Trump administration officials once called high gas prices the Biden administration's "Achilles' heel" — but now it appears that could have come back to haunt them, according to a new Reuters report on Thursday.
The political and economic backlash over the Iran war has left the White House struggling to address the skyrocketing price of oil as the prospect of a quick end to the military operation looks increasingly unlikely, three Trump administration insiders familiar with the conversations told Reuters.
"U.S. President Donald Trump this week backed suspending the federal gas tax, a step that would knock 18 cents a gallon off motor fuel prices currently averaging more than $4.50 a gallon nationwide," Reuters reported. "Once viewed by some White House aides as unnecessary, the idea is gaining urgency as officials run low on options to show they are tackling rising costs, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations."
As prices have climbed, the president needs "a visible consumer relief move now," one of the White House insiders said.
"Historically, $4-per-gallon gasoline has been a level that triggers public backlash and economic anxiety," Reuters reported.
AAA data has revealed that seven states have already passed the $5 a gallon mark.
And as consumer sentiment drops to a record low and consumer inflation hit 3.8 percent this April — the highest it has been in nearly three years — more Americans are experiencing economic strain as gas prices climb and U.S. households are already paying the price.
With midterm elections in November, Republicans have started pressuring Trump and his administration as they worry that affordability concerns among voters could ultimately push Republicans out of majority in the House of Representatives — and potentially the Senate.
"They feel like that’s their largest vulnerability right now: that specific cost, gas, not overall economic conditions," an unnamed White House political adviser told Reuters.
"The toughest thing, too, is that we made gas prices the Achilles' heel for (former President Joe) Biden and now it's our own."
Taylor Rogers, White House spokesperson, said that the president and his energy team had expected the Iran war would create repercussions for global energy markets and had anticipated they needed a plan to address it.
"The ability to supply both the United States and our allies with reliable, affordable, and secure energy has long been a key strategic objective of President Trump, and his successful efforts to unleash American oil and gas has achieved this objective," Rogers told Reuters.