‘Record numbers of barrels’: Trump claims Strait of Hormuz is no longer responsible for high gas prices, points finger at Ukraine, Democrats, instead

President Donald Trump used a Truth Social post on Monday to separate current gasoline prices from the Strait of Hormuz. He said oil is moving again in large volumes and named a different cause.

In the post, Trump wrote, “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.’” He then turned to fighting in Ukraine and to decisions he tied to Democrats at home.

Trump said Russian refineries “are being blown up by Ukraine.” He also singled out “Dumocrats” and accused Democratic-led states of shutting U.S. refineries “in Blue States, like California.” The post did not name the plants or give dates for the closures he described.

He had been downplaying rising gas prices in recent speeches

Monday’s message arrived while Trump is still carrying out a war against Iran, and with midterm elections less than a month away. He has rejected the idea that the war is what is lifting prices at the pump, and the Truth Social post put the focus on Ukrainian strikes and on refineries instead.

The Independent points out that he had already addressed higher fuel costs at a North Carolina rally in September. There, he said shoppers and drivers should treat the increase as the cost of U.S. forces limiting Iran’s ability to launch nuclear weapons.

“You have a little higher. It’s a very inexpensive price to pay for what we’ve done,” Trump said at that rally. “Remember that. It’s a little more.” He added that a more peaceful Middle East would still be worth higher energy prices even if gas cost “a lot more.”

The amounts drivers are paying have moved up over the past year. People buying unleaded gasoline in the United States are spending about $67 more on average each month than they were a year ago. AAA said diesel users are paying at least $139 more a month than at this point last year.

Those prices are being set against a fuel system that mostly does not run on Russian product. The blame game over prices continues elsewhere, such as when Trump told a Long Island rally crowd he’ll never apologize for higher gas prices.

Before Moscow launched an invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian oil and gas made up only about eight percent of the petroleum products the United States imported. In March 2022 the federal government banned those imports, and the share fell to zero.

Gasoline sold in the United States is refined in the United States. None of it is refined in Russia. Most of the country’s refining capacity sits in Republican-controlled states, especially Texas and Louisiana, which hold the vast majority of U.S. refineries. Trump’s Monday post still pointed to “Record Numbers of Barrels” leaving the Strait of Hormuz area and to refineries he said were being hit in Russia or closed “in Blue States, like California.”