U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) said Sunday that the “outrageous cost hikes” tied to President Donald Trump’s “war of choice” are not going away, warning in a post on X that Americans’ holiday travel plans will be “an even bigger pain in your wallet this year” and demanding that the conflict with Iran end immediately. The post, published at 2:54 p.m. on Oct. 4, 2026, landed as the war enters its eighth month and as fuel costs continue to ripple through household budgets ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Hickenlooper’s full post read:
“The outrageous cost hikes from the president’s war of choice are still hurting Coloradans everywhere – and they’re not stopping anytime soon.
That means your holiday travel plans are going to be an even bigger pain in your wallet this year.
This war needs to end, NOW.”
The post linked to a new analysis of holiday travel prices. Hopper’s 2026 Holiday Travel Index projects this holiday season to be the most expensive in a decade, with Thanksgiving flights averaging $402, up 31% from last year, and Christmas flights averaging $452, up 23%. Domestic hotel rates held steady for Thanksgiving at $170 a night but rose 18% to $197 a night for Christmas stays.
The analysis attributed the surge largely to prolonged high jet fuel costs stemming from the conflict in the Middle East. Carriers have cut some less profitable flights and raised fares and baggage fees in an effort to recoup losses. Travelers are being advised to book before Halloween and to avoid peak return days, with fares on the Sunday after Thanksgiving topping $600.
A Fuel Shock That Began With the First Strikes
The war began Feb. 28, when U.S. and Israeli forces started bombing Iran. Hickenlooper responded the same day, saying Trump “has bypassed his constitutional duty to seek congressional authorization for operations in Iran” and “operates without an articulated goal, strategy, or endgame.” He also said the action created “the distinct impression of a calculated distraction from his domestic failures.”
Prices at the pump moved quickly. The national average for regular gasoline first topped $4 a gallon at the end of March and hit a 2026 high of $4.56 in May, as Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries about a fifth of the world’s oil, choked traffic through the waterway. In a Senate floor speech on March 4, Hickenlooper said, “Just this week, gas prices reached an 8-month high in response to the war in Iran. Americans are already paying for this war at the gas pump.”
“Shakespearean Tragedy” and a Cost-of-Living Warning
After voting for an Iran War Powers Resolution on April 15, Hickenlooper called the war “a Shakespearean tragedy on a global scale,” adding that “American lives have been lost. The world economy has been crippled. Worst of all, we’re left with no good options.” He continued: “Coloradans are already facing a cost-of-living emergency. We need lower costs for gas, groceries, housing, and health care. Not another endless conflict.” The resolution failed, with most Senate Republicans voting against it.
Trump, for his part, has downplayed the pump prices. In a Truth Social post, he called the increase in gas prices “a very small price to pay,” a sharp break from his campaign messaging against high gas prices under his predecessor. On April 30, Trump told reporters gas prices would “drop like a rock” as soon as the war was over.
Deal Claims, Escalation and Colorado’s Tab
On June 11, after Trump threatened to escalate and then canceled planned strikes within hours while saying a peace deal was near, Hickenlooper said: “The whiplash from President Trump is just too much.” He added, “The problem is, he’s said that a deal is close at least 37 times before,” and concluded, “Enough is enough. Americans don’t want more bombs in Iran. They want lower bills. This illegal war has got to end now.
A June interim deal briefly pulled gas below $4, but the arrangement collapsed. On July 21, after 10 consecutive nights of U.S. strikes and the deaths of three more service members over a weekend, Hickenlooper said, “This weekend was a painful reminder that President Trump’s war isn’t some distant conflict. It’s costing lives and hurting Colorado families.” His office noted the national average had returned to $4 a gallon and cited a Joint Economic Committee Minority report finding that Coloradans had spent a combined $1,005,829,767 more on gas since the war began, or $447 more per family.
In a separate video statement, Hickenlooper accused the president of profiting from the conflict. His office said the average Colorado family had paid $583 more for gas since the war began, while Trump had made up to $15.5 million from oil and gas stocks. “While the Colorado families are struggling to put gas in their tanks, the President is making money hand over fist over this prolonged, illegal war,” Hickenlooper said. “We have to end this forever war, and start fighting the high prices that are crushing working families.”
A War Powers Push Ahead of the Midterms
On Aug. 6, Hickenlooper introduced his own War Powers Resolution directing Trump to terminate U.S. military hostilities against Iran, noting he had voted 13 times to end the war. “President Trump’s illegal war in Iran has been a complete and total disaster that has cost American lives, sent prices skyrocketing, and drained our military stockpiles,” he said. “We need to get out of Iran and get back to lowering costs for working families.” Gas prices that month set a record for the highest August national average, at $4.07 a gallon.
The political stakes have grown as November approaches. Reuters reported on Sept. 24 that Democrats were pushing for a pre-election Senate vote on the war, citing a Reuters/Ipsos poll in which only 34% of respondents approved of the strikes on Iran. Reuters also reported that seven House Republicans had voted with Democrats on a war powers resolution and that two Republican Senate candidates had called for a swift end to the war. Only one such resolution has passed both chambers, and Reuters reported the White House has ignored the result.
Markets are also reflecting the shift. Polymarket currently shows the odds of Democrats winning the House at 93%, a figure that has climbed through the year as voters weigh the war and its costs.
No Quick End in Sight
Trump said in September that oil prices would come down “as soon as we win the war with Iran” and that the conflict would conclude right after the November midterms because Iran “can’t hold out any longer.” Oil was hovering above $100 a barrel at the time, after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked more than a dozen vessels trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. That timeline leaves Americans paying elevated prices through the holidays, which is the warning at the center of Hickenlooper’s post.