Karoline Leavitt Ripped Over ‘Gaslighting’ New Trump Claim

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is facing heat after a claim about energy costs under President Donald Trump that’s at odds with reality.

Leavitt on Wednesday defended Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent ― who was at her side ― for dismissing rising gas prices due to the war with Iran as “small bit of economic pain” that would ultimately prove worth it.

“This is a short-term disruption for the long-term strategic goal of the United States to ensure that the world’s leading state sponsor of terror cannot obtain a nuclear weapon,” she insisted. “That’s a good thing for the American people.”

Then, she took it a step further as she delivered some over-the-top praise for Trump.

“Thank goodness we have a president in an administration that believes in American energy dominance, in bringing down prices at the pump,” she said. “Look at how gas prices decreased over the past year since this president was in office.”

Gas prices ― which were largely stable through 2025 ― dipped briefly below $3 a gallon in January, but then surged by more than $1 a gallon after the United States and Israel launched a war with Iran in February.

The war has disrupted traffic at the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world’s petroleum must pass. Crude oil prices have jumped, which in turn has led to a surge in the price of gasoline.

Bessent predicted that gas prices would drop again― but not right away, as he said on Wednesday he was “optimistic that during the summer we will see gas with a three in front of it.”

Leavitt also predicted gas prices would drop when the war ends and the strait reopens.

But so far, negotiations to end the war have gone nowhere ― and given that fuel prices are still rising and expected to remain high at least for now, critics called out Leavitt for her claim that Trump has been “bringing down prices at the pump.”