President Donald Trump said Wednesday that energy prices, which have risen due to the Iran war, will not come down until after the midterm elections, which are about two months away.
“Right after the election, oil prices are going to go down,” President Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews before heading to Texas to attend the Republican midterm convention.
He was asked how he would explain to Americans why oil prices had soared to highs not seen since the early weeks of the war. Global benchmark Brent crude oil futures on Wednesday rose above $101 a barrel for the first time since July, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures peaked above $96 a barrel.
“I think it’s very easy to explain to the United States,” Trump said. “All you have to do is say, ‘Do you want Iran to have nuclear weapons?'” And the answer is no. ”
President Trump also claimed that the war with Iran, now in its seventh month, has no clear resolution in sight and will end “right after the election.”
Asked to explain his predictions, Trump, who has repeatedly claimed victory in the ongoing war, said: “They can’t hold out much longer.”
But he suggested that Iran was trying to profit from an unfavorable election result for President Trump.
“They’re bent on trying to influence elections so we can get vulnerable people in there and leave them alone and have nuclear weapons,” the president said.
This comment demonstrated President Trump’s unusual recognition that both the war and the resulting rise in prices are unlikely to end in the near future.
They also highlight how the protracted conflict is weighing on President Trump and the Republican Party in an election cycle dominated by concerns about inflation and affordability.
President Trump has claimed dozens of times during the war that a peace deal with Tehran was on the horizon, but nothing was ever reached. But he recently seems to have given up on the possibility of a diplomatic victory in favor of defeating Iran by destroying its military and starving its economy.
The U.S. military said Tuesday that its forces destroyed 10 Iranian tankers last week, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guards took credit for destroying an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf.
“You can say the attack was caused by us,” Trump said, adding, “There will be more to come.”
President Trump insisted Wednesday that record gas prices will fall below $2 a gallon, but that will not happen until after the midterm elections in early November, suggesting relief is still at least eight weeks away.
“I think it will take a little longer than the interim period,” he said.
The comment somewhat softens President Trump’s recent conviction on Truth Social that oil prices would “fall precipitously” if the U.S. wins the war. “Everything will happen soon,” he wrote.
But GasBuddy fuels analyst Patrick de Haan said he remains skeptical of President Trump’s latest prediction that oil and gas prices will fall after the midterm elections.
“There’s no guarantee anything like that will happen,” De Haan told X.
