Trump is running out of options to contain gas price backlash

Trump is running out of options to contain gas price backlash

Washington Post-May2nd2026

Gas prices are surging, voter backlash is building, and inside the White House, the options to lower prices at the pump are dwindling.

The national average gas price rose to a wartime high of $4.39 on Friday, up more than 30 cents from a week ago. Analysts warn that prices will continue to rise as long as the Strait of Hormuz is closed to shipping traffic, as a stalemate between President Donald Trump and Iran traps oil, petroleum and other products in the Persian Gulf.

People across the country have been adjusting their behavior as prices continue to rise. Forty-four percent of Americans say they are cutting back on driving because of the heightened prices, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll. Forty-two percent say they are cutting household expenses in response, and 34 percent have changed their travel and vacation plans.

Mitigating those concerns has been a major point of internal deliberation at the White House. On Tuesday, Trump met with energy executives at the White House, according to a White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private meeting. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hosted the meeting, and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Vice President JD Vance also attended. They discussed the steps Trump has taken to alleviate global oil markets and what they might do next if the current blockade continues for months longer, the official said.

As the conflict stretches into its 10th week, the White House has exhausted many of the policy levers the federal government can use to mitigate surging gas prices, and the options that remain carry other economic and political risks for the president.

So far, Trump’s administration has cobbled together piecemeal policy tweaks that have lowered prices on the margins. In March, the administration began releasing 172 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Trump has temporarily waived the Jones Act, a more than 100-year-old law that requires that goods hauled between U.S. ports be moved on U.S.-flagged vessels in an effort to protect the domestic shipping industry. The administration has also lifted environmental rules that prohibit the sales of a higher ethanol gas blend in the summer due to concerns it could worsen smog. And the Treasury Department has temporarily paused some sanctions on the sale of Russian oil.