Andy Baker, White House deputy national security adviser and a close aide to Vice President JD Vance, is to resign in the coming weeks, according to Axios, as the conflict with Iran worsens. His departure follows renewed Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and comes only days after Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced her own resignation, adding to the sense of upheaval within Donald Trump's administration as the crisis drags on.

Baker had helped shape US foreign policy for 18 months and drafted the Memorandum of Understanding Iran signed in June, an agreement Tehran has since abandoned. Iran has launched drone strikes on tankers in the Strait, through which roughly a fifth of global oil passes, with traffic down to nine vessels on Thursday against a pre-war average of over 100 daily. Brent crude has risen to around $87 a barrel and US petrol prices exceed $4 a gallon, adding economic pressure on Trump ahead of the midterm elections. Baker said he was leaving on good terms, and Vance praised him as an "indispensable" member of the national security team.