Gas Prices Hold Above $4 as Trump Defends Iran Conflict Costs

As the national average for regular gasoline fell for a fifth straight day to $4.11 a gallon, President Donald Trump continued to project confidence about the economic consequences of the six-week-old conflict with Iran, telling Fox Business that he was “very happy” crude oil was trading at only $92 a barrel. The comments, recorded Tuesday and aired Wednesday, underscored a widening gap between the administration’s optimistic forecasts and the immediate strain felt by millions of American households already living paycheck to paycheck.

The modest decline in pump prices reported Wednesday by AAA offered some relief after weeks of increases triggered first by winter storms that disrupted refining and then by the military operation that began Feb. 28. The current average remains 41 cents higher than a month ago and 94 cents above year-ago levels. In Vermont, Bernie Sanders noted, regular gas is now topping four dollars a gallon in many places. Coastal states and parts of the West are seeing even higher figures, while the Midwest enjoys the lowest regional averages. For families stretched thin, each additional dollar at the pump translates directly into less money for groceries or rent.

Trump, speaking with Maria Bartiromo, brushed aside those concerns. He expressed surprise that oil had not climbed further given the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the intense air campaign against Iranian nuclear sites. “If you told me that we were going to be at only 92 a barrel, I would have been very surprised,” he said. “And you know what? I’m very happy, and it’s going to come dropping down very big as soon as it’s over.” The president predicted the war would end quickly, called the temporary economic hit “very worthwhile” because it had set back Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and forecast a stock-market boom once fighting ceases. Any drag on growth, he added, would last “six weeks” at most before a full recovery.

That sanguine view drew a sharp rebuke from Sanders. Appearing on MSNBC, the Vermont independent responded to remarks by National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, who had told CNBC that if oil prices eventually fell, inflation could approach zero. Sanders offered a four-word verdict: “God help us all.” He noted that Benjamin Netanyahu’s conflicts across Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and now Iran were “grossly immoral and destructive” while also rippling outward to billions of people. “Sixty percent of our people living paycheck-to-paycheck,” Sanders said, “and now what they’re having to deal with is gas in Vermont over four bucks a gallon. That means less money for food, less money to be able to pay the rent.”

The broader policy debate extends beyond fuel costs. Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, speaking at an investor conference in Hong Kong, warned that Trump’s repeated demands for lower interest rates carry echoes of “banana republic” governance. The president has pressed the central bank to cut rates aggressively in hopes of reducing Washington’s borrowing costs on its $39 trillion debt. Yellen argued that when politicians openly try to bend monetary policy to lighten the government’s interest burden, the usual guardrails against inflation erode. She questioned whether Trump’s choice to lead the Fed after Jerome Powell, Kevin Warsh, commands the intellectual respect once accorded to figures like Alan Greenspan. Without that credibility, she suggested, the Fed’s independence could slip, inviting the kind of politicized decision-making that has destabilized developing economies.

The tension highlights a deeper institutional concern. Trump campaigned on avoiding endless Middle East wars and taming inflation. Six weeks into a conflict that has already lifted energy prices and complicated supply chains, those promises are under strain. Administration officials continue to argue that the long-term strategic gain of degrading Iran’s nuclear program outweighs the short-term pain. Yet the daily reality for most Americans is measured in higher commuting costs, increased prices for goods moved by truck, and tighter budgets that leave little margin for error.

Economic data released in recent days show consumer sentiment slipping in regions hardest hit by the fuel spike. While stock markets have so far absorbed the uncertainty without collapsing, analysts warn that prolonged disruption in the Persian Gulf could still push inflation higher and force the Fed into a difficult choice between supporting growth and containing price pressures.

For now, the White House insists the worst is behind us. Trump told Bartiromo he expects oil prices to “come dropping down very big” once the war concludes. Sanders and Yellen, by contrast, see a pattern of over-optimism that discounts the immediate human cost and risks undermining the very institutions that have kept American economic policy credible for decades. As gas prices hover near four-year highs even after five days of small declines, that divide is not abstract. It is felt at every filling station across the country.