President Donald Trump on Monday blamed Ukraine for rising gas prices in the United States, pushing back on the idea that his war in Iran is behind the increase at the pump.
The president made his case on Truth Social, arguing that Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil infrastructure are to blame for higher gasoline costs facing Americans.
The comments come as the country deals with an energy shock caused by Iran disrupting commercial transit through the Strait of Hormuz. A fifth of the world’s oil and gas comes from the strategic waterway.
Trump, however, said the Strait of Hormuz is no longer the main factor pushing gasoline prices higher.
“What’s driving up Gasoline is no longer the Strait of Hormuz, because Record Numbers of Barrels are coming out now on an almost daily basis,” Trump wrote.
Instead, the president pointed to one word he said explains the current situation.
He said the issue is “Refineries,” pointing to two separate problems both at home and abroad.
On the international front, Trump said Russia’s refineries “are being blown up by Ukraine.”
Here at home, the president took aim at Democrats, accusing them of shutting down refineries in left-leaning parts of the country.
Trump said American refineries are “being closed up, in Blue States, like California, by the Dumocrats.”
The post marks a shift in focus away from the Middle East and toward Eastern Europe as the source of the nation’s gasoline woes.
In his full statement, the president wrote: “What’s driving up Gasoline is no longer the Strait of Hormuz, because Record Numbers of Barrels are coming out now on an almost daily basis, but the word, ‘Refineries,’ where Russia’s are being blown up by Ukraine, and where ours are being closed up, in Blue States, like California, by the Dumocrats.”
The president’s argument rests on the claim that oil is now flowing in record numbers, which he said means the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz is no longer the driving force behind prices.
Rather than supply, Trump framed the problem as one of refining capacity, singling out both Ukraine’s strikes on Russian facilities and the closure of refineries in states like California.
The remarks put Ukraine squarely in the president’s crosshairs on the issue of energy costs, even as Iran’s disruption of commercial transit through one of the world’s most critical energy corridors continues to weigh on global markets.
Trump’s message also took a partisan swipe, using the term “Dumocrats” to describe the Democrats he blamed for closing refineries in blue states.
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