Trump team plays defense amid gasoline price jump

A spike in energy prices due to the ongoing U.S. strikes on Iran has put the Trump administration on the defensive.

Low oil and gasoline prices have long been part of the White House’s pitch to voters.

Now that they’re on the rise, key officials have argued they are doing their best to bring them down, the jump will only be temporary and the hikes are worth a geopolitical win Iran.

“Rest assured — President Trump’s entire energy team, from the White House to the National Energy Dominance Council to Secretaries Wright and Bessent, have been planning for this, and they are all over it!” press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote Thursday in a post on the social platform X.

Asked about prices during a press briefing on Wednesday, she said the administration is “wholeheartedly focused on keeping prices stable.”

“It is the president’s belief and his economic team’s belief that the economy continues to be very strong. It’s robust and will be able to weather any of the temporary impacts of Operation Epic Fury,” she added.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Fox News on Wednesday that what he described as a temporary bump was a “very small price to pay” for accomplishing the administration’s goals in Iran.

Trump himself dismissed worries about the rising prices, saying they would fall soon.

“I don’t have any concern about it,” he told Reuters on Thursday. “They’ll drop very rapidly when this is over, and if they rise, they rise, but this is far more important than having gasoline prices go up a little bit.”

But Reuters also reported that the Treasury Department is slated to announce more actions aimed at lowering energy prices. It did not specify what exactly these moves would be, but it said one potential effort involves the oil futures market.

Eager to take action, Trump announced earlier this week that he was ordering the government to provide risk insurance to ships navigating the now-dangerous waters around Iran.

Iran is close to the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil channel. The equivalent of about 20 percent of the world’s oil consumption typically flows through the strait on a daily basis, but that has come to a halt amid the conflict.

On Thursday, the average U.S. gasoline price was $3.25 per gallon, up nearly 27 cents from a week ago and 36 cents from a month ago.

Oil prices were also up. International benchmark Brent crude was trading at more than $84 per barrel, up from about $71 per barrel a week prior.

Read more at TheHill.com.

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