Trump says Iran targets oil tanker, Iran war is ‘in very good shape’
President Donald Trump said the United States is in “very good shape” as attacks on oil tankers continue in the Middle East.
- Gasoline prices have increased by more than $1 a gallon since early February.
- President Trump has said a temporary increase in gas prices is worth it to eliminate the Iranian threat.
- A sticker once used against Joe Biden and blaming the current president for rising gas prices now appears with an image of Trump.
President Donald Trump has long touted lower gas prices as an improvement of his administration compared to that of former President Joe Biden.
As of March 20, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline is higher than it will be in October 2022, according to AAA. AAA is $3.912, indicating that gas prices have increased by more than $1 per gallon since early February. In response to a question about rising gasoline prices, President Trump said eliminating the threat from Iran is worth the temporary increase in gasoline prices.
But Trump will run on the cheap in 2024, and Democrats are now campaigning on the issue, even though Trump has called it a “fraud.” But even before gas prices started rising, President Trump had been performing poorly in polls on this issue in recent months.
“Gasoline prices were a real saving grace for President Trump in January,” Charles Franklin, director of polling at Marquette Law School, told USA TODAY in an interview. “The combination of inflation and existing cost-of-living concerns has turned this factor, which was a bright spot in January, into a very dark spot today.”
What was the price of gas during Biden vs. Trump?
President Trump and his allies have used high gas prices under the Biden administration as a campaign talking point, often taking credit for low gas prices during the president’s first term.
Gas prices fell throughout the end of 2018 as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries contributed to the market’s oversupply.
Prices also fell in 2020 as travel around the world came to a screeching halt due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. At the same time, fears of a looming economic recession sparked price wars among major suppliers, driving prices below $2 a gallon in many states.
Then, as pandemic shutdowns were lifted, gas demand returned. As gas prices rose throughout 2021, Biden poured money into emergency oil reserves, which did little to stop gas prices from rising. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, impacting global supplies and further increasing prices. In the month following the invasion, U.S. prices rose on average by nearly $1 a gallon. To bring those prices down, Biden has ordered the release of up to 180 million barrels of oil from the nation’s emergency stockpile, the largest release in the stockpile’s history.
The highest price per gallon of regular gasoline was $5.016 on June 14, 2022, according to AAA, which also shows that gas prices have increased by more than 70 cents as of March 19 during President Trump’s final year.
Below is the evolution of gas prices over the past 10 years between President Biden and President Trump, according to AAA.
“I did it” stickers are back
Experts typically say gas prices are a result of global markets, and a president alone can do little to influence prices. However, this scenario is a little different.
“I think what’s clear is that the president is actually controlling the international gas market by attacking Iran and closing the Strait of Hormuz,” Franklin said. In other words, there is little that can be done to bring prices down significantly, but rising prices were a predictable outcome of being involved in conflicts in the Middle East.
When gas prices dominated the messaging at the 2024 Republican National Convention, Franklin told USA TODAY that gas prices are often viewed through a partisan lens. When gas prices rise, parties that are not in power are likely to pass the increase on to parties that are in power.
Under the Biden administration, gas stations featured stickers with Biden’s photo and the caption “I did it.”
Now it’s Trump’s turn. Etsy sellers, TikTok Shop, and Amazon are all selling President Trump’s “I Did It” stickers. Social media users posted photos of stickers on pumps across the country. According to AAA, one commenter shared a photo of a sticker on a gas pump in the battleground state of Arizona. The state is one of the most expensive regions in the country, with gasoline prices averaging $4.459 as of March 20.
What is President Trump saying about gas prices?
On March 18, the Trump administration announced a 60-day waiver of the Jones Act in hopes of easing the disruption to the oil market caused by the Iran war.
President Trump said from the Oval Office on March 3, “Oil prices are going to be a little bit high for a while, but I believe that once this is over, prices will come down and they’ll be lower than they’ve been in the past.” In an exclusive interview with Reuters on March 5, he said he was “not worried at all” about the rise in gasoline prices, adding that military operations were “much more important than a slight increase in gasoline prices.”
In a post on Truth Social on March 8, President Trump called rising prices “a very small price to pay for the security and peace of America and the world.”
President Trump also said the United States stands to benefit from higher gas prices.
“The United States is by far the world’s largest oil producer, so we stand to make a lot of money when oil prices go up,” Trump said in a March 12 post on Truth Social. “But my far greater interest and importance as president is to stop the evil empire, Iran, from acquiring nuclear weapons and destroying the Middle East and indeed the world. I will never allow that to happen!”
“Americans are feeling it now. Americans will be feeling it for several more weeks,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on March 15. He also said there is a “good chance” gas prices will fall below $3 a gallon by summer.
Contributors: Carissa Wadick, Philip M. Bailey, Michael Collins, Sarah Chernikov, Mike Snyder, Nathan Bomy, Jazmine Goodwin, Joey Garrison, Rachel Barber, america today
Kinsey Crowley is a Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Please contact KCrowley@usatodayco.com. follow her X (Twitter)thread, blue sky and TikTok.
