Trump ignores grilling on price of gas by bragging about strength of market— before war

President Donald Trump was pressed by Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Sunday about the surging costs sparked by his administration’s war against Iran — a line of questioning that the president responded to by pivoting to past market achievements.

“The blockade in the Strait [of Hormuz], the opening up of [oil] capacity in the United States, is this all going to be enough to lower the cost of oil and gas, sir?” Bartiromo asked Trump, speaking with the president by phone Sunday.

“Well, eventually it's gonna be lowered... no, it's... might not happen initially, but it's gonna go down,” Trump said.

“When this is all over... look – the stock market, the Dow hit 50,000! It was supposed to be in four, five years, they said 'it won't happen during his term' – it hit 50,000 in my first year! The S&P hit 7,000 in my first year – before my first year! So the stock market has not gone down very much at all – it's gone down a little bit, much less than I thought. And frankly, gas hasn't gone up as much as I thought.”

Trump’s remarks bore a striking resemblance to those of his former attorney general Pam Bondi, who, when pressed on her agency’s handling of the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, pivoted to the performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, or Dow, a U.S. stock market indicator, sparking laughter from lawmakers and critics alike.

Trump also admitted in his interview with Bartiromo that gas prices – which have surged to levels not seen since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine – may increase further by November of this year.

“So do you believe the price of oil and gas will be lower before the midterm elections?” Bartiromo asked.

“I hope so,” Trump said. “I mean I think so, it could be, it could be the same, or maybe a little bit higher, but it should be around the same. I think this won't be that much longer.”