Gas at $4.29 as Wright Insists No Promise Was Broken

Americans are paying $4.29 a gallon for gas this Sunday, AAA says. A year ago, the price was $3.04. Energy Secretary Chris Wright insists the Trump administration hasn't broken its promise to bring prices down.

Wright made his case on CNN as the Iran war entered its eighth month. Host Dana Bash brought up his earlier prediction that prices would fall “within weeks, not months,” then asked whether the administration had let Americans down with prices still high.

“No, we haven’t,” Wright said. He turned to Iran’s government, saying it “killed 30,000 to 40,000 of their own citizens in January of this year before the conflict.” Then he asked Bash: “Are you comfortable with a nuclear-armed Iranian regime that’s in power right now? I don’t think anyone is comfortable with that.”

Bash returned to gas prices. Was Wright comfortable with them? “No, of course I’m not comfortable but I’m happy they’re coming down,” he replied. He said prices, along with diesel, had fallen in recent weeks, adding, “they will continue to come down. That’s what President Trump works on every day.”

Who Is Paying the Most

The national average masks a lopsided burden. Since the war began, prices in some western states have topped $5. Washington’s average is $5.39, Nevada’s is $5.40, Hawaii’s is $5.63 and California’s is $6.18. Some Los Angeles-area stations charge more than $7.

For households already stretched thin, those figures aren’t abstract. A commuter with a long drive, a home health aide traveling miles between clients, or a delivery worker paying out of pocket can’t wait out a price spike as easily as someone with a comfortable budget.

Wright pointed to March, when he said the active attacks would end in “four or five or six weeks, and they were.” Gas prices fell then, he said, and “never got remotely close to $5 a gallon.” Since then, prices in several states have crossed that mark.

A Shifting Forecast

The energy secretary’s timeline has changed repeatedly. In March, he predicted prices would drop below $3 by summer, while adding there were “no guarantees.” In April, he said they might not fall below $3 until 2027. President Trump called Wright “totally wrong.” By May, Wright said he was avoiding predictions about when prices would fall.

The administration’s own energy chief has now offered a summer forecast, a 2027 forecast and, finally, no forecast at all. The president publicly rejected one of them.

The Russian Diesel Deal

Earlier this month, Trump announced a diesel deal for Russia to “immediately” supply 300,000 tons to the U.S. and global marketplace, with another 500,000 tons due in November. Diesel costs had climbed by then; AAA puts the U.S. average at $6.53.

The deal drew criticism from both parties. Lawmakers objected after Congress had just approved a sanctions package against Russia over its war with Ukraine.

Experts doubt the arrangement will make much difference at the pump. “The announced Russian diesel volumes are a small fraction, less than 5 percent, of U.S. diesel demand over the next few months, so they should have very limited impact on U.S. retail prices,” Isabelle Gilks, principal analyst for retail fuels at Wood Mackenzie, previously told The Hill.

Diesel moves freight. Freight moves groceries. A price that high doesn’t stay at the truck stop.

Why This Matters:

The gap between the administration’s assurances and the prices drivers see on station signs is clear: $4.29 nationally, compared with $3.04 a year ago, and more than $6 in California. Those costs hit hardest for people with the least room in their budgets and the longest commutes, as well as communities in western states where prices run highest. An analyst says the Russian diesel deal covers under 5 percent of expected demand, raising its own accountability questions after lawmakers in both parties had just backed sanctions on Moscow. When the energy secretary’s forecasts shift from summer relief to 2027 and then to no predictions at all, while the president calls one of them wrong, households can’t plan around the guidance they receive. They’re left paying the difference at the pump as officials debate who promised what.