President Donald Trump refuted Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s statement that gas prices may not fall below $3 before 2027, remaining confident that prices will drop once hostilities cease between the United States and Iran.
Trump told the Hill that gas prices will fall below $3, “as soon as this ends,” alluding to the war in Iran. Trump’s comments refuted Wright’s claim Sunday that sub-three-dollar gas prices “might not happen until next year.”
“No, I think he’s wrong on that. Totally wrong,” Trump told the outlet, about Wright’s comments. The Washington Examiner has contacted the Energy Department for comment.
The instability of access through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has made oil and gas prices volatile. Wright told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday that the U.S. “will get back there, for sure,” referring to gas prices of under $3 per gallon, but did not specify when the drop would happen, calling it “pretty tremendous in an inflation-adjusted term.”
“I don’t know. That could happen later this year. That might not happen until next year,” Wright had said on the $3 per gallon timeline. “But prices have likely peaked, and they will start going down. Certainly, with a resolution of this conflict, you will see prices go down. Prices across the board on energy prices will go down.”
Trump previously said gas prices could still rise ahead of the midterms, though he has maintained his belief that the conflict wouldn’t last much longer.
On Monday, the national average gas price per regular gallon stood at about $4.04, according to AAA. One year ago, gas prices were around $3.15 per regular gallon.
Average gas prices in the U.S. were below $3 per gallon from December through the end of this past February, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
GAS PRICES: SEVEN STRAIGHT DAYS OF FALLING PRICES AT THE PUMPS
Gas prices typically take longer to adjust to market events than oil prices, as trade prices generally see more volatility than the final, consumer-facing price of the product.