Donald Trump has made a campaign promise nearly 20 times at different events, but achieving that goal would actually hurt those industries the former president supports most, an analysis says.
Trump has vowed to get gas down to $1.87 per gallon on at least 19 separate occasions, but that could have some serious consequences, according to the Washington Post's analysis.
"Trump has mentioned this target price of $1.87 a gallon more than 19 times on the campaign trail, according to a Washington Post analysis of his remarks. But supporters say the figure, which does not appear on Trump’s campaign website or in the 2024 Republican Party platform, is less a precise goal than a powerful reminder of how rising prices have hurt consumers in recent years," according to the Thursday report.
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The analysis by Maxine Joselow, a staff writer who covers climate change and the environment, suggests that "energy experts and economists, however, say the suggestion he could slice gas prices by 40 percent — the national average is currently $3.16 — underscores how candidates can overstate their ability to shape the economy."
"And in this case, they warn, achieving what Trump is proposing could have severe consequences for many of the industries he is vowing to support," Joselow then added.
Joselow goes on to say that, for gas prices to fall to $1.87 a gallon, "crude oil prices would need to dramatically drop to just $20 a barrel, according to calculations by Mark Finley, a fellow in energy and global oil at Rice University."
"For context, West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the U.S. benchmark, was trading around $71 a barrel on Wednesday. The only time oil prices dipped near $20 a barrel in recent years was 'during the pandemic,' Finley said, 'when oil demand was in a free-fall and the Saudis and Russians were having a price war,'" Joselow added.
The analysis continues:
"Companies generally can’t break even on oil production when the price of a barrel falls below $45, according to Ed Hirs, an energy economist at the University of Houston. If crude prices plummeted to $20 a barrel, they say, top U.S. oil producers would probably pull back on major investments."