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Supporters attending President Donald Trump’s rally on the National Mall acknowledged feeling the pinch from higher gas prices, but they largely declined to blame Trump — instead pointing to the Iran conflict and lingering frustration with inflation under former President Joe Biden.
“My least favorite president ran gas up to about $5 a gallon for no reason, and that was Mr. Biden,” said Billy of North Carolina.
Fox News Digital spoke with Americans who gathered on the National Mall Wednesday evening for President Donald Trump’s rally kicking off the “Great American State Fair” celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary, where attendees weighed in on whether they are feeling pain in their pockets as affordability concerns loom over the war with Iran and midterm elections in November.
“Affordability has a lot to do with just interest rates that went up the highest in 48 years under President Biden, so it’s going to take some time to get those prices back down to where we were before that,” said James McNair of Maryland.
GAS SURGE TIED TO IRAN CONFLICT HITS SWING STATES, TESTING TRUMP’S LOW-PRICE PITCH
“I’m not that concerned about the affordability thing. I think that our president is probably the best businessman to ever be president, and things will turn,” added James’ brother, David.
“Being in Gen Z, everything’s very expensive now,” William of New York said in summary.
Many attendees shared that while they recognize gas prices are high, they attribute the recent spike to the escalating conflict with Iran—a development they continue to support.
TRUMP PROMISED LOWER COSTS; THE IRAN CONFLICT NOW THREATENS THAT PLEDGE
“I don’t think the prices in general have gotten any worse than when Biden was in the administration,” said Lisa of Maryland.
Before the war, the national average price of gasoline was $2.98 per gallon. Prices climbed to a peak of $4.56 per gallon in late May before gradually declining to $3.87 per gallon by the end of June.
Lisa and her husband, Matt, both served in the Army and expressed diverging opinions on affordability and Trump’s handling of Iran.
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“Prices have definitely gone up and they do get my attention,” said Matt of Maryland.
Matt shared that his drill sergeants were warning him of being deployed to Iran back in 1985. “Here we are today in 2026, still dealing with this problem.”
“If we’re worried about gas prices, we’re going to be worrying again and again and again until we get a handle on regimes that just don’t share our values,” said Matt.
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Norma Holm of Indiana also said she believed Iran would eventually have to be dealt with and that it was better to address the issue head-on than leave it for the next generation.
“We are taking it for the team with the gas prices and everything else, but things are stabling, and President Trump, don’t underestimate him.”
Washington and Tehran agreed to halt military strikes in the region with delegations scheduled to meet June 30 in Doha, Qatar for talks.
Other attendees are hoping that a resolution to the Iran conflict will lead to lower prices.
“As the Iran war comes to an end and the peace deal hopefully gels, we’ll see. I think gas prices are already coming down, not tremendously, not where we would like to see, but those things take time,” said James of New York.
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