President Trump on Thursday tried to portray the increase in oil prices since the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran in a positive light, saying the US makes more money when prices rise, though Americans are already paying significantly more for gas.
“The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
“BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stopping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World. I won’t ever let that happen!” Trump added.
NBC News noted that in the weeks and months leading up to the war, Trump repeatedly cited declining gas prices as a positive development in his second term.
The day before he launched the war, the president was in Corpus Christi, Texas, and noted that the price of gas was below $2.30 per gallon in the area and even lower in other parts of the country. “I just left Iowa two weeks ago: $1.99. And then I passed another one: $1.85. It’s happening. It’s happening,” Trump said.
According to GasBuddy, a tech company that tracks gas prices nationwide, on March 1, one day into the war, the national average price of gas in the US was $2.94 per gallon. As of Thursday, it stood at $3.61, a 23% increase in just 11 days.
The price of oil has spiked as Iran has effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 30% of all seaborne crude passed in 2025. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said that only ships with permission from Iran can pass through the strike and it has continued to strike tankers with drones that attempt to make the transit.
