President Trump attributes rising fuel costs to Democratic-led states and Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries.
As midterm elections approach, President Donald Trump has sought to deflect responsibility for high fuel prices away from the US-Israel conflict with Iran, instead pointing to Democrats and Ukraine’s strikes on Russian refineries.
“Gasoline prices are no longer being driven up by the Strait of Hormuz, as record numbers of barrels are flowing out almost daily,” Trump stated in a Truth Social post on Monday. “Instead, it’s the ‘Refineries’—where Russia’s are being destroyed by Ukraine, and ours are being shut down in Blue States like California by the Dumocrats.”
While Trump asserts that domestic refinery closures are fueling the spike, exports through the Strait of Hormuz have plummeted 97 percent since the conflict began, severely constraining global supplies.
Consumer petrol prices continue to rise. The average price for a gallon (3.79 litres) is $4.36, up from $4.14 a month ago and $2.98 on February 28, when the US and Israel first struck Iran, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
“The concurrent conflicts with Iran and Russia’s war with Ukraine are mutually reinforcing, disrupting oil product markets, though Middle Eastern flows remain far from normal,” Rachel Ziemba, senior adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security, told Al Jazeera.
On Friday, G7 nations agreed to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude from emergency reserves under White House pressure. Simultaneously, the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve reached its lowest level since 1982.
“The US pressured several [European Union] members to release ‘strategic reserves’ or risk a potential diesel export ban, prompting France and Germany to comply, which drove oil, gasoline, and diesel futures sharply lower,” Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a post on X.
Global pressures
Ukraine’s attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure have also contributed to price increases, especially for diesel fuel. On Sunday, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence claimed to have disabled over half of Russia’s oil refining capacity.
“The damage to Russia’s refineries—and the threat of further US sanctions on those processing Russian oil—are worsening the situation, but the core issue remains volatile Middle Eastern flows, the increasing difficulty of moving oil products, and lower reserves,” Ziemba added.
These latest strikes occur amid ongoing attacks since the Russia-Ukraine war began in 2022. In June, Russian refinery throughput fell to its lowest level in two decades, according to an International Energy Agency (IEA) analysis, which also found diesel production has declined by 30 percent over the past 18 months.
Trump has also attributed price increases to refining cuts in Democratic-led states like California, where two refineries shut down over the past year, reducing the state’s refining capacity by 17 percent and creating supply gaps, according to S&P Global.
However, Trump’s attempt to shift blame to Democrats precedes consequential midterm elections that could alter the balance of power in Washington. Meanwhile, most Americans appear to hold Trump responsible for rising prices. A recent AP-NORC poll found that 65 percent of Americans blamed Trump’s policies for higher prices, while 61 percent said the US economy is worse off than when he returned to office.