Gasoline price average under Trump surpasses Biden era

The average price Americans are paying for gasoline under President Donald Trump has overtaken the average during the Biden administration, underscoring the political pressure on Republicans ahead of the midterm elections. Trump had pledged to lower gasoline prices to below $2 a gallon, but almost two years into his presidency the fuel’s retail cost has averaged $3.472 a gallon, according to AAA. That surpassed the average under former President Joe Biden of $3.471 a gallon by less than a cent, according to daily AAA data released Oct. 26. Gasoline prices surged this year after the start of the U.S. and Israel’s war in Iran, crippling oil flows and further squeezing global refining capacity. Over the past eight months, U.S. average pump prices have risen 43% while diesel prices have surged almost 70% and topped the highest level on record. The issue has become a flashpoint for Trump’s Republican Party in midterm elections, as inflation-weary voters are further strapped by elevated energy prices. Americans have never paid this much for fuel this late in the year, with a national average price of $4.286 a gallon as of Sunday, according to AAA. Biden still holds the record for the single-highest nationwide gasoline price of $5.02 a gallon in June 2022, in the months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The global market is missing about 400,000 barrels a day of gasoline that would normally be exported from the Middle East, said Susan Bell, senior vice president, downstream at Rystad Energy. Image (Bloomberg) The cost of diesel has been the main focus for the…

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