At a gas station in Los Angeles, Ryder Thomas wore a grimace of barely suppressed anger as he filled his pickup truck, watching the cost tick up to $130 for a full tank, which is $30 more than he was paying before the US and Israel attacked Iran.
“I’m mad about the price, but I’m even madder about why it’s so high,” the 28-year-old said.
This week, pump prices in the United States climbed to their highest level since early 2022, when Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine triggered a global surge in the cost of oil.
Hostilities in the Middle East began when Israel and the United States bombed Iran on 28 February, crimping supply and sending the price of crude surging.
The war launched by President Donald Trump is unpopular all over the United States, with polls showing a clear majority disapprove of a conflict whose aims they think are unclear.
“There was absolutely no need for this war. It’s just like when we invaded Iraq, there were no weapons of mass destruction,” Thomas said.
“Trump is an idiot, that’s all it is”, he added.
For weeks, the Republican billionaire has insisted that attacking Iran was necessary to prevent the country from acquiring nuclear weapons and has repeatedly promised a short conflict.
But despite the overwhelming might of the US military, the Islamic republic has blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a global trade artery used to transport a fifth of the world’s oil and gas.
The result of this squeeze on supply is rising prices, sending gas in already-expensive California above $6 a gallon ($1.59 per litre), compared with around $4.50 a gallon before the war.
Thomas worries about the domino effect this oil crunch will have on everything else he buys, as the rising cost of transport pushes up the prices of everyday goods like food and clothing.
Trump voter David Chavez, waiting among dozens of cars lined up to refuel at Costco, a wholesale retailer with prices often a little lower than average, said it was not that simple.
“It is not nice; we don’t want to pay more for gas,” acknowledged the cameraman as he got his credit card ready to fill up his minivan,” he added.
However, “we don’t know everything that happens behind closed doors. It’s too easy to blame one person for all the problems,” he added more.
Chavez said he voted for Democrats in the past but switched to Trump because of former president Joe Biden’s poor handling of immigration and poor handling of the economy.
He accused oil giants of taking advantage of the current climate to artificially inflate prices and pointed out that stricter environmental rules in California amp up the cost to motorists in the massive state.
Nonetheless, he admitted to being disappointed in Trump but said no one is perfect.
“Trump still handles things a little bit better,” he said.
