Trump’s energy chief calls gas price surge a ‘temporary blip,’ but one factor could keep costs higher longer

Doug Burgum, Trump’s “energy czar” and Interior Department head, is confident that the recent rise in gas and energy prices is a “temporary blip up” that will ease as the administration’s “drill baby drill” agenda ramps up. The story gained traction when reported by Fox News, which detailed Burgum’s remarks in a recent interview where he framed supply expansion as the core solution.

“It’s all about supply,” he said. “You want prices to go down? Supply has got to go up.” To that end, Burgum’s agency has approved over 6,000 drilling permits on US soil, a reversal of the previous administration’s regulatory approach, which he argued had stunted energy independence.

He also pointed to the administration’s military intervention in Venezuela as a move that will benefit American consumers by directing Venezuelan oil toward Gulf refineries in Louisiana and Texas. Burgum, who also chairs Trump’s National Energy Dominance Council, noted that while the Middle East conflict has caused a temporary price spike, energy prices dropped on the day of his interview with stock markets also rising.

The gap between states tells a very different story on energy costs

Another major component of the push is what Burgum calls “unleashing Alaska.” He argued that the Biden administration had taken over 70 legal actions and executive orders that were, in his words, “essentially sanctioning Alaska more than we sanctioned Iran during the last administration,” and said the current administration is working to reverse those measures.

Burgum stressed that prices vary sharply depending on state and local regulations and taxes, noting that a month ago gas in Iowa was under $2 per gallon while California residents were paying $5. He criticized California’s energy policies directly, pointing out that the state imports 63 percent of its oil from foreign countries and that during the Iran conflict, Iraq was California’s top source for imported oil according to the state’s own data.

Burgum, who had previously pushed for US access to Venezuela’s critical minerals as part of a broader energy and supply chain strategy, argued that relying on foreign oil rather than domestic sources like the Permian Basin artificially inflates prices without any environmental benefit. To address California’s supply constraints, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, acting under Trump’s energy emergency declaration, recently ordered the state to reopen its Santa Ynez pipeline system and resume pumping domestic offshore oil.

California is challenging the order in court, though oil has already begun flowing again. Burgum framed the administration’s overall “energy abundance” agenda as a return to “energy reality” after what he called four years of “climate fantasy.”

That framing comes as the administration continues to press economic arguments on multiple fronts, even after the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s sweeping emergency tariff authority in February, creating further uncertainty around the administration’s broader cost-of-living agenda.