting things done. And that’s why I think the actual critical path to this whole fight is to get the Strait open, have lots of ships coming through safely, have the price of oil collapse, and all of a sudden people will relax and say, you know, we are going to win this thing. But that, I think, is the question which has to be answered.”

LARRY KUDLOW, FOX BUSINESS: Joining me now, great friend and mentor Newt Gingrich, former House Speaker, Fox News contributor. Newt, thank you. I know it’s late where you are. Will the Americans back this? Will the Americans stay the course? You know, $ 3.50 gasoline. My attitude is, who cares? You’re changing the arc of history. You’re changing and ending this 47-year war, et cetera, et cetera. Do we have confidence that American folks, particularly hard-working folks in the middle class, will they back Mr. Trump? NEWT GINGRICH: Well, I think they’ll back him for a little while, but they’re not going to back him forever. Look, there are three huge challenges that this administration has tackled. The first is that, and they should have frankly moved on this on day one, they have to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. I don’t care what it costs. If they can’t keep it open, this war will in fact be an American defeat before very long, because the entire world, including the American people, will react to the price of oil if the Strait stays closed very long. So I lived through this with Reagan, as you did, in the late 80s. Keeping the Strait open is the number one job, because it buys you time for the two other jobs. The second job is, we’re going to discover that the Revolutionary Guard is tougher than we thought it was, better connected, and have at least 200,000 people who are true believers, and they have no future. I mean, Trump can say unconditional surrender. These folks know if they lose power, they have no future. And the third challenge is, how do you arouse and organize the street, the 85 million or so people in Iran who do not want the current regime, but they’re unarmed, they’re unorganized, and that has to be solved? These three problems are going to decide whether this was a stroke of genius or, frankly, a step into quicksand. And I think that the president has to focus very hard on solving these three issues. KUDLOW: Well, it sounds like they’re going at-they may have been late to the starting gate, but on the Hormuz issue, it sounds like they’re working very hard. And I just have to believe, Newt, if-CENCOM’s going to-I mean, yes, we have reinsurance guarantees. That’s easy. CENCOM, the great U.S. Navy, once they go to work, they’re not going to reopen? I mean, isn’t that the-I think this has got to be the end of the Iranian, you know, monopoly over the Persian Gulf and oil and the global price. I mean, there’s so much oil supplies. We’re not-the United States itself, we’re not even dependent on the Middle East for oil supplies. But anyway, it just sounds like once we get to work on it, it’s going to be-we’ll take care of that, too. GINGRICH: Well, we have the potential to take care of it, but remember, these folks aren’t stupid. They watched us in the 80s. Reagan destroyed about half of the Iranian Navy in two days when they took us on, and his administration. What they’ve done, though, is they have dug into cliffs, much like somebody compared it to Iwo Jima. They have a lot of cruise missiles and other things that are-or rather, drones and other things that are hidden away. And they have tried to create a porcupine effect, where getting absolute control of the straits is going to be a fight. My point would be that should have been part of day one, because if we can get the Strait open, then the world will calm down, the price of oil will collapse, and everything will be fine. But if we can’t open the strait, then I think we’re on a very short time leash in terms of trying to get this thing solved. KUDLOW: Well, the president is asking, as I understand it, for four or five weeks. He’s saying perhaps we can do it sooner. He’s asking for four or five weeks. On Hormuz, I agree with you. I talked about it Friday. They let that one get away, but now they’re on it. I just have to believe, Newt, in my heart of hearts that Americans will be a lot more patient and supportive of the president. Does anybody like Iran? Is there a constituency here for terrorism and killers and all the rest of it that’s gone with Iran’s terrorism down through the years? They’ve even tried to assassinate the president. I mean, that’s my hope, that folks just-they want this to succeed, and they’re going to give the president a chance to do it. GINGRICH: Of course they want him to succeed. Most Americans, I think, 53 percent currently believe he did the right thing. Remember, you’ve lived through this. This is a country that lived through Vietnam. It lived through Iraq. It lived through Afghanistan. So the tendency to assume victory is not very deep right now. The president has a chance. He’s got a very smart, I think, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and I think that they have an opportunity here. But we also should recognize this is a big country. It’s got 90 million people. They’ve had a regime there since 1979, which has dug itself in, and defeating it is not necessarily an overnight experience. So I think the president probably has two or three weeks-every day he can hold open the Strait of Hormuz. Every day that oil tankers go through that strait safely, he buys another week in terms of getting things done. And that’s why I think the actual critical path to this whole fight is to get the Strait open, have lots of ships coming through safely, have the price of oil collapse, and all of a sudden people will relax and say, you know, we are going to win this thing. But that, I think, is the question which has to be answered. KUDLOW: Well, listen, I raised it last Friday and again today, so I can’t disagree with you, cannot disagree with Newt Gingrich. I got to jump, Newt. Thank you so much. We appreciate it, as always.

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