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.

[hatrack]

36. At the bank the other day . . .

The wall TVs showed (among other things) their 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, which is now around 6.8%.

Historically, that's not crazy high (think 1982) but after nearly 20 years of stupid cheap money, that's going to induce sticker shock in many, I'd imagine.

[IronLionZion]

37. It's been around that level for the last 3 years, so not too shocking

the bond market wants it to go higher. I hope it doesn't go back to early 1980s levels. As punishing as that time period was for many Americans, it fixed inflation.

[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

[Maeve]

22. Same here in the Columbus, OH area

[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.

[Polybius]

20. Incorrect

It hit $5.02 in June 2022.

https://waysandmeans.house.gov/2022/06/09/gas-prices-have-more-than-doubled-since-bidens-first-day-in-office/

[Karma13612]

23. It depends on where you were.

The price of gas fluctuates daily for all regions, and it fluctuates drastically from one region to another. A fellow DU’er in Missouri is paying 50C per gallon less than me right now.

As far as I know, California hasn’t been below $5 per gallon for years. I could be wrong, but I know it tends to be much higher than the national average. Way up in northern New york in NC-21, in St Lawrence County area, we are paying $4.89.9 per gallon. That is consistent for every gas station chain. There is one long independent which is getting away with $4.79

[Polybius]

24. Of course, but this was nationwide average I was referring to

I remember when I used to have an ICE car (Internal Combustion Engine, as in gasoline), I used to always fill up when I was in NJ, because it was much cheaper than here in NYC.

[Karma13612]

25. Is it still

True that in NJ you cannot pump your own gas?? It was like that back in the late 90’s when I passed thru there for business.

[Prairie Gates]

27. Still true

[Polybius]

28. Yup

The last state in the nation to have this law. I kinda like it, it makes NJ unique.

[Karma13612]

29. True!

But how are the gas prices?

I only ask because traditionally they run higher in places where your gas is pumped FOR you. It’s considered a service which you pay for thru the gas prices. And they would check the oil, etc. Yea, I’m old. This goes way back!

[Prairie Gates]

26. Agreed...in my location, this is as high as it's ever been

Plus, if they're saying the national average currently is $4.55, that would be a goddamn bargain. It hasn't been under $5.00 since the second week of the war.

[Karma13612]

30. I hear ya!

We are at $4.89 here in Northern New York NY-21.
Specifically St Lawrence County in the very heart of Elise Stefanik MAGA country

[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.

[scipan]

32. the price has not really been "stable for over a month".

$4.5 now vs $4.0 a month ago (approximately). A 12-13% increase.

https://gasprices.aaa.com/

[Bluetus]

33. In my area, it went to $4.50 and is now about $3.85, which is

very nearly the lowest price in the past 40 years when you adjust for inflation.

I wish gasoline were $20 a gallon. Nothing good comes from cheap gasoline. We have the technology to become a fully renewable energy society and could do it in 10 years. And then we could cut our military budget by 60% and fund Medicare for all, 4-year college tuition for every qualified student, at least at community colleges.

It is a choice to be dependent on oil. We need to stop choosing that.

[scipan]

34. I didn't know that it has dropped in some places. interesting.

A lot of news outlets use AAA for the average.

[Bluetus]

35. $4.05 this evening

But we just had 350,000 visitors to this area. It will probably be $3.85 by Weds. I know people talk about fungible commodities and global markets. But today's businesses are all about highly dynamic and personally targeted pricing. That is a big part of what they want ai to do. We'll have to see how that plays out with gasoline.

The best part about EVs, imho is that the utilities have not been allowed to set their prices freely. That is probably changing too.

[NBachers]

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

[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.

[Deminpenn]

18. Gas has actually dropped about 25 cents in western PA

It was 4.99/gal and has dropped to 4.77/gal.

[Hugin]

19. We know why gasoline is so high under the....

Orange Dumbo’s watch. It’s due to a criminal ill-advised unnecessary war of choice.

Why was it so high under President Biden? Putin’s criminal ill-advised war of choice on Ukraine?

[eppur_se_muova]

21. But but but what happened to the lever on Obama's desk ? The one he used to tweak gas prices to throw elections ?

OMG HE TOOK IT WITH HIM WHEN HE LEFT !! SEND THE FBI TO SEARCH HIS HOME !!

[ck4829]

31. These gas prices are almost as bad as the job market.