The Midwest is bearing the brunt of soaring gas prices in the United States amid President Donald Trump's war with Iran, with at least one state seeing pump prices surge by 72 percent.
The national average for a gallon of regular gas was $4.52 on Monday, according to AAA data, up from $2.98 in late February, before the war began. It's also about 50 cents away from the record $5.01 set in June 2022 during the Biden administration. Ohio has seen prices surge by 72 percent since the Iran conflict began 10 weeks ago — double the rate of increase in California. States including Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin are also seeing significant hikes, Bloomberg reported.
"It's really hurting," David Yuenger told FOX6 Milwaukee. "It's hurting the people on a fixed income. I've never watched the price go up this fast in my life, and I'm 71 years old."
The rising costs in the Midwest present a significant political challenge for the Republican Party ahead of November's midterm elections. President Donald Trump, who campaigned on a promise to tame inflation, faces surging pump prices in the swing states he needs to maintain control of Congress.
The impact is also being felt acutely on the West Coast, where California prices have surpassed $6.15 per gallon and averages in Oregon and Washington have climbed above $5 a gallon. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said that while the $5 threshold usually leads to "demand destruction" as people stop driving, U.S. consumption currently remains strong despite the high costs, Bloomberg reported.
The jump in prices follows Trump's military strikes on Iran and the subsequent Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that handles 20 percent of the global oil supply.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright told NBC's Meet the Press Sunday that the U.S. was not directly reliant on tankers passing through the strait, aside from some types of heavy crude, but he admitted that the interwoven nature of the global market meant the U.S. was not immune to these supply shocks. Wright refused to rule out gas hitting $5 a gallon on average. An analysis from JP Morgan released Friday warned that the national average is at risk of crossing $5 per gallon later this summer as travel demand increases.
Though Trump has insisted that pump prices will "come crashing down" once the war ends, a recent Quinnipiac University poll found that 65 percent of voters blamed the president for the recent spike in fuel costs.
Last week, Trump claimed that energy prices would eventually drop to "levels that you've never seen" due to global surpluses currently held on ships.
In response to the domestic gas price pressure, Wright also told Meet the Press that the administration was considering a pause on the federal gasoline tax. "We're open to all ideas, everything has trade-offs, all ideas to lower prices for American consumers and American businesses," he said.
Diplomatic efforts reached a near-collapse Monday as Trump rejected Iran's latest response to a U.S. proposal, declaring the current ceasefire to be on 'life support' ahead of his high-stakes trip to China, the Associated Press reported.
However, the administration has maintained a firm stance. Speaking on CBS's Face the Nation, Wright warned that the U.S. would resume military efforts to force the strait open if negotiations do not yield a settlement within the coming days.
