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President Trump has blamed high gas prices on Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil refineries and refineries shutting down in Democratic-led states, saying the closure of the Strait of Hormuz from the Iran war is no longer the main problem.
Getting into it: In a Truth Social post, Trump claimed “record numbers” of oil barrels are now moving through the strait and pointed instead to refineries. Gas prices have averaged about $4.36 a gallon nationally, compared with $4.14 a month ago and $2.98 on Feb. 28, the day the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, according to AAA. But daily oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz are still down about 97% since the war began, according to Al Jazeera. Ukraine says it has taken out over half of Russia’s ability to refine oil, and Russia has extended its ban on diesel exports through Oct. 31. In California, two refineries closed in the last year, taking 17% of the state’s refining capacity offline, according to S&P Global.
“What’s driving up Gasoline is no longer the Strait of Hormuz, because Record Numbers of Barrels are coming out now on an almost daily basis, but the word, ‘Refineries,’ where Russia’s are being blown up by Ukraine, and where ours are being closed up, in Blue States, like California, by the Dumocrats,” Trump wrote.
Energy analysts say the refinery problems are making things worse but aren’t the root cause. “The damage to Russia’s refineries … are exacerbating the situation, but the underlying issue is still the volatile flows from the Middle East, the greater difficulty getting oil products out and the lower buffers in place,” said Rachel Ziemba of the Center for a New American Security. On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order at a rally in Nebraska letting anyone buy tax-free red-dyed diesel, which is normally limited to farming and other off-road uses, cutting about 24 cents a gallon in federal taxes, after diesel prices hit a record of about $6.53. That follows a G7 agreement Friday to release 100 million barrels of oil and diesel from emergency reserves, while the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve has fallen to its lowest level since 1982.
This all comes less than a month before the Nov. 3 midterms, as a new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Trump’s approval stuck at a career-low 32%, with just 24% of Hispanic Americans giving him positive marks and 52% of Hispanic voters planning to back Democrats, and an AP-NORC poll finding 65% of Americans say Trump’s policies are responsible for rising costs.






