Amid the unprecedented spike in gas prices in the United States sparked by the U.S. attack on Iran, President Donald Trump took to social media Sunday to insist that gas price hikes were “a very small price to pay,” and condemned critics as “fools.”
“Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace,” Trump wrote Sunday on his social media platform Truth Social. “ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!”
The Trump administration’s attack on Iran last week led to the Middle East nation closing the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping route through which around a fifth of the world’s oil trade passes through. The closure led to what former White House energy advisor Bob McNally called on Sunday the “largest oil disruption ever in history.”
As a result, gas prices have surged across the United States, jumping by 14% in a week as of Saturday, according to data from the AAA motor club and reported by Time.