"This is peanuts," Trump said of the spike. "I appreciate everybody putting up with it for a little while. It won’t be much longer."

He made the remarks Monday while touring press around the construction site of the White House ballroom, which is expected to cost around $400 million.

When asked whether he planned additional measures to curb rising fuel costs after floating the idea of eliminating the federal gas tax, Trump replied “maybe” before appearing to dismiss the gas prices. 

“But I don’t even think about that,” he continued. “What I think about is you can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”

The national average for gasoline has climbed to $4.55 per gallon, up from $2.98 since the conflict began at the end of February, according to the American Automobile Association.

Trump's statement has garnered significant backlash from Democrats, who argued that the President is out of touch with the economic hardships facing many Americans. 

“'Peanuts' isn't how my constituents would describe the spiking gas prices that make everyday life more expensive,” argued New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. “POTUS isn't paying for this war. Middle class Americans are, and he couldn't care less.”

Shaheen’s fellow New Hampshire lawmaker, Rep. Chris Pappas, offered a similar review of Trump’s remarks.

"New Hampshire families and small businesses have paid over $70 million more for gas since the war in Iran began," he said.

“Maybe that is ‘peanuts’ to Donald Trump, but to Granite Staters, it is devastating,” he added, referring to the nickname for residents of New Hampshire.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who has frequently clashed with Trump, said the President was “out of touch.”

“Trump doesn’t think about your finances—he even thought gas prices would go up even more,” he said.

And the criticism continued, with House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts insisting that families “can’t afford Trump’s skyrocket gas prices.”

Other Democrats seized on the fact that Trump made the remarks beside the ballroom construction project, which has itself faced criticism over its rising cost. “Trump first, working Americans last,” said Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, highlighting that the President was standing in front of the for of his “gold-plated” ballroom. 

Rep. Shri Thanedar of Michigan claimed that “no problem exists to Trump until it affects him personally.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island mocked the President’s remarks by comparing the rise in gas prices to a $1.59 packet of peanuts.

This is not the first time Trump has dismissed concerns about the economic fallout of the Iran war and its impact on Americans. 

Last week, when asked whether rising costs for Americans were motivating him to pursue a deal with Iran, Trump responded: “Not even a little bit.”

“I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation,” Trump told reporters. “I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing: We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all.”

How the affordability crisis in the U.S. has been exacerbated by the Iran war

Affordability remains a central issue for Americans as prices at the pump and other everyday costs continue to rise.

Democratic Rep. Dwight Evans of Pennsylvania, also criticizing the President’s "peanuts" remark, argued that “American drivers have paid $40 billion more for gas since Trump’s war of choice began.”

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Americans have paid over $39 billion more to oil companies since prices began rising after the war started.

A study conducted by Brown University found that the increase amounts to more than $300 per household.

The rise in energy has been primarily driven by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which a fifth of global oil transits.

Iran’s continued choke hold of the crucial passage has driven up energy prices and sparked concerns of a looming global food crisis.

“Oil is one of the most important inputs into the economy, and it plays a role larger than what you can see with the naked eye,” Justin Wolfers, a professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan, tells TIME. 

“Every product that gets to the shelves of the local supermarket got there in the back of a truck, sometimes flew on a plane before that, and those transportation costs have risen.”

Food prices have taken a significant hit. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Producer Price Index for April 2026 recorded its largest increase since April 2022, rising 1.7%. Inflation climbed to a three-year high of 3.8% by the end of April, according to Consumer Price Index data released last week.

In addition to the pressure caused by the disruption to the Strait, American consumers are also feeling the impact of Trump’s tariffs and climate risks. 

Wolfers says if the Iran war were to end and prompt a full, toll-free reopening of the Strait, then “oil prices would fall back towards their previous levels” but it would still “take a while for prices at the pump to fall,” meaning American consumers would feel a lingering economic pinch. 

In the meantime, the rising costs continue to weigh heavily on Trump politically, particularly after he campaigned in 2024 on lowering prices for consumers.

Trump has “made a political art form of telling people one thing while reality is something else” argues Wolfers, but that doesn’t work when it comes to family budgets. 

An AP-NORC poll published on May 20 showed that 67% of Americans said they disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy.

Similarly, a New York Times/Siena poll conducted May 11-15 found that 64% of American respondents said they somewhat or strongly disapproved of the way Trump has handled the economy.  

“The President hasn't tried to win the public over on these issues,” says Wolfers. “He simply hasn't engaged us in a direct discussion of what we're doing, what the costs will be… it's not surprising to see that he's polling pretty terribly on this as a result.”

Despite the low approval ratings, the President's influence over GOP voters remains strong, with Trump-backed candidates winning Republican primary elections throughout the country.