Donald Trump wants someone else to fix the economic mess created by the war he helped ignite.
After months of insisting his military confrontation with Iran was worth the cost, Trump is now publicly raging at gas stations and oil companies because Americans are still paying far more at the pump than they were before the conflict.
Late Monday night, Trump unloaded on Truth Social, demanding that retailers slash gas prices immediately.
“Gasoline Retailers must get their Prices down, IMMEDIATELY!” Trump wrote, complaining that prices are still too high even though crude oil has fallen to around $68 a barrel.
He went even further, threatening “big problems” for retailers that don’t comply and declaring that gas should be selling for around $2.50 per gallon. He also shifted blame to California, attacking the state’s gas taxes while claiming residents are being “abused” by their own government.
There’s just one problem with Trump’s outrage: the reason gas prices exploded in the first place was the war he chose to escalate.
Before the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran at the end of February, the national average for a gallon of regular gas sat at just $2.98.
Then the conflict spiraled.
Iran responded by shutting down the Strait of Hormuz—one of the world’s most important oil shipping routes—sending energy markets into panic. Gas prices shot above $4 nationally by April and eventually peaked around $4.39 in late May, forcing American drivers to spend an estimated **$59 billion more** at the pump.
Now that tensions have cooled and shipping through the Strait has resumed, prices have begun drifting back down. According to AAA, the national average sits around $3.85 per gallon and could fall to roughly $3.75 by the Fourth of July.
That’s certainly lower than the peak.
It’s also nowhere near the fantasy-world $2.50 price Trump is demanding.
Just last week, Trump lashed out at oil companies, accusing them of gouging consumers and threatening to unleash the Department of Justice on the industry.
“The big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for Oil,” Trump complained.
He insisted prices were “dropping like a rock” and declared that Americans were being ripped off, warning that the DOJ would investigate if gas stations didn’t lower prices faster.
When prices surged because of the geopolitical crisis, Trump argued preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons mattered more than what Americans were paying at the pump.
Now that voters are still feeling the financial consequences, suddenly it’s everyone else’s fault.
