Donald Trump has said he is not worried about rising petrol prices, describing the war with Iran as a “short excursion”, and adding energy costs would “come down very fast” once the conflict was over.
Trump said the US had a “lot of oil”, adding he would “start filling up” the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve “at the appropriate time, which is basically a gut instinct”.
Oil prices have soared since the US and Israel first launched their attacks against Iran, with Goldman Sachs warning crude prices could top $100 a barrel next week “if no signs of solutions emerge by then”.
The SPR was drained by former president Joe Biden in 2022 in an attempt to lower crude prices after Russia invaded Ukraine. Trump pledged to refill the stockpile when he took office, but he has yet to take action.
US petrol prices are higher than at any time during either of Trump’s two terms and come as the country is facing an affordability crisis that is likely to be a defining issue in November midterm elections.
The president refused to say how long the conflict with Iran would last, but claimed US and Israeli strikes on the country “have decimated their whole evil empire”.
“It will continue, I’m sure, for a little while,” he said, later adding the war would go on for “whatever it takes”.
