WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said refineries, not the Strait of Hormuz, are driving up gasoline prices.
Writing on Truth Social on the 5th, Trump said record volumes of crude oil are flowing through the Strait of Hormuz almost daily. He said Russian refineries are being blown up by Ukraine, and that in the United States, Democrats are shutting down refineries in "blue states" such as California.
With gasoline prices running high ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, the remarks are seen as an effort to pin the blame on the war between Ukraine and Russia and on the Democratic Party, rather than on the war he launched against Iran.
As diesel prices surged for farmers and truck drivers, core constituencies of his support base, Trump also signed an executive order the same day easing restrictions on the use of tax-exempt diesel. Visiting Nebraska, part of the U.S. farm belt, he signed an order allowing consumers to buy red-dyed diesel without restriction through the end of the year.
In the United States, red-dyed diesel is exempt from the federal excise tax of 24 cents per gallon and may be used only in off-road vehicles such as farm and construction equipment. Filling on-road vehicles such as pickup trucks carries a fine, but enforcement will be suspended until Dec. 31. Bloomberg noted, however, that the number of fuel stations selling red-dyed diesel is limited, and that rising demand for it could end up raising fuel costs for the farms that already rely on it.
