According to reports, the atmosphere inside the White House has been tense over the past week as oil and gasoline prices have soared due to the war with Iran.
White House chief of staff Suzy Wells has been pushing President Donald Trump’s advisers to look for ideas to lower natural gas prices, and some advisers are “crying out for some good news,” an energy industry executive said.
“People are scrambling to make announcements and news to counter that narrative,” the executive told Politico in a report published Thursday.
White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt said Politico “writes sensational, unsubstantiated gossip for clicks.”
“No one is panicking,” Levitt said in a statement, adding that Trump’s energy team had plans to keep oil prices stable during the Iran war.
According to Politico, the U.S. government is considering a variety of ideas to lower oil prices, including temporarily eliminating gasoline taxes, deploying U.S. troops to defend Middle East energy infrastructure, and easing sanctions on Russian oil shipments.
Oil prices soared again to $90 a barrel on Friday, the highest price since 2023. Natural gas prices average $3.32 per gallon nationally, with over $4 per gallon in the Portland and Vancouver areas.
Stocks tumbled again on Friday amid rising oil prices and a weak U.S. job market. The Associated Press reported that these two factors have raised concerns about stagflation, which is a combination of economic stagnation and high inflation. It is very difficult to solve both economic situations at the same time.
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