Trump Blames Democrats and Ukraine for Fuel Price Spike, Not Iran War
Theo Al Jazeera English
With US midterms approaching, President Donald Trump is trying to pin high fuel prices on Democrats and Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries rather than the war with Iran. Pump prices have climbed steadily since the US and Israel first struck Iran, and a recent poll shows most Americans blame Trump's policies for higher costs.
With US midterm elections approaching, President Donald Trump has sought to shift responsibility for high fuel prices away from the US-Israel war with Iran and onto Democrats and Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries.
In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump said: "What is driving up gasoline prices is no longer the Strait of Hormuz, because record barrels of oil are being brought to market almost daily, but from 'refineries,' where Russian plants are being bombed by Ukraine, and where our plants are being shut down, in Blue states, like California, by Democrats."
While Trump claims that domestic refinery closures are sending prices soaring, daily exports through the Strait of Hormuz have in fact fallen 97 percent since the war began, choking global supply.
Pump prices continue to climb for consumers. According to AAA, which tracks gasoline prices daily, the average price of a gallon (3.79 litres) now stands at $4.36, up from $4.14 a month ago and from $2.98 on February 28, when the US and Israel first struck Iran.
"The ongoing conflicts with Iran and Russia's war with Ukraine are reinforcing each other, hurting the oil products market, but flows from the Middle East remain far from returning to normal," Rachel Ziemba, a senior research fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), told Al Jazeera.
On Friday, G7 nations agreed to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude from emergency reserves amid pressure from the White House. Meanwhile, the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve has hit its lowest level since 1982.
"The US told some [European Union] members to release 'strategic reserves' or face a potential US diesel export ban, leaning on France and Germany to do so; oil prices along with gasoline and diesel futures fell sharply as a result," Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, wrote on X.
Global pressures
Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure are also pushing prices up, especially for diesel. On Sunday, Ukraine's Defense Ministry claimed it had knocked out more than half of Russia's refining capacity.
"Damage to Russian refineries – and the threat of further US sanctions on Russian oil processors – is exacerbating the situation, but the underlying problem remains volatile flows from the Middle East, greater difficulty moving oil products to market and lower reserve buffers," Ziemba added.
The latest strikes come amid sustained attacks since the Russia-Ukraine war began in 2022. In June, Russian refining output hit a two-decade low, according to analysis by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The analysis also showed diesel production has fallen 30 percent over the past 18 months.
Trump also blames refinery cutbacks in Democrat-led states such as California, where two refineries have closed over the past year. The closures have cut the state's refining capacity by 17 percent, creating some supply gaps, according to S&P Global analysis.
Yet Trump's effort to deflect blame onto Democrats comes ahead of critical midterm elections that could shape the balance of power in Washington. At the same time, most Americans appear to blame Trump for higher prices. A recent AP-NORC poll found 65 percent of Americans blame Trump's policies for higher prices, while 61 percent say the US economy is worse than when Trump returned to power.
