President Donald Trump has been boasting about oil prices, claiming that critics had predicted a catastrophic level of $300 per barrel. Speaking at a small business summit at the White House on Monday, Trump sounded optimistic about oil prices, which were trading at just over $105 per barrel at the time.
“Everybody was wrong,” Trump said, reports Mediaite. “They thought that energy would be at $300, right? Three hundred dollars a barrel. And it’s, like, at $100. And I think going down. And I see it going down very substantially when this is over.”
Trump’s comments come as gas prices continue to rise across the country, with the national average price of unleaded gas now at $4.46 per gallon, according to Gas Buddy. The industry tracker shows that gas prices have risen by more than $1.50 from just two months ago. In some parts of California, the average price has soared to over $7 per gallon.
Gas prices are hitting Americans hard, and analysts warn things could get worse
The renewed rise in oil prices comes despite Trump announcing a plan called “Project Freedom,” under which the United States will “guide” commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. However, shipping companies and insurers say that full naval escorts would be required before they send their ships through the waterway again. Meanwhile, Trump has been active on other fronts too, including posting AI images of himself on social media late at night.
Traffic in the strait went up slightly on Friday, when 19 vessels crossed, but then dropped over the weekend. On Monday, just four ships crossed in total. Before the war, around 150 ships would regularly cross each day.
As the war drags on, U.S. consumers are now spending around $1 billion more per day on fuel than they were before the war started, according to longtime oil industry analyst Andy Lipow. Around $550 million of that comes from gas prices alone, with the rest reflecting sharp rises in the price of jet fuel, diesel, and other energy products.
On Saturday, Berkshire Hathaway, one of the world’s largest insurers, said it had not written a single insurance policy under a U.S. government program launched last month to help insure ships near the strait, because it was still too dangerous. “But nothing’s happened as yet,” said Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire.
Soaring gas prices are also hitting the airline industry, with jet fuel prices rising about 65% since the war started, according to data from the Argus U.S. Jet Fuel Index. Lipow noted that gasoline inventories in the U.S. are down 14% and diesel inventories are down 17% since the beginning of February. “This is bad news for the consumer as $4.50 gasoline is around the corner,” he wrote. “If the Strait remains closed another month, we will be at $5.00 per gallon.”
Prices in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan have risen the most since the war with Iran began, while Georgia, Hawaii, Delaware, and Minnesota have seen the smallest increases, though prices in those states have still gone up by more than $1.10 per gallon, according to NBC News.
California ranked as the most expensive state on Monday, with prices averaging $6.11 per gallon, partly due to state taxes, environmental requirements, and isolated petroleum markets. The cheapest gas on Monday was in Georgia, at $3.86 per gallon.
“We are cognizant that this short-term blip up in prices is affecting the American people,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Fox News Monday. “But I am also confident on the other side of this, prices are going to come down very quickly.” In a separate development that has drawn public attention, the U.S. government is also issuing passports featuring Trump’s image, though many Americans are still unaware of the details around opting out.Â
Published: May 5, 2026 11:00 am