Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Monday that gas prices have risen from $2.98 before the Iran war to $4.30 at day 233, and that “no amount of juvenile idiocy from Donald Trump will distract Americans from that fact.” Schumer posted the statement on X at 4:04 p.m. on Oct. 19. It did not name any specific Trump remark or event.
What Schumer Wrote
Gas before Trump’s illegal war with Iran: $2.98.
Gas 233 days into Trump’s illegal war with Iran: $4.30.
Americans have spent over $100 BILLION more on gas in that time.
No amount of juvenile idiocy from Donald Trump will distract Americans from that fact.
The Day’s Political Backdrop
Trump, with 15 days until the midterms and early voting underway in more than half a dozen states, wrote on Truth Social that “New Mexico should immediately change its name to New America.” The post continued, “We are not Mexico, we are the United States of America!” Trump made a similar demand in September.
The Rolling Stone report Schumer linked also said Trump told reporters Monday that a public golf course in Washington is “old, tired, beaten up” and that the administration will build a better one. It also recounted remarks Trump made at an event in Kentucky last week about the physique of Ohio Sen. Jon Husted. The report closed by noting that the price of diesel had reached $6.
The Numbers Behind Schumer’s Post
AAA data show the national average for regular gasoline was $2.98 on Feb. 27, the day before the war began. It stood at $4.30 on Oct. 18, and this is the first October in which a gallon of regular has averaged more than $4. Gas peaked at $4.56 in May, below its 2022 record, while diesel hit a record $6.53 in September.
The $100 billion figure matches an analysis released Oct. 15 by Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee, which estimated Americans have spent $101 billion more on gas since the war began, or $856 per average family. A separate tracker from Brown University’s Climate Solutions Lab put the added cost of gasoline and diesel combined at about $107 billion as of September.
Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi estimated the war has cost the average U.S. household nearly $2,000. That includes $1,100 in higher energy prices, $540 in higher interest rates and $360 in military costs.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday the administration has not broken its promise to lower gas prices and that prices have fallen in recent weeks. Asked whether he was comfortable with the price, he said, “No, of course I’m not comfortable but I’m happy they’re coming down.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said whether oil prices fall before year’s end “will depend” on the Iran conflict.
Schumer’s Record on the Iran War and Gas Prices
On April 29, Schumer and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) announced a vote on a war powers resolution at the 60-day mark of the war. Schumer said the administration was “spending billions on an illegal war that is not supported by the majority of Americans.” Senate Republicans blocked it, the sixth such vote Democrats had forced.
On May 4, Schumer said at a news conference in Ontario County, N.Y., “We will continue to force votes on our War Powers Resolution week after week after week.” On the Senate floor in May, he said Americans were paying more than $4.50 a gallon, over $1.50 above the prewar price. He urged Republicans to back a seventh resolution.
In May the Senate advanced a war powers resolution for the first time after seven failed attempts, when four Republicans voted with Democrats and three did not vote. Schumer said Democrats were breaking through a “wall of silence” among Republicans. Later votes were less successful, and a resolution was narrowly defeated in late September.
In a post last month, Schumer wrote that the war was in “month EIGHT” and that Senate Republicans “voted to keep it going.” The war began Feb. 28, which makes Oct. 19 day 233.