With gas prices squeezing drivers’ budgets and weighing on general economic sentiment ahead of the midterms, President Donald Trump has argued that fuel costs—and those of nearly every other product—were higher during the previous administration. Pump prices have soared since the launch of the Iran war on February 28, with average costs reaching $4.48 per gallon on Monday according to AAA figures. In addition to further pressure on already struggling consumers, this has created a significant political challenge for Trump’s party, which is facing an uphill battle when it comes to retaining control of the House and Senate.
Amid these criticisms—and polls showing declining faith in his economic stewardship—Trump has said higher gas is a small price to pay for a non-nuclear Iran, that prices will fall swiftly once the conflict ends, and that he still boasts a better record on fuel affordability than his predecessor, Joe Biden. "Gas prices were much higher under Biden than under ‘TRUMP,’" the president wrote in a late-night post to his platform Truth Social on Sunday. "So were almost all other prices." Newsweek has contacted the White House for further comment and is awaiting a response.
Both Biden and Trump came into office when gas was relatively cheap by historical standards, but global supply shocks sent domestic pump prices soaring at around the 60-week mark of their respective presidencies. According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas was selling at an average of $2.38 when Biden was inaugurated in January 2021—attributed in part to the lingering economic slowdown caused by the COVID pandemic.
When Trump took office in January 2025, prices were just over $3.10 a gallon, though he had vowed ahead of his election to bring this to "below $2 a gallon" during his presidency. For Biden, prices rose amid the pandemic recovery, and then significantly following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Biden responded to this with sanctions on Moscow’s oil, and EIA data shows prices surged to over $5 by mid-June.
These eased close to $3 by the end of the year—where they stood at the conclusion of his presidency. Prices fell to under $2.80 around the one-year mark of Trump’s second term, but the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes that kicked off the Iran war have sharply reversed this trend and pushed gas to $4.32 per gallon as of the latest reading. By most accounts, gas prices were higher under Biden than Trump’s current term.
Trump’s peak of around $4.50 per gallon remains 50 cents shy of Biden’s during the 2022 energy crisis. Prices rose by $0.66 over the course of Biden’s term, compared to $1.21 for Trump—though Biden’s increase stood at $1.31 at the same point of his presidency. On average, prices under Biden remain slightly higher than under Trump—at $3.45 a gallon compared to $3.39—though not "much higher" as the president wrote on Sunday.
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