Average price of gas in US revealed as Trump calls increase 'peanuts'
Topics: Iran, Politics, Donald Trump
William Morgan
Featured Image Credit: Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Topics: Iran, Politics, Donald Trump
President Trump and Israel's war on Iran has caused mayhem in the global economy over the past few months, but closer to home, all Americans can see the cost of the conflict every time they fill up their car.
Tehran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the vital shipping lane through which a fifth of the world's oil and gas passed before the strikes, has proved to be the regime's trump card - causing more harm to Iran's enemies than missiles or drones.
But as the US-Israel war enters its twelfth week, Americans at home are seeing no relief from the sky high prices they are seeing at the gas station, which are rapidly creeping up to an all-time high for motorists.
And President Trump has made it clear that that, for the 90 percent of US households with at least one vehicle, the pain they are experiencing at the pump is merely 'peanuts' in comparison to his foreign policy goals.
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President Trump was pressed on gas prices by reporters this Tuesday, but it was clear that his mind was focused entirely on his now three-month war in the Middle East, rather than on the cost of living in America.
“We have to do something with Iran. We cannot let them have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. He then turned on the question about gas prices, saying: “You want to see the world exploded? You want to see a problem? This is peanuts.”
Indeed, it would be no exaggeration to say that the president is not thinking about the impact of the war on US household finances, because that is exactly what Trump said last week.
"I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing. We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all," President Trump told the media, May 12.
But with elections this November shaping up to be a bruising midterm for Republicans, whose nationwide polling plummeted in the weeks after Trump began bombing Iran, the president may want to look at just how much Americans are paying to fill up.
Just as an estimated 45 million Americans took to the nation's roads for the Memorial Day weekend, gas prices reached an average of $4.66 per gallon, according to AAA. When the war against Iran started, they were paying just $2.88 per gallon to fill up.
Not only is this the second highest-ever price seen at the pumps, after the spike seen as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but it is already costing the average driver hundreds more in travel costs.
With many people's personal finances already heavily restricted due to years of inflation, the average road user is now paying an extra $706 every year to fill up their car, thanks to these spiked prices.
Analysis by iSeeCars shows that prices have risen an astonishing 46 percent from January to the end of April, with SUV drivers being the hardest hit.
According to their figures, owners of the large Toyota Sequoia SUV are now paying an additional $1623 annually to fuel up, with other similarly sized vehicles seeing their fuel bill jump by around $1500.
Over the same period, drivers of electric vehicles have seen the cost of charging their cars increase by just $11 per year.