Trump Says He Doesn't 'Care' About Iran War's Economic Impact, But Analyst Warns Americans Have Paid $40 Billion More At The Pump—And Costs Could Rise

GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan has warned that President Donald Trump‘s attitude toward the Iran negotiations could result in a spike in gas prices.

Trump’s ‘I Don’t Care’ Attitude

In a post on X, De Haan criticized Trump’s negotiation tactics amid talks with the Iranian government. “The “I don’t care” attitude will increase the odds of new all-time gas price records, not reduce them,” he said.

Separately, De Haan also outlined the extra cost paid by people at the fuel pumps. “$40 BILLION- the cumulative increased cost to American consumers filling with gasoline since the U.S. attack Iran on March 1,” De Haan said.

He added that Americans paid the highest surcharge of $608 million on May 20 since the war began. “Today added another $488 million to the tally.”

According to data from the American Automobile Association (AAA), the national average price of gas fell to $4.290/gallon on Tuesday. The national average for diesel was around $5.432/gallon on Tuesday, slightly below Monday’s average of $5.448/gallon.

On the crude oil front, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined 1.43% to $90.84/barrel at press time. Brent crude recorded a decline of 1.37% to $93.68/barrel at the time of writing this article.

However, the United States Oil Fund (NYSE:USO), which is an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) tracks the WTI crude, grew 4.97% to 135.50 at market close on Monday.

Gavin Newsom Criticizes Trump

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) criticized Trump over rising fuel costs. He accused Trump of causing the global energy crunch and his choices in the Iran war have led to soaring gas prices in the U.S.

He was joined by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), who had earlier criticized the President for helping oil executives amass wealth and profit from the Iran war as Americans were paying $800 million in excess costs at the pump, she said.

Iran War Updates

Trump said that he "couldn't care less" if negotiations with Iran were halted. He also said that he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging him to pull troops back, as well as held conversations with Hezbollah members to deter targeting Israeli troops.

Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.

Photo courtesy: Shutterstock