Trump Tells Georgia Rally He Doesn't 'Give a Damn' About Criticism for Touting Oil Profits as Gas Holds at $4.29

President Donald Trump used a Saturday night rally in Perry, Georgia, to tell voters his own advisers had urged him not to brag about oil money while fuel is expensive. He did it anyway.

"My people say, please don't mention that, Sir, people are paying a little higher," Trump said. Then he continued: "I don't give a damn, I'm gonna say it: We're making a frickin fortune."

The remarks came on Oct. 24, as fuel prices remain a central issue in the final stretch of the midterm campaign.

What Trump said

Trump claimed the country is "making hundreds of billions of dollars because of what's happened in the Middle East, because they're coming to Texas and they're coming to Oklahoma and they're coming to Louisiana and they're taking that oil." He later raised the figure to "hundreds and hundreds of billions, trillions of dollars," and added Venezuela and Greenland to the list of oil sources.

He offered no source for any of those numbers.

He also said pump prices "are going to come way down" and that Americans are "paying lower than Biden and Obama." He tied the price relief to the end of the conflict, pointing to oil tankers waiting in the Strait of Hormuz and saying the U.S. should get them moving quickly.

The White House has not commented on the reaction to the speech.

Where prices stand

AAA's national average for regular gasoline was about $4.29 a gallon on Oct. 25. That is down from roughly $4.49 a month ago and up from $3.06 a year ago, an increase of about $1.23, or 40%. Midgrade is near $4.80 and premium near $5.20.

Diesel averages about $6.35 a gallon. That fuel moves freight, crops and groceries, and it is running nearly 75% above last year.

Brent crude closed Friday at $116.72 a barrel, its highest level in six months. Gas peaked this year at $4.56 in May, a four-year high, during supply disruptions tied to the war with Iran.

The Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank, calculates gasoline is 43% higher and diesel 68% higher than before the war. Gas averaged $2.98 on Feb. 27, the day before U.S. strikes began. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, estimated in early October that the war's costs to households had nearly reached $2,000 each.

Checking the comparison to Biden and Obama

Trump's comparison holds in one case and fails in the other. According to govargus.com, cited by Newsweek, gas peaked at $5.06 in June 2022 under Joe Biden. Today's $4.29 is below that.

The national average under Barack Obama peaked at $3.93 in May 2011. Today's price is above that.

On the war itself, Trump has defended the price of the conflict before. Roughly two months ago he said he would "never apologise" for it. He argued that paying "a little bit more" keeps Iran, which he called the top state sponsor of terror, from getting nuclear weapons.

Democrats seize on the clip

California Gov. Gavin Newsom reposted the footage with the line: "Congratulations to Big Oil on their very successful, record-profits presidency." Rep. Ted Lieu of California wrote that Trump is "bragging about making money while people are suffering at the pump. November is coming."

Melanie D'Arrigo of the Campaign for New York Health said, "Just run this as an ad." Nation writer Jeet Heer called the clip an "amazing closing argument" for Democrats. Drop Site News reporter Ryan Grim said Trump used a mocking voice when describing complaints about prices.

The argument against Trump's framing is that oil company earnings and household budgets are different things. Exxon and Chevron reported combined second-quarter profits of $26.5 billion, according to figures cited by Common Dreams. Households, meanwhile, are the ones filling the tank.

Voters are already feeling it

The University of Michigan's October consumer sentiment reading was the second lowest since records began in 1978. Only May was worse, at 44.8.

Joanne Hsu, director of the university's Surveys of Consumers, said people are frustrated because buying power has fallen while prices keep rising. In October, 56% of respondents spontaneously said higher prices were hurting their finances. That share has risen four straight months.

Hsu said the concern shows up across the political spectrum, with Republicans posting the largest proportional increase. Year-ahead inflation expectations ticked up to 4.7% from 4.6%. Longer-term expectations rose to 3.5% from 3.4%.

Supply remains the open variable

Prices in some regions have jumped on refinery problems. Michigan unleaded hit $4.77, up 33 cents since Wednesday. Ohio reached $4.37 after a two-day rise of 39 cents.

Gregory Brew, a senior analyst at Eurasia Group, told CNN that further escalation could reduce oil flows from the Middle East. "Right now, a lot of oil is coming out, but it's expensive," he said. "There is very little confidence that supply is sustainable."

Trump's forecast that prices will "come way down" depends on that conflict winding down and the tankers in Hormuz moving. Neither he nor the White House has laid out a timeline for either.