Americans’ household finances are already taking a hit as President Donald Trump’s war on Iran drives up gas prices.
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll published Friday found that 55 percent of respondents’ household finances had been affected “somewhat” or a “great deal” by the rising prices.
That included 42 percent of Republicans and 68 percent of Independents.
The vast majority of respondents—87 percent overall, 76 percent of Republicans, and 88 percent of Independents—also said they thought prices would rise even further.
Gas prices have shot up by about 30 percent since Trump first attacked Iran on Feb. 28, from an average of $2.90 per gallon in mid-February to $3.90 per gallon as of Thursday.
A whopping 63 percent of Americans now disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy, according to Reuters, putting his approval rating on the issue at a dismal 29 percent.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
In early February, Trump said he was “very proud” of the economy and claimed to have “fixed” the affordability crisis, despite large majorities of Americans saying they were “very concerned” about the cost of housing (62 percent), food (66 percent), healthcare (71 percent), and other basics.
At the time, gasoline was a rare bright spot for the president, with a more modest 34 percent telling the Pew Research Center they were “very concerned” about the price at the pump.
Since then, though, the president and his supporters have struggled to come up with a plan to counter rising costs as Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli strikes.
The situation escalated this week when Israel attacked the South Pars gas field—reportedly with Trump’s blessing—sparking a tit-for-tat in which Iran hit a liquid natural gas hub in Qatar and threatened a refinery in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The attacks drove Brent crude oil prices even higher, to above $110 per barrel, compared to about $70 per barrel in late February.
The president, however, has argued that surging oil prices are a good thing because the U.S. is the world’s largest oil producer.
Speaking to CNBC earlier in the week, his economic advisor Kevin Hassett also said consumer pain was the “last of our concerns right now.”
Despite the tough talk, the president is reportedly so desperate to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and bring down prices that he’s deploying thousands of troops to the Middle East and is weighing a risky assault on Kharg Island, where Iran processes most of its crude oil exports, to exert pressure on the regime.
