WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has mostly shrugged off rising gasoline prices since his conflict with Iran began over two months ago, giving Republicans political heartburn ahead of the midterm elections as prices are up again this week amid new tensions over the Strait of Hormuz.

As gas prices continue to tick up, with the cost of a barrel of U.S. crude above $100 on Tuesday morning, Trump has appeared mostly dismissive of voters’ pain at the pump despite the strong political headwinds his turbulent second term has created for Republican candidates. Trump reacted with an actual shrug late last month when a reporter asked if Americans should expect spending more on gasoline “for the foreseeable future.”

“For a little while,” he replied. “You know what they get for that? Iran without a nuclear weapon that’s going to try and blow up one of our cities or blow up the entire Middle East.”

On Friday, Trump said that “when the war ends, gasoline prices are going to tumble because there is so much right now on the sea, already loaded into tankers … that can’t escape the strait.”

“There is so much, like record-setting — but when the war ends, gasoline prices will go down to below what they were before,” he added over the noise of Marine One idling on the White House’s South Lawn.

On Monday, Trump had a mocking tone in the East Room, during a small-business event, when he contended “everybody was wrong” when some analysts predicted elevated energy costs when the war broke out 10 weeks ago, a conflict he initially said likely would be over in four weeks.

“They thought that energy would be at $300. Right, $300 a barrel? And it’s, like, at $100 (per barrel) and I think going down,” the president said.

Still, the pain at the pump has some Republican lawmakers and politicos worried, with the midterms about six months away. And Democrats have added gas prices to their messaging about Republican policies contributing to an increased cost of living in the country.

The average price of regular unleaded gasoline in the United States rose again this week, to an average of $4.483 a gallon as of Tuesday morning, according to AAA. That was up from an average of $4.176 a gallon on April 28 and $4.110 a gallon a month ago.

Average diesel prices, which help drive consumer prices as companies pass along increased transportation costs to buyers, were at $5.659 a gallon on Tuesday, up from $5.461 per gallon last week and $5.610 per gallon one month ago, according to AAA.

Pennsylvania GOP Sen. Dave McCormick, who Trump enthusiastically endorsed and campaigned alongside in 2024, acknowledged on Sunday that soaring gas prices are “certainly an issue.”

“If you’re living paycheck to paycheck, you’re feeling that. I also think, consistently, I’m getting the message that people understand why the president went into Iran and know that that goal for our children and their children that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon,” he said.

“People are feeling the gas prices, no doubt, and I don’t want to make light of that. But that’s against the backdrop of a strong economy where the Trump policies are working in Pennsylvania,” he added. “All sorts of new job creation for energy infrastructure and data centers. These are great-paying jobs. People feel that, too.”

GOP strategist Ford O’Connell said during a recent telephone interview that “you need to get gas prices below pre-war levels by Memorial Day,” adding: “That affects all other prices.”

Multiple polls show that most Americans think gas is too expensive and oppose the joint U.S.-Israeli war in Iran.

Half of U.S. adults surveyed April 24-28 by The Washington Post and ABC News said they expect gas prices will get worse, compared with 21% who thought they would improve. Among the key independent voter bloc, 53% replied gas prices would get worse, with 13% replying pump pain would soon ease.

A YouGov-The Economist poll of American adults conducted April 24-27 found 48% of respondents reporting gasoline prices had gone up “a lot” where they live. Less than one-third (29%) said prices had gone up “a little.”

But on Friday, Trump told the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches, a nonpartisan Florida political organization: “As soon as it’s over, it’s going to drop like a rock. I think it goes below where it was because there’s so much oil. … It would be a problem if there wasn’t a lot. There’s so much oil out there.”

‘People are struggling’

Yet, it typically takes some time for gasoline and diesel prices to fall after a major shock, then even more time for consumer prices to follow suit.

Complicating Trump’s repeated declarations that all will be fine is the matter of how Iran might respond to the U.S. ending its bombing campaign — especially if Israel continues to pound targets in Lebanon and Gaza.

Democratic lawmakers sense a soft spot for Trump and Republicans, one that hits voters right in their bank accounts as they begin to tune into their House and Senate races.

Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., wrote White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles last week asking for details by May 15 on the administration’s plan on gas prices.

“Economists are warning that the surge in energy prices will reverberate throughout the global economy, and the United States is not immune to the resulting inflationary effects. Already Americans are seeing the cost of consumer goods increase for everything from airline tickets to clothing and groceries,” the senators wrote.

“Dismissing the economic pain of millions of Americans as ‘fake’ while offering nothing but vague reassurances is not a policy – it is an abdication of responsibility,” the duo added.

House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California on April 30 told reporters that “the American people are struggling and they’re getting crushed behind the weight of increased costs.”

“Americans can’t afford to fill up their gas tanks and their kids going to school and going to work and those costs driving up,” he said.

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