MOUNT EPHRAIM, New Jersey ‒ Add gas prices to the list of things bartender and Trump voter Kelly Sharp is frustrated by as she looks at the state of the world.
Standing outside a Wawa gas station and convenience store, Sharp said she voted for President Donald Trump in the last presidential election in part because he promised to bring down the price people pay at the pump. But with prices on the rise nationally ‒ it was $3.15 a gallon at the Wawa ‒ and a new conflict in Iran, she regrets her vote.
With summer on the horizon, gas prices were already rising before Trump on Feb. 28 unleashed the U.S. military on Iran, which retaliated with missile and drone attacks that have now killed at least six U.S. servicemembers. Analysts say the Iran war will likely drive up prices by an additional 20-30 cents per gallon, partly due to supply issues and partly due to global uncertainty.According to AAA, the national average gas price was $3.19 on March 4, up from $3.10 the day before, and $2.97 a week prior.
“He promised to bring prices down, but he never did. They’re going up,” said Sharp, a bartender from Gloucester City, New Jersey. “I’m mad at him and a lot of the things he’s doing… It’s a shame, those young kids being killed.”
Gas prices in the spotlight
Trump has repeatedly cited lower gas prices as evidence that his economic policies are working after taking over the presidency from Joe Biden. During his Feb. 24 State of the Union address, Trump boasted how his administration is pushing gas prices lower, saving money for American consumers. Prices have declined about 6% from when he took office in January 2025.
The White House previously said lower gas prices will save drivers $11 billion this year compared to 2025, based on pre-Iran attack predictions that average prices would drop and then remain below $3 a gallon. Following the Iran attack, analysts with the fuel-price tracking service GasBuddy predicted average national prices instead would now gradually rise above $3 a gallon for gas. The average national price of diesel rose to $4.03 on March 3, up from $3.74 the previous week, AAA reported.
Higher gas prices mean Americans will spend more to get to work, run errands and take vacations. Higher fuel costs also raise prices for groceries and other deliveries, and cut into profits for airlines, truckers and other transportation-heavy industries.
‘This is why I ride the bike.’
At the Pumpies Gas & Convenience near Denver International Airport, Uber and Lyft driver Mario Pinzon, 47, filled up his Nissan Rogue with $30 of regular at $3.25 a gallon. He said higher prices will probably lower his earnings by 20% despite driving 10-12 hours daily.
“Until a month ago, gasoline was affordable for everyone,” Pinzon said. “But because of what’s happening in the Middle East, gasoline prices have had to go up.”
At a different pump, Benny Acosta filled the tank on his CFMoto 300 motorcycle with just over 1.5 gallons of premium at $3.79 a gallon. Acosta, 36, said he also has a Ford Bronco SUV, but prefers riding his motorcycle to save money on fuel as he takes classes to finish his high school diploma. He usually fills up at a nearby grocery store that offers club card discounts, but saw online that Pumpies was cheaper that morning.
“I got me a full tank for $6,” he said. “This is why I ride the bike.”
In Alexandria, Virginia, hospital technical support worker Karen Cerpas, 34, was already feeling the pinch of $3.59 gas.
“See? I used to fill up for like 29, 30 dollars but now it’s $35,” she said, gesturing at the pump. “I mean, I would love that the prices … come down, because I like to go out and enjoy my free time.”
For others, the rise in gas prices hasn’t become a cause for concern.
Gary Clark said it typically costs him about $50 to fill up his car and he’s noticed that price increasing in the past few days, along with the cost of other essentials like groceries.
He attributes the uptick in gas prices to the conflict in Iran, but said the rise “hasn’t gotten that far to be worried about it yet.”
“I was going to get a soda, but it’s too expensive,” Clark joked as he left the convenience store at the Virginia station.
What will happen next with gas prices?
As of March 4, the price of oil futures suggests traders believe this conflict will last “weeks to months, not a year,” said Greg Upton, executive director and associate research professor at the Center for Energy Studies at Louisiana State University.
Consumers should anticipate another modest increase in gas prices, Upton told USA TODAY ‒ possibly 20-25 cents or a bit more, in the coming weeks. He said gas prices typically rise during the summer months, and suggested that the typical seasonal increase was arriving earlier than usual and would stay through the summer before tapering off.
Crude oil prices began rising after Trump ordered the Iran attack, increasing from about $67 a barrel the day before the attack to about $75 on March 4. And it’s not just the price of crude oil that drives gasoline prices, said Susan Bell, senior vice president at Rystad Energy, but also the margins that refiners need to deliver it.
That margin based on the higher crude oil prices hasn’t yet been included in what drivers are paying at the pump, Bell told USA TODAY. Once it is, it could add another 12 cents a gallon, taking the national average from about $3.20 a gallon to $3.30-$3.35, she said. In California on March 4, a gallon of regular gas cost $4.73, according to AAA.
“Consumers really start to get concerned when the pump price goes above about $3.50 a gallon,” Bell said. “We’re not quite there yet, but we could get close in the next couple of weeks.”
The White House said March 3 that it was considering ways to protect consumers from price increases, Bell noted. One possible policy change would be waiving the Jones Act, a 106-year-old federal law that says only U.S.-flagged vessels can transport fuel between U.S. coasts. The Jones Act was notably waived during the active hurricane season of 2017 in President Trump’s first term.
Travel experts with AAA said watching your speed and filling up with regular gas instead of premium ‒ as long as it’s appropriate for your vehicle ‒ can make a big difference in blunting higher fuel costs.
Prices remain well below the record highs set in June 2022, when the national regular gas average price hit $5.01 a gallon and diesel hit $5.81, according to AAA.
Across the globe, the war’s impact on shipping from the Middle East means that most countries will likely end up paying higher fuel prices, said Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov. And one of the best ways for consumers to protect themselves against price hikes might be buying an electric vehicle, he said.
At a Tesla Supercharger station near Denver, business traveler William Roskowski waited for his rental EV to recharge before returning it. Roskowski said he’s aware gas prices have been rising and rented an EV out of curiosity. Roskowski said he installed solar panels on his roof a few years ago, but normally drives a large SUV. He said he is financially secure enough not to worry about small changes in gas prices.
“I’m sitting here charging this vehicle and it’s 15 minutes to charge half the battery,” he said. “Boy, gas is so much more convenient.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Too expensive.’ Americans fret over gas prices as Iran war widens
Reporting by Trevor Hughes, Phaedra Trethan, N’dea Yancey-Bragg and Andrea Riquier, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect