Energy & Environment Newsletter

Trump officials give mixed gas price messages

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by Rachel Frazin - 04/20/26 6:21 PM ET

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by Rachel Frazin - 04/20/26 6:21 PM ET

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Energy & Environment

The Big Story

Trump officials give mixed gas price messages

President Trump and his Cabinet officials are offering mixed messages on gas prices as Americans grow increasingly uneasy over the Iran war’s economic impact.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNN on Sunday that gas prices may not drop back below $3 a gallon until next year.

“That could happen later this year, that might not happen until next year,” Wright said.

“But prices have likely peaked and they’ll start going down. Certainly with the resolution of this conflict, you’ll see prices go down,” he added.

But in a phone interview with The Hill on Monday, Trump said Wright’s assessment was “totally wrong.”

Trump’s take on the gas prices echoes Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who told reporters last week that he expects them to drop below $3 per gallon by the summer.

The comments come as Republican are growing nervous over the impact gas prices will have on November’s midterms, which have become focused on affordability.

Trump himself recently offered a pessimistic outlook a week ahead of Wright’s remarks, suggesting last Sunday that prices may or may not drop at all ahead of the midterms.

Asked if prices would fall, he said at the time, “I hope so. I mean, I think so, it could be, it could be, or the same or maybe a little bit higher, but it should be around the same.”

Read more here, from The Hill’s Julia Manchester and me.

Welcome to The Hill’s Energy & Environment newsletter, I’m Rachel Frazin — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains.

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