War in Iran and oil prices derail Trump's electoral agenda

President Donald Trump tried to downplay concerns about rising gasoline prices resulting from his war in Iran, saying the increase "doesn't really affect [the United States]," even as some Republicans fear that rising costs are weakening his economic message on the eve of November's elections.

“President Donald Trump tried to downplay concerns about rising gasoline prices resulting from his war in Iran, saying the increase "doesn't really affect [the United States]," even as some Republicans fear that rising costs are weakening his economic message on the eve of November's elections”

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Speaking in Florida, Trump said prices were "artificially high" because of the war and promised they would fall again after the conflict ended.

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But the president did not offer a clear timeline for when that would happen, even as he boasted that the U.S. was about to end the war.

The conflict has sent gasoline prices soaring, a rise of nearly 17% since the war began.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said he was surprised by the apparent absence of a government plan to lower gasoline prices and by the lack of contact with experts and analysts eager to help.

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"There is a fairly intense fever of increasingly alarmed Americans over the pace of the increases," De Haan said.

"Americans today are going to spend $200 million (R$ 1 bilhão) more per day on gasoline than they were eight days ago. That number will continue to grow."

Experts say Americans can expect prices to remain high while the war continues.

For Republicans in tight midterm races, the war's side effects—and Trump's still-vague assurances about the economy—remain open questions.

“President Donald Trump tried to downplay concerns about rising gasoline prices resulting from his war in Iran, saying the increase "doesn't really affect [the United States]," even as some Republicans fear that rising costs are weakening his economic message on the eve of November's elections”

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Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the Republican majority leader, told reporters on Monday (9) that "the gasoline price is always kind of a thermometer."

He later added that he was "always concerned about the price of oil, the price of gasoline."

The White House had hoped it would not be this way: shortly before Trump's State of the Union last month, the president's top aides at the White House, most of his cabinet and other political advisers met at the Capitol Hill Club for a midterm strategy session in which they insisted that efforts to reduce the cost of living should be central to the party's pitch to voters.

White House officials declined to comment on what actions the president is considering.

Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement that "the president made clear that these are short-term disruptions and that Americans will see oil and gasoline prices fall quickly again once the necessary objectives of Operação Fúria Épica are achieved and the regime's capabilities are neutralized."

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Senator Chuck Schumer of New York urged Trump to release oil "immediately" from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help lower prices.

Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska, a Republican who is not running for re-election, said Trump had made gains with the economy but that there was work to do because many Americans are still feeling strain, adding "the real question is how long this will last."