Donald Trump did little to dissuade people from the idea that he is out of touch with the concerns of everyday Americans during a Tuesday press conference.
After a reporter asked the president whether he had any plans or initiatives to help stem the high gas prices caused by the current war with Iran, Trump said “there may be” before going off on a tangent about how great things had been before America had to “take a little journey” and “do something with Iran.”
“I had gas down to $1.85 in Iowa. I was in Iowa, and the stations had it at $1.85. But I was down to, in many cases, less than two dollars a gallon,” Trump said.
He eventually acknowledged that gas prices have increased since then, but wasn’t exactly contrite. “You want to see the world exploded? You want to see a problem? And this is peanuts.”
“I appreciate everybody putting up with it for a little while,” Trump continued, promising that “it won’t be much longer … And frankly, there is so much oil out there. One of the things is these big ships are coming up to Texas, Louisiana and Alaska, and they are loading up.”
However, he then admitted that he doesn’t really care about current gas prices.
“But I don’t even think about that. What I think about is you cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.
Back in March, the president said he wasn’t worried about waging a war that could wreck the economy because “it’s short-term.” Last week, he admitted, “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing: We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”
So, naturally, his “this is peanuts” comment did not go over well on social media.
@GOP‘s political messaging operation decided to put a sundowning convicted felon in front of the part of the White House he destroyed to tell people their economic troubles are “peanuts.” https://t.co/eaSuweCyUo
— Sean Casten (@SeanCasten) May 19, 2026
