Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) on Thursday said Americans have paid an extra $856 on average for gas since the Iran war began while President Donald Trump’s oil and gas holdings could be worth as much as $81.6 million, attaching to his post an article on a Democratic congressional analysis released Oct. 26.
The Post
Krishnamoorthi published the statement on X at 12:00 AM on Oct. 29. It reads in full:
“Trump boasts “we’re making a freaking fortune” from soaring oil prices.
American families have paid an extra $856 on average for gas since his Iran war began, while his own oil and gas holdings could be worth up to $81.6 million.”
The Attached Article
Krishnamoorthi attached to the post an article from Common Dreams headlined “Trump Doesn’t ‘Give a Damn’ About Iran War Price Hikes—His Oil and Gas Holdings Are Up to $81.6 Million.” It reports on a Monday analysis by Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) and on Trump’s weekend rally remarks.
The remarks came at a midterm campaign rally in Perry, Georgia, on Saturday, Oct. 24. Trump said the U.S. oil and gas industry was making hundreds of billions of dollars because of events in the Middle East, and that oil prices are temporarily high and will fall once the war ends. He also said advisers had warned him that mentioning the industry’s profits would draw criticism, and then said, “We’re making a freaking fortune.”
The attached article reports a national average of $4.29 a gallon for gasoline and $6.35 for diesel as of Monday, per AAA. A Brown University Costs of War Project tracker estimates U.S. residents have paid at least $144.6 billion more for fuel since the war began, and the JEC’s own figures put the added spending on gasoline at $101 billion.
The JEC Analysis
The JEC Democratic minority estimates households have spent an additional $101 billion on gasoline since the war began, an average of $856 per family, the figure in Krishnamoorthi’s post. The article reports that Wyoming had the largest per-household increase at $1,454, followed by Utah at $1,240 and Alabama at $1,232.
On Trump’s holdings, the JEC Democrats estimate his oil and gas stocks at between $22.5 million and $81.6 million as of Oct. 19, up from $12.6 million to $45.8 million at the end of 2025, an increase of as much as $35.8 million. Holdings are reported in ranges. The committee estimated that 94% of his 2026 industry stock purchases came after the war began, and said values may be higher because September and October transactions have not been reported.
The White House has said Trump’s stock and bond portfolio is independently managed by third-party financial institutions. White House spokesman Davis Ingle has said the accounts are discretionary and invested through computer-based model portfolios that replicate recognized indexes. He has also said the president’s priority is lowering gas prices for American families. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), the JEC’s ranking member, has said Trump’s ownership of stocks in companies that benefit from his decisions raises conflict-of-interest concerns.
Krishnamoorthi’s Record on Gas Prices and the War
On March 9, Krishnamoorthi called on Trump to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, saying Illinois gas prices had risen nearly fifty cents in a month. A March 10 letter said Americans were paying for the war at the pump and urged the administration to explain its objectives and conditions for ending it.
On Feb. 28 he said Trump was risking Americans’ lives in an unauthorized war and announced he would vote for the War Powers Resolution. On May 5 he wrote to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard disputing Trump’s claim to Congress that the war had been “terminated” and asking for a classified briefing. His office also lists a Chicago gas station event calling for year-round E15 sales to lower prices.
Krishnamoorthi’s Record on Profiteering and Stock Trading
On April 10, Krishnamoorthi asked Oversight Chairman James Comer for a hearing and investigation into whether senior administration officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Jared Kushner, traded on nonpublic information about the war. On April 19, after Iran again closed the Strait of Hormuz, he said Trump’s erratic moves “raise serious questions about insider trading” and whether profiteering was influencing administration decision-making.
His stock-trading push is longer-running. He sponsored the Ban Conflicted Trading Act in 2022, wrote Speaker Mike Johnson in April 2025 about trading around Trump’s “GREAT TIME TO BUY” post, and joined the bipartisan Restore Trust in Congress Act in September 2025. That bill covers members of Congress, their spouses and dependents, not the president. The JEC figures are committee estimates in ranges.