Rising gas prices frustrate voters. Trump says it's an 'inexpensive
price to pay' for the Iran war
[September 21, 2026]
By STEVE PEOPLES, JESSE BEDAYN and JONATHAN J. COOPER
EDINBURG, Texas (AP) — Quinten Martinez, pumping gas under a hot South
Texas sun, remembers a time when fueling up didn't require difficult
decisions.
“Is it going to be groceries this week?" asked the 28-year-old Amazon
delivery driver as he watched the numbers tick higher. "Is it gonna be
getting gas in our tank to go to work?”
He shook his head when asked about President Donald Trump's assertion
last week that higher gas prices are a small price to pay for the war
with Iran.
“I don’t feel like it’s a good trade-off,” Martinez said. “I don’t feel
like this is good for anyone.”
Voters across the country, and across the political spectrum, tend to
agree.
Interviews with voters in several states, along with a fresh round of
national polling, reveal an overwhelming sense of frustration that
skyrocketing gas prices — a direct result of Trump's war — are creating
serious and sustained financial hardships for America's working class.
The acute concerns are adding to a bad political environment that may be
worsening for Trump and his Republican Party as early voting gets
underway in the November midterm elections.
Historically, the party holding the White House has suffered major
losses in midterms. Today, seven weeks before Election Day, Republican
candidates at all levels are struggling with the additional burden of
Trump's weak approval ratings, an unpopular foreign conflict and an
affordability crisis that Trump and his congressional allies had
promised to fix.
But when Trump campaigned in North Carolina on Wednesday, he played down
the impact of surging gas prices.
“You have a little higher. It’s a very inexpensive price to pay for what
we’ve done," Trump said of the war, which he describes as critical to
prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. "Remember that. It's a
little more. Frankly, even if it was a lot more.”
‘Gas prices matter,’ Republican strategist says
Despite what Trump says, there are few things that may matter more this
election year than the price of a gallon of gasoline, according to
political operatives in both parties.
Gas prices are moving sharply in the wrong direction at a time of year
when drivers typically get some relief. The national average for a
gallon of gas reached $4.48 on Friday, according to AAA, up roughly 17
cents over the last week, 40 cents in a month and $1.27 from a year ago.
“Gas prices matter because they’re one of the few economic indicators
voters experience and see in real time,” said veteran Republican
strategist Chris Wilson. “The price is literally staring them in the
face several times a week. So I wouldn’t minimize the frustration we’re
seeing, particularly among working- and middle-class voters.”
Interviews with voters this week found bipartisan frustration and
disappointment.
Democrats and independents were especially motivated to punish
Republicans at the ballot box for their economic hardship, while some of
Trump's working-class supporters pledged to support Republicans this
fall, even if they weren't happy with the president's leadership on the
economy.
Some Republicans say they're disappointed
Dan Lloyd, who voted for Trump, lamented the president's leadership as
the 63-year-old carpenter paid $4.39 a gallon to fill up his pickup
truck in Mesa, Arizona.
“He hurt himself stepping into this,” Lloyd said of Trump. “Where’s all
this oil from Venezuela? I thought we were flush with gas and
everything, but no. The American people eat it every time, whether it’s
interest rates, food, gasoline.”
Still, he expects to vote Republican in the midterms.
“I think the Democratic Party has lost its way,” Lloyd said. "I just
feel like the whole system’s on the verge of collapse.”
In sweltering Edinburg, Texas, 52-year-old Kristin Jimenez shrugged off
the rising price of gas after filling up her Mercedes.
“We’ve paid the same price under Republican presidents, we’ve paid this
price under Democrat presidents,” said Jimenez, a mother who runs a
small business. She plans to vote for a Republican in because they’re
the “lesser of two evils.”
She said gas prices aren’t part of her calculation.
[to top of second column]
|
Michael Whatley, North Carolina senatorial candidate, right, and
President Donald Trump speak during a campaign rally at the Gastonia
Municipal Airport, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Gastonia, N.C. (AP
Photo/Matt Kelley)
“We don’t mind paying $8 for a cup of coffee at Starbucks, but we have a
problem paying four bucks at the pump?” she said. “Make it make sense.”
More than 1,500 miles to the north in central Michigan, 35-year-old
Garth Johnson is trying to make ends meet running a deep-cleaning
business with several gas-powered vehicles and one machine fueled by
diesel, which was $6.79 a gallon as he filled up his SUV.
Johnson voted for Trump, but doesn’t know what he’s going to do in
November. Johnson doesn’t feel qualified to second-guess the president’s
evaluation of the war, but he's feeling financial pressure in his own
life.
“I like a lot of the things he’s done,” Johnson said, but added “I’m a
little guy and I’ve got to live my life.”
Other voters are not so forgiving
Midterm voting was already underway on Friday in Virginia, where
60-year-old engineer Alan Johnson said Trump seems to have “no empathy”
for Americans who are struggling financially.
“With the gas prices being what they are and continuing to grow, we’ve
got to do something. Hopefully the Democrats can get into office and
turn the ship around,” said Johnson, who cast ballots in the morning for
Democrats for the U.S. Senate and U.S. House.
In Raleigh, North Carolina, teacher Brittney Bivins sees surging gas
prices as evidence that Trump and his Republican Party aren't dealing
with the issues that matter most to people like her.
“He really doesn’t care about everyday people,” the 45-year-old said.
“He can afford the gas, but most of us can’t. So it feels like he’s not
even connected to his own people.”
Bivins, who described herself as an independent, said she's eager to
support Democrats this fall — especially the party's emerging democratic
socialist wing.
At a gas station in Lansing, Michigan, Rina Risper spent $50 on 8
gallons of premium gas.
“When I rolled up I was in shock, actually, and said, well, maybe I
should drink water instead of having that $4.99 bottle of whatever it
was I was gonna get,” Risper said. She thinks Trump's tariffs will make
affordability even worse.
“We’re not in Miami. We’re in Lansing, Michigan,” she said. “It’s really
going to impact our people.”
Most voters think Trump's administration has made economy worse, poll
shows
Nationwide, more than three times as many voters say they are falling
behind financially as getting ahead, according to a Fox News survey
released Wednesday. By a 15 percentage point margin, Democrats are
considered the party that would better handle inflation and prices at a
time when the cost of living and the economy are voters’ top concerns.
The Fox poll found that 61% of voters say gas prices are a major problem
for their household, compared with 48% two years ago, while 52% say the
same for healthcare costs, compared with 44% in 2024. Majorities also
view housing costs and grocery prices as major problems, although
neither has increased.
Overall, nearly two-thirds of voters (63%) say the administration has
made the economy worse, compared with 52% in September 2025, including
one-quarter of Republicans. Only 46% of Republicans say the
administration has improved the economy, while about one-quarter don’t
see an impact.
Back in rural South Texas, an area where Trump's GOP made gains in
recent elections, Martinez, the Amazon delivery driver, could not
contain his frustration.
Trump “likes to tout that we are the best economy in the world,” said
Martinez, but in more rural towns, “you don’t see any of the winning,
you don’t see any of the ups that he’s talking about."
"You just see struggles for day to day life," he said.
___
Peoples reported from New York and Cooper from Mesa, Ariz. Associated
Press writers Allen G. Breed in Raleigh, N.C., Jacqueline GaNun in
Lansing, Mich., Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Va., and Nicholas Riccardi in
Mason, Mich., contributed to this report.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
