White House secretly 'freaked' about potential of breaking $5.02 gas record set under Biden

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Independent

Friday 22 May 2026 12:19 EDT


The mood inside the White House is reportedly tense as officials fear the ongoing war with Iran could push gas prices beyond the $5.02 a gallon record set under the Biden administration.

Maintaining low gas prices, a policy President Donald Trump campaigned on, had been a key talking point for the White House up until the president chose to start a war with Iran, causing the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a major traffic hub of oil, which led to higher oil prices.

“The White House staff is absolutely, totally freaked about bond yields and gas prices,” an unnamed person close to the White House told Politico. As of May 22, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline is around $4.55, according to AAA and GasBuddy. That is slowly creeping up to the $5.02 record-high set in June 2022, under former President Joe Biden.

One former Trump energy adviser reiterated the White House’s worry to the news outlet, saying, “Obviously, everyone’s stressed about gas prices and looking for levers to pull.”

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/white-house-gas-prices-record-b2982012.html

[Blues Heron]

1. the only lever to pull is the eject lever. unfit for office, buh bye.

[spooky3]

2. The bond yield worry is probably more about mortgage rates, which are ticking up. Nt

[IronLionZion]

10. Other way around

The bond market is telling the Fed to do something about inflation, which is to raise interest rates. That intentionally slows down the economy by reducing demand for things like mortgages.

[UpInArms]

3. I put 9 gallons in my tank and

3 gallons in a container for the lawnmower today

It cost more than $52

[Karma13612]

7. That would have cost me $58.79

We are at $4.89.9/gallon here in St Lawrence County-part of NY-21

[UpInArms]

9. $4.39 a gallon in northwest Missouri

I have never paid this much for a gallon of gas

[gay texan]

4. I hate to say this, but

apparently people have to learn shit the hard way

[Bluestocking]

5. Gas was never this high under Biden

When W was in the WH, yes.

[Karma13612]

6. What a laugh..

Many places are well over $5 a gallon right now.

We are at $4.89 per gallon here in St Lawrence County-part of NY-21

I always laugh at the ‘average’ price they keep claiming in news articles. I think they apply to many red southern states. The joke is, we are in a red area of a blue state. We get the lovely MAGA base, but we get the high prices of a blue state.

How lucky for us!!

[Karasu]

8. It's inevitable. Their stupid fucking war (which the GOP still refuses to let Congress vote on) all but guarantees this.

[Bluetus]

11. I think somebody has a deadline and no real news to write about

The fact is our gasoline supplies are OK and the price has been stable for over a month.

Even the Diesel prices of just under $6 barely get any notice. It is inflationary, but petroleum products have been moving more-or-less at the rate of inflation (or below) for a long time.

Look at the second chart on this page (adjusted for CPI): https://www.macrotrends.net/4453/us-gasoline-prices

At $4.50, gasoline prices are about average for the past 50 years, certainly not at the high end.

I don't really care. We have an EV and a 55 MPG hybrid in our household. There are loads of very efficient vehicles that are not very expensive. If people don't like paying the current price for gasoline, then get a different vehicle.

Of all the things that we need to be concerned about, I don't see how gasoline hits the top 10 list.

[Aussie105]

15. "If people don't like paying the current price for gasoline, then get a different vehicle."

Too easy!

People most convcerned about gas prices would be people already struggling with the cost of everything else.

They won't be able to get a good trade in valuation on an ICE vehicle nor be able to afford the payments on an EV.

. . . but I'm sure they could start a go-fund-me so you can help them out with a load of dollars.

[NBachers]

12. Me at the "cheap" Arco station this morning in San Francisco:

[blue-wave]

13. So is that why

Trump keeps saying the Strait of Hormuz is about to open and the war should soon be over? So the price of oil per barrel can drop a few bucks and certain people can short oil company stocks to make millions and billions on the shorting of the stock. Oh, OK. Now I understand.

[Buddyzbuddy]

14. I paid $5.75 gal. here in So.Cal on Tues.

The most I've ever paid per gal. Most stations are charging over $6 gal.

[Aussie105]

16. Currently paying the equivalent of 4.43 USD per Gallon here in Adelaide, Australia.

It has been as high as 7.12 USD per Gallon.

UK: 1.57 GBP per Litre = 7.96 USD per Gallon
(This is why the British drive small cars.)

[LPBBEAR]

17. We're already past that...

in Central Washington state and have been for a couple weeks.