Trump Offers Pathetic Excuse For Rising Cost of Living

Donald Trump speaking at a podium with American flags and a ship in the background — Photo: Shutterstock

Gas at five bucks under Biden, three bucks when he left, and a stubborn cost surge since—Trump is betting voters still feel it in their wallets.

Story Snapshot

Average gas prices ran higher under Biden than under Trump’s first term.
Prices hit just over $5 in June 2022 before falling to about $3.11 when Biden left office.
Consumer prices rose over 20% under Biden, widening the “everything costs more” pain.
Trump links more drilling—even in the North Sea—to lower prices; critics dispute near-term effects.

What Trump Is Arguing, And Why It Resonates

Trump’s message is simple: Americans paid more for fuel and everyday goods under Biden. The term-to-term averages back up the fuel part. A public tracker shows Biden’s average gasoline price above Trump’s first-term average, even after adjusting for inflation. FactCheck.org records that pump prices climbed from about $2.38 the week before Biden took office to just over $5 by mid-June 2022, then eased to about $3.11 by his exit. That arc helps Trump’s memory politics: people remember the spike.

Trump also ties price relief to more supply. On his Ireland trip, he said prices would “drop like a rock” when conflict ends, and he pressed the case that opening production—including the North Sea—would send prices down. The frame is classic: more barrels mean lower prices. It tracks with how crude markets set the base cost for gasoline. When oil jumps, pumps follow, though not one-for-one and not overnight, as research from the International Monetary Fund and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas shows.

What The Data Shows About Biden-Era Prices

The numbers are blunt. Gas hit a documented high above five dollars in mid-2022 during the post-invasion energy shock and then fell back near three dollars by January 2025. Across the full term, the average price for Biden’s years still ran higher than Trump’s first-term average. Broader living costs also climbed. The Consumer Price Index rose about 21.5% under Biden, which aligns with what families saw at the store and in monthly bills. That backdrop explains why pump prices became a symbol for household stress.

Counterpoints stress timing and causes. CNN notes that today’s averages can be lower than Biden’s 2022 peak while still running higher than much of his term, which makes simple “higher under Biden” lines feel selective. Analysts also point to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a key shock to oil benchmarks and refining margins, which muddies any clean policy blame or credit. The fair read: Biden presided over higher averages and a severe spike, but global forces did much of the pushing.

Does More Drilling Mean Cheaper Gas Fast?

Trump’s North Sea riff hits a supply nerve but runs into scale and timing. Reporters in London framed his remarks as a pushback on Britain’s halt on new North Sea licenses, not a detailed plan to slash U.S. pump prices now. Critics argue the basin lacks the volume to move global prices in the short term, and any benefit would arrive slowly through world crude markets, not instantly at local pumps. That matches fuel-price research, which finds partial and lagged pass-through from oil to gasoline.

Trump repeatedly pressed Zelensky during a Sunday phone call to stop striking Russian oil refineries, according to Axios, which cites a source familiar with the call. The two are set to meet Tuesday in New York as Washington tries to broker reciprocal de-escalation steps.

Trump… pic.twitter.com/P3vyo65qnc

— Zlatti71 (@Zlatti_71) September 21, 2026

Yet the broader supply logic still matters. Energy markets price on the margin. Extra barrels—whether from the Gulf of Mexico, shale, or the North Sea—add slack. When supply outruns demand, prices ease. That is basic market math and aligns with conservative priorities: grow domestic and allied production, protect refining capacity, and cut avoidable bottlenecks. The promise should be framed as steady pressure on prices over time, not a next-week miracle.

How Voters Should Weigh The Competing Claims

Two truths can sit together. First, Americans did see higher average gas prices and a sharp inflation run-up during Biden’s term, and that pain still shapes views of the economy. Second, not every dollar at the pump traces to a White House order; wars, cartel decisions, and refinery supply all bite. Trump’s case is strongest when grounded in term averages and everyday bills, and when he pairs supply-first policy with practical timelines, not instant fixes that critics can swat away.