'White House should be worried': GOP analyst warns of looming energy crisis
President Donald Trump’s White House “should be worried” about the rising oil prices, a former member of the National Security Council and National Economic Council during the George W. Bush administration claims.
“Geopolitical price spikes pose a bigger risk of recession than inflation in my view,” said Bob McNally, according to Politico. “The White House should be worried.”
His concern comes after Israel attacked Iran and the fallout, which is assumingly coming. “President Donald Trump [is] facing the prospect of the same economic nightmare that helped unravel Joe Biden’s presidency — rapidly spiking energy prices triggered by a war outside his control,” the outlet wrote.
“If the fighting spreads, things could get politically hot for Trump quickly,” Politico’s Ben Lefebvre wrote. “Trump could be particularly vulnerable if a significant rise in fuel prices triggers the sort of economic slowdown that analysts have warned his tariffs could bring.”
“Given that the situation is fluid, it would not be surprising to see prices remain stable ahead of the weekend,” Tamas Varga, an analyst at the brokerage firm PVM Oil Associates, told the outlet in an email.
Varga went on to say, “Next Monday, however, there is a chance of a significant retracement provided the situation is contained. If there is no tangible supply shock, the current rally will not be maintained.”
Quoting AAA, Lefebvre said, “Friday’s average gasoline price was down 33 cents from a year ago and $1.88 from their all-time high in June 2022.”
Kevin Book, director at analyst firm ClearView Energy, believes that politically, this "offers Trump some headroom.”
“But, of course, Trump didn’t campaign on keeping energy costs the same. He campaigned on bringing them down," he noted.
Lefebvre said, Trump, who campaigned on lower energy prices, "has started complaining publicly about the global markets not comporting with his priorities.”