President Donald Trump is facing the limits of his influence as he seeks to lower sky-high gas prices ahead of the midterm elections.
In his social media posts and speeches across the country, Trump sought to assure voters that gasoline prices — a major sticking point for Americans grappling with an affordability crisis — would soon come down.
For example, at the White House on Friday, Trump recalled seeing gas prices below $2 a gallon in Iowa before the United States and Israel launched surprise strikes against Iran in February.
“We will return to these levels soon,” he said.
The numbers and trajectory of conflicts around the world, however, suggest a different story.
On Sunday, AAA reported that the average price of regular gasoline in the United States was $4.36 per gallon. This time last year, that figure was $3.09. Diesel prices have also skyrocketed, reaching $6.28 per gallon earlier this month.
Trump this week suspended fuel export sanctions against Russia to introduce more diesel to the market and lower prices, prompting frowns from allies and foes alike. Hours later, Ukraine struck a Russian oil depot.
On Sunday morning, Trump again attempted to calm the oil markets, announcing an “ENERGY CEASE-FIRE” between Russia and Ukraine on Truth Social.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, said on X that while he supported such a ceasefire, the deal was new to him. He added that a Russian drone struck a power plant in kyiv on Sunday.
Meanwhile, on Saturday in the Strait of Hormuz, through which oil shipments have slowed to a trickle as Iran expands its control over this key waterway — a key reason the price of oil has risen and gas prices have soared — an oil tanker hit a mine and burst into flames.
The US-Israeli war against Iran is only expanding as Iranian allies target Saudi Arabia, a US ally, and its oil infrastructure. In Yemen, Iran-backed Houthi rebels have expanded their control of the Red Sea coast and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key shipping route for Saudi oil exports. And last month, the group orchestrated an attack from southeastern Iraq on a major Saudi oil pipeline, forcing Saudi Arabia to temporarily shut it down.
An attack on King Khalid International Airport by Houthi fighters on Saturday killed 12 people and injured more than 300. One American was killed, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, and authorities were forced to briefly close the airport.
At this rate, it’s hard to imagine oil prices falling enough to relieve Americans of high gas prices by the time they go to the polls in November.
Gn bussni
