President Donald Trump summoned top oil and gas officials to the White House for secret talks on Tuesday, as pressure mounts over the global energy crisis sparked by his war in Iran.
The president, 79, is facing growing criticism as soaring oil costs exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis for Americans. On Wednesday, U.S. gas prices hit record highs since the start of the conflict on February 28, reaching an average nationwide of $4.23 a gallon, according to AAA.
According to Axios, attendees of the meeting, which focused on the energy fallout of the war in Iran, included White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, special envoy Steve Witkoff, the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Mike Wirth, CEO of American oil company Chevron.
They were called to the White House as Trump’s deeply unpopular military operation in the Middle East drags on, and as the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which about a fifth of global oil supplies normally flow, remains shuttered, sending energy prices surging.
Trump was repeatedly warned of the likelihood of the strait getting shut down before he decided to launch the war. He has so far dismissed concerns about gas prices, saying he’s happy they are not worse and insisting they’ll fall quickly once the war ends.
The president has warned aides to prepare for an extended blockade of Iran in an attempt to squeeze Tehran’s economy, raising fears of a drawn-out Cold War-style conflict.
But sky-high gas prices are having a knock-on effect on Trump’s approval rating, which has fallen to a new low of 34 percent as Americans struggle with the cost of living.
A White House official confirmed the meeting took place, telling Axios that topics included domestic production, progress in Venezuela, oil futures, natural gas, and shipping.
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told the Daily Beast that Trump “brought oil and gas prices down to multi-year lows at record speed.”
“As traffic in the Strait of Hormuz normalizes, these energy prices will plummet once again. President Trump has always been clear that these are short-term, temporary disruptions,” Rogers added.
Earlier this month, Trump told Fox News that oil and gasoline prices may rise even further before November’s midterm elections, breaking from his earlier narrative that the price spikes wouldn’t last long.
“It could be, or the same, or maybe a little bit higher, but it should be around the same,” Trump told the network’s Maria Bartiromo.
Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, told the Associated Press that the disruption to oil and gas flows through the Strait of Hormuz has triggered “the largest energy crisis we have ever faced.”
The official warned that Europe may have only about ”six weeks” of jet fuel left if the conflict continues.
Trump, who has frequently said that the conflict could end soon, canceled a planned meeting between Witkoff, Kushner, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Pakistan over the weekend after believing the trip would be unproductive amid the diplomatic stalemate.
“I see no point of sending them on an 18-hour flight in the current situation. It’s too long. We can do it just as well by telephone,” Trump told Axios on Saturday. “The Iranians can call us if they want. We are not gonna travel just to sit there.”
