President Donald Trump became embroiled in a tense back-and-forth with a reporter over a persistent irritant for him: the climbing price of gasoline. The exchange grew heated as the president snapped at the “wise guy” journalist for pressing him about fuel costs.
Prices at the pump rose after Trump launched his deadly and unapproved war on Iran on February 28, and while they have eased gradually, they still sit above $4.00 per gallon for regular unleaded, according to Triple A.
The national average on Friday, April 24, had nudged higher by two cents from the day before to $4.05 a gallon, about $1.21 above where it stood in February before the Iran strike.
Inside the Oval Office, in a broadcast exchange with CBS News senior White House and political correspondent Ed O’Keefe, Trump appeared visibly agitated as he attempted to steer the conversation elsewhere.
“If you’re asking for more time to sort out negotiations with Iran,” O’Keefe began.
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An irate Trump interrupted, “I’m not asking you for more time.”
As O’Keefe pressed the president about how long Americans should expect gas prices to stay elevated, a combative Trump kept speaking over the reporter.
“I’m not asking anyone for more time. No,” Trump insisted before reverting to his familiar script.
“If you need more time, does that mean Americans should expect to pay more for gasoline?” O’Keefe pushed back.
“For a little while, and you know what they get for that? Iran without a nuclear weapon that’s going to try and blow up one of our cities or blow up the entire Middle East. You want to see what shock would be?” Trump claimed.
He has repeatedly shifted the reasons for attacking Iran, initially citing regime change and their ballistic capabilities, then arguing they were within weeks of obtaining a nuclear weapon, a justification he has clung to for weeks now.
But every time he’s been asked about the sky-high gas prices over the past seven weeks, he keeps pivoting to the stock market, which is at record highs, even though many middle- and lower-income Americans don’t own stocks or have any investments there, rendering the argument meaningless to them.
“I have to be honest. The stock market is at an all-time high right now. I thought it would have been down 20, 25 percent,” he claimed, before O’Keefe attempted to interject.
Yet Trump wouldn’t yield, resorting to name-calling, a trademark move when reporters press him about questions he doesn’t like. “Can I finish my question, wise guy?”
Trump went on to describe how he expected the market to dip dramatically as the war unfolded.
“But I had to do what was right for the country, even the world. You can’t let them have a nuclear weapon … but the stock market today hit an all-time high,” he boasted.
A social-media frenzy erupted in response to Trump’s remarks.
“This dude is a coward. If he didn’t have the Secret Service and the money to protect him, he would never talk this tough. You can always spot a punk who’s never been punched in the mouth!” a Threads user observed.
Another user took issue with Trump’s choice to call O’Keefe a name. “Who’s the ‘wise guy’ first? You talked all over the top of the reporter. Learn your manners, Trump.”
This poster criticized his grammar, saying, “It’s let me answer the question, not let me finish my question.”
Trump’s swagger about gasoline costs and his carefree attitude toward struggling Americans coincide with a CNBC All-America Economic poll showing a majority of respondents trimming their budgets to cope with higher gasoline prices.
The survey released Thursday, April 23, shows that almost 80 percent of U.S. households have cut their spending due to the high cost of gas.
