Gas prices since the outbreak of the Iran war have hit a new record high, with the average price per gallon in the U.S. costing consumers nearly $4.23, according to AAA.
Overall, gas prices have risen by nearly 150 percent since the war began in late February. Wednesday’s figure tops a similar record set the day before and marks the highest prices at the pump for U.S. consumers since April 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine.
The oil-price hike has sent ripples across the economy, with airlines considering reducing flights and increasing fares, while some gas stations have cut into their margins to offer customers artificially lower prices in the hopes of keeping their business.
“This is the most serious squeeze, in terms of margin suppression, we’ve seen for retailers since 2020,” Tom Kloza, chief energy adviser to Gulf Oil, told NBC News.
Persistently high prices could harm the president and the Republican party, not to mention the global economy, which the IMF has forecast could go into a recession if the war continues disrupting the oil trade in the vital Strait of Hormuz.
More than half of registered voters said they blame President Trump “a lot” for rising gas prices, according to a recent poll.
The president’s popularity has hit a second-term low in recent days, with just 34 percent of respondents telling a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday they approve of the Republican’s performance.
“The President brought oil and gas prices down to multi-year lows at record speed, and as traffic in the Strait of Hormuz normalizes, these energy prices will plummet once again,” assistant White House press secretary Olivia Wales told The Independent in a statement. “President Trump has always been clear that these are short-term, temporary disruptions. President Trump took decisive action to ensure that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon to threaten the United States, and Americans are already safer for it.”
The president reportedly met with oil and gas executives, including Chevron CEO Mike Wirth, at the White House on Tuesday.
The group allegedly discussed how the U.S. is faring better than other countries amid the war and that President Trump is taking the right steps, a Trump White House official told The Independent.
Hours later, Trump issued a new threat against Iran, posting a mock-up on social media showing the president holding an assault rifle with the caption, “No more Mr Nice Guy!”
“Iran can’t get their act together,” the president wrote early Wednesday in the message on Truth Social. “They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon!”
Negotiations to end the war and reopen the strait, a vital oil-shipping lane, remain deadlocked.
Nonetheless, the president has reportedly taken to describing himself in imperial terms in recent days as one of the most powerful men ever.
“He’s been talking recently about how he is the most powerful person to ever live,” a Trump confidant told The Atlantic. “He wants to be remembered as the one who did things that other people couldn’t do, because of his sheer power and force of will.”
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