Gas Hits $4.29 and Diesel $6.35 a Week Before Midterms as Trump Calls Iran War Costs a 'Small Price to Pay'

The Iran war is now almost eight months old, and Americans are paying for it at the pump.

As of Monday, Oct. 26, the national average for regular gasoline was $4.29 a gallon, according to AAA. It was $2.98 before the war began. Diesel averages $6.35, up from $3.76 in February, after topping $6 for the first time last month.

The midterm elections are Nov. 3.

What Trump is saying

Trump launched attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, alongside Israel. He has described the war as a "little detour" and has called higher fuel prices a small price to pay to keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.

At a Saturday rally in Georgia, he said the U.S. oil and gas industry is "making hundreds of billions of dollars." He added: "We're making a freaking fortune." He also said oil prices are "temporarily high and will be falling dramatically in a short period of time, as soon as that war's over."

He has repeatedly said the war's end is near. He has also warned that a new round of bombing could follow the election, sometimes in the same speech.

At the start of the war, he predicted it would last a matter of weeks.

In his 2026 State of the Union address, days before the strikes, Trump said gasoline was "below $2.30 a gallon in most states." The national average at the time was $2.95.

The pump-price toll

Brent crude topped $100 a barrel after the war began, up from about $70 in 2025. Prices cooled this summer on peace hopes. Trump then demanded that retailers "DROP YOUR PRICE" because oil was at $68 a barrel.

The Joint Economic Committee's Democratic minority says households have spent an additional $101 billion on gasoline since the war began, about $856 per family. The Costs of War Project at Brown University puts the added fuel bill higher, at least $144.6 billion for gasoline and diesel combined. Those are estimates from groups critical of the war.

The JEC Democrats' state breakdown shows some of the heaviest hits in places Trump won. Wyoming tops the list at $1,454 per household. Utah, Alabama, Montana and Mississippi follow.

Diesel is hurting Republicans in Iowa, Kansas, Ohio and Texas, where they are in competitive races. Noor Dubow, 44, a trucking dispatcher in Columbus, Ohio, says he normally votes Republican on economics but leaned toward Democrats on his early ballot. "Where are the Republicans in Congress?" he asked. "Why aren't the Republicans holding Trump accountable?"

An AP-NORC poll published last week found that voters in both parties want the next Congress to focus on affordability and ending the war.

The president's oil stocks

A report from the JEC's Democratic minority, obtained by CBS News, says Trump's oil and gas holdings are worth between $22.5 million and $81.6 million. They were worth $12.6 million to $46 million at the end of 2025. The report puts the average gain at 43%, using LSEG data.

The report says Trump bought between $4.7 million and $17.5 million in oil and gas stocks from March through the end of August, the latest period with filings. It says he sold between $2 million and $5.4 million over the same stretch. It also says 94% of his 2026 purchases in the sector came after the war began.

The report relies on Office of Government Ethics filings, which disclose ranges rather than exact figures. That is why the totals span tens of millions of dollars.

The White House rejects any suggestion that Trump is trading on the war. Spokesman Davis Ingle said Trump's portfolio is "independently managed by third-party financial institutions" in discretionary accounts. He said the money is invested through computer-based model portfolios that "automatically replicate recognized indexes." The White House says Trump does not make trading decisions himself.

No investigation or charge related to the trades has been announced. The report is a partisan product from the minority party days before an election.

Trump voters who are staying put

Not everyone is angry. Voters who spoke to Fox News Digital after Trump's rally in Greenville, North Carolina, said they would accept more expensive gas to keep Iran from getting a bomb.

"If you're really a good American, you'll be thinking not for yourself or how much you're spending for gas," one voter said. "Isn't that worth paying another dollar a gallon?"

A voter named Michael said: "I'll take that any day to stop a country like Iran and take that nuclear power away." He said prices "will come down because of what he's done."

Another, Shauna, said prices have not changed much since Joe Biden and that Trump is "doing the best he can." She added: "He's not Congress. He can only pass so much."

Trump has also blamed Biden for the country's economic problems. At a weekend rally in Michigan, he said he has no regrets about launching the war.

The war is widening

The conflict has not stayed contained. Iran-backed Houthi rebels have hit Saudi oil infrastructure and airports, and a Saudi-led coalition has struck Houthi-held areas of Yemen.

Over the weekend, the State Department said it is reducing staff at four U.S. embassies in the Middle East. It cited intelligence that Iran has stepped up efforts to target American personnel.

Trump's promise that fuel prices drop "dramatically" depends on the war ending. He has set no date for that. He has said bombing could resume after Nov. 3, a week from today.

Voters, including some who say they still back him on Iran, will deliver their verdict on that timeline at the ballot box.