Trump promised $2 gas; at $4.29 he now says it's cheaper than under Biden and Obama

At a rally in Perry, Georgia, on Saturday, Oct. 24, President Donald Trump told the crowd that at the gas pump, "You're still paying lower than (under) Biden and Obama." ¹ He was campaigning for Republican Senate nominee Mike Collins and governor nominee Rick Jackson, 10 days before the Nov. 3 midterm election ¹⁰.

On Tuesday, PolitiFact rated the claim Half True ¹. The same day, the same fact-checkers ruled on Trump's best-known gas pledge from 2024: getting gasoline below $2 a gallon. Their verdict was "Promise Broken." ²³

On tapeCNN · Oct 26

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Then: gas below $2 a gallon

Trump promised on the campaign trail to bring gas below $2 a gallon ⁵. PolitiFact's promise tracker records the pledge in his own words ²:

We're going down and getting gasoline below $2 a gallon.

When his second term began in January 2025, gas averaged $3.23 a gallon nationwide, according to PolitiFact's review of federal data ³. By mid-January 2026 the average had fallen to $2.78 ⁵. In his State of the Union address on Feb. 24, Trump said gas "is now below $2.30 a gallon in most states, and in some places $1.99 a gallon." At the time, the national average was $2.95, the Associated Press (AP) reported ⁴.

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A few days later, Trump launched a war on Iran ⁵. Iran shut oil tankers out of the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway that "carries about one-fifth of the world's oil," and pump prices spiked ⁵.

Now: 'a freaking fortune'

On Monday, Oct. 26, regular gas averaged $4.29 a gallon, up from $2.98 before the war, AP reported ⁴. Diesel averaged $6.35, up from $3.76 in February ⁴. The auto club AAA reported on Oct. 8 that prices were at record highs for that time of year ⁶.

In Perry, Trump acknowledged that people are "paying a little higher" and then turned to the oil industry's profits ⁷.

I don't give a damn, I'm going to say it: We're making a freaking fortune.

He also told the crowd, "And those pump prices are going to come down." ⁴ It was not his first such forecast. In early September he said, "Right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward." ⁴

The claim against the record

PolitiFact used weekly prices from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the government's energy statistics agency. By that count, gas averaged $4.42 when Trump spoke ¹. AAA's daily figures run a few cents different ¹⁴.

Trump was wrong about Barack Obama. Under Obama, the average price of a gallon "never rose above $4.17," and it topped $4 in only about 7% of his weeks in office ¹.

The Joe Biden comparison holds up only in part. Gas peaked at $5 under Biden after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, a level it has not reached under Trump ¹. But prices stayed above $4 for only about five months under Biden, roughly 11% of his term ¹. In Trump's second term, gas peaked at $4.50 in mid-May. It has been above $4 for more than 30% of his weeks in office and "most of the time during the past seven months." ¹

The White House answered PolitiFact by pointing to peak prices adjusted for inflation ¹. PolitiFact also measured how much of the average person's income a weekly 10-gallon fill-up costs. By that yardstick, gas is a smaller burden now than in seven of Obama's eight years and three of Biden's four. But the burden this past spring was higher than in 2024, Biden's final year ¹. The verdict: "partially accurate but ignores important information." ¹

What Democrats say

Democrats quickly seized on the Perry remarks. California Gov. Gavin Newsom answered with sarcasm ⁸:

Congratulations to Big Oil on their very successful, record-profits presidency

David Axelrod, a Democratic strategist and former adviser to Obama, wrote that Trump "doesn't give a damn about high gas prices." ⁹ Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, posted, "Trump just said the quiet part out loud." ⁷

The pattern is clear. In 2024 the promise was a specific number: $2. Now the defense is a comparison with past presidents, plus a forecast that relief will come after the election ¹²⁴. That matters because the promise was easy to measure, and PolitiFact says gas now costs more than double the target ³.

PolitiFact said it would revisit its ruling if gas falls below $2 before Trump's term ends ³. Over the past 20 years, the national average has dropped to $2 or less only during the 2008-09 Great Recession and the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 ³.

The Record

1. Jan 20, 2025Trump begins his second term. Gas averages $3.23 a gallon nationwide, PolitiFact reports ³.
2. Feb 24, 2026In his State of the Union address, Trump says gas is below $2.30 in most states. The national average is $2.95 ⁴.
3. Feb 28, 2026Trump launches a war on Iran. Iran shuts tankers out of the Strait of Hormuz, and gas prices spike ³⁵.
4. Oct 24, 2026At a rally in Perry, Ga., Trump says Americans are still paying less than under Biden and Obama, and that the U.S. is making a freaking fortune ¹⁴.
5. Oct 26, 2026PolitiFact rules Trump's $2-a-gallon gas pledge a broken promise. The next day it rates his Biden-Obama claim Half True ¹³.

Sources

1. PolitiFact, “Trump said gasoline is cheaper now than during Biden, Obama presidencies. Is it?” (2026-10-27). politifact.com/factchecks/2026/oct/27/donald-trump/gas-price
2. PolitiFact, “MAGA-Meter: Reduce the cost of gasoline below $2 a gallon” (2026-10-26). politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/maga-meter-tracking-do
3. PolitiFact, “Gasoline now costs more than twice as much as what Trump promised” (2026-10-26). politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/maga-meter-tracking-do
4. AP (via WJXT News4Jax), “In his own words: Trump on gas prices and energy costs since launching the war with Iran” (2026-10-26). news4jax.com/news/politics/2026/10/26/in-his-own-words-trump
5. PolitiFact, “Iran war pushes gasoline prices past $4 per gallon” (2026-04-10). politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/maga-meter-tracking-do
6. AAA, “AAA Gas Prices news, October 2026” (2026-10-22). gasprices.aaa.com/2026/10/
7. Common Dreams, “'Just Run This as an Ad': Trump Dismisses Pump Pain to Boast of Oil and Gas Profits” (2026-10-25). commondreams.org/news/trump-oil-profits-gas-prices
8. The Daily Beast, “Trump Sparks Fury With Jaw-Dropping Boast About Gas Prices at Georgia Rally” (2026-10-25). thedailybeast.com/trump-sparks-fury-with-jaw-dropping-boast-
9. Yahoo News, “Donald Trump Says 'I Don't Give a Damn' About Headlines on Gas Prices” (2026-10-26). yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/donald-trump-says-don-t-151
10. 41NBC News, “Live updates: President Donald Trump holds rally in Perry ahead of Election Day” (2026-10-24). 41nbc.com/live-updates-president-donald-trump-holds-rally-in

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