By Bo Erickson
MIAMI, April 12 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday oil and gasoline prices could remain high until the midterm elections in November, a rare acknowledgment of the potential political fallout from his decision to attack Iran six weeks ago.
“It might be the same, or it might be a little bit higher, but it will be about the same level,” Trump, who will be in Miami over the weekend, told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo” when asked whether oil and gas prices would be lower in the fall.
According to data from GasBuddy, the price of regular gasoline at service stations in the United States exceeded $4 a gallon for most of April. Officials said Trump’s comments Sunday came after weeks of assertions that the price increase was a short-term phenomenon, even though his top advisers were aware of the economic impact of the war.
Earlier on Sunday, Trump announced on social media that the US Navy would block the Strait of Hormuz and block any ships that pay passage tolls to Iran, after lengthy negotiations between the US and Iran in Pakistan over the weekend failed to yield a peace agreement.
“No one who pays illegal fees will have a safe trip on the high seas,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Any US blockade is likely to add uncertainty to the final resolution of the conflict, which is currently subject to a two-week ceasefire. This new tactic is in response to Iran closing important shipping routes through the strait, causing global oil prices to spike by about 50%.
UNCOMMON WAR REVIEWS TRUMP’S APPROVAL
The war began on February 28, when the United States launched a joint bombing campaign with Israel against Iran. The reach quickly expanded as Iran and its allies attacked neighboring countries, while Israel targeted Hezbollah with major attacks in Lebanon.
The war has severely impacted global financial markets and left thousands of civilians dead, mainly in Iran and Lebanon.
Trump’s political standing at home has suffered, with polls showing the fight is unpopular with most Americans, who are frustrated by rising gas prices.
The president’s approval ratings have hit the lowest point of his second term, raising concerns among Republicans that his party risks losing control of Congress in the midterm elections. Democratic majorities in both chambers could launch investigations into the Trump administration while blocking much of his legislative agenda.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, questioned the strategy behind Trump’s lockdown plan.
“I don’t see how a blockade of the strait would somehow motivate the Iranians to open it,” he told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
In a separate appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Warner said the blockade would “not weaken Iran’s control of the waterways.
“The Iranians have hundreds of speedboats where they can still lay mines in the strait or place bombs against tankers to close the strait,” he said. “How is that going to lower gas prices?”
Although Trump has repeatedly said the war will end soon, Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin told ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday that achieving America’s goals in Iran “could takea long time.”
“This is going to be a long-term project,” said Johnson, who was not asked about Trump’s proposed blockade. “I never thought this would be easy.”
(Reporting by Bo Erickson in Miami, David Ljunggren in Ottawa, Renee Hickman in Chicago and Svea Herbst in New York; Writing by Joseph Ax; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Sergio Non)