'We make a lot of money': Trump spins spiking oil prices as benefit for US

[Uncle Joe]

In a Truth Social post, Donald Trump suggested that the skyrocketing price of oil – which jumped back above $100 a barrel before dropping to $98 a barrel – would ultimately be beneficial for Americans who are facing increased gasoline prices at the pump.

“The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” the president – who campaigned on bringing down costs – wrote. “BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stoping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World. I won’t ever let that happen!”

On Wednesday Trump tried to assuage concerns over spiking gas prices. “I would say it went up a little bit less than we thought. It’s going to come down more than anybody understands,” the president told reporters in Ohio.

According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), the national average for a gallon of fuel is currently $3.59 – up from $2.94 a month ago.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2026/mar/12/republicans-trump-iran-senate-majority-leader-john-thune-voter-id-bill-save-america-act-politics-live-news-updates

______________________________

How much money did y'all make the last time you filled your tank up, or bought groceries?

[aeromanKC]

1. George Carlin was right.

. "We" according to Trump has never included you.

[Kid Berwyn]

2. "We" being Dirty Donald's friends and family.

And like always, America is S.O.L.

[underpants]

3. Are "we" in a collective now?

[Goonch]

4. ;-{).....

[Ritabert]

5. Define "we". It sure isn't going to help us non-billionaires.

[Initech]

6. I made $0.00. Actually it was negative.

[OC375]

7. Well, of course.

Seemed pretty obvious to me when he made "overtures" with Panama Canal, Greenland and Venezuela. New refinery "America First" with India backing to be opening in Texas in a few years, apparently. NATO will be busy running Hormuz for the foreseeable future without Russia, so that kinda puts a bow on it for now.

As we all learned with COVID, you only need to substitute something for a short time to create new behaviors, especially when the globe runs on just in time delivery. The temp fix becomes SOP, and quickly, quite often.

Trump may be blowing Putin, but energy runs... well, everything post 1900's.

[NCDem47]

8. I guess "we" all now own oil and gas stock and receive royalties

Because that's the only "we" who are making money

[Norrrm]

9. A 'benefit' like tariffs are 'revenue'.

??? Oh, yeah!

[MustLoveBeagles]

10. Who is this "we" that he keeps talking about?

Does he have a mouse 🐭 in his pocket? The only thing the general public will see is higher prices.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

11. MaddowBlog-Trump and his allies pitch a new idea: Maybe higher gas prices aren't 'bad news'

We’ve reached the point at which the president wants consumers to be glad they’re paying more at the pump.

Trump, in late October: “With the Democrats, you’ll be paying , , and a Gallon.”

Trump, today, as gas prices approach the levels he warned about five months ago: “When oil prices go up, we make a lot of money.”

If Dems are lucky, the White House will keep pushing this line.

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-03-12T16:48:06.117Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-and-his-allies-pitch-a-new-idea-maybe-higher-gas-prices-arent-bad-news

It was against this backdrop that the Republican president rolled out a very different kind of message on Thursday morning. Just 17 weeks after he wrote, “Under President Trump, ME, Gasoline will come down to approximately $2 a Gallon,” Trump tried selling Americans on the opposite message.

“The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” Trump wrote.

Yes, we’ve reached the point at which the president wants consumers to be glad they’re paying more at the pump.

As a substantive matter, the problem with Trump’s claim is that the word “we” was doing a lot of work in his sentence. It’s true that the United States is producing a lot of oil, and it’s also true that higher prices help generate oil industry profits. But since the number of Americans who benefit from oil industry profits is very small, few will likely celebrate the hit to their wallets.

Complicating matters, Trump isn’t alone on this. Kelly Loeffler, head of the Small Business Administration, downplayed the importance of rising gas prices in a podcast interview this week. And on Thursday morning, Energy Secretary Chris Wright appeared on Fox News and pushed a line that was eerily similar to the president’s: “Fortunately, the United States, we produce more oil than we can consume; we’re a net oil exporter. So overall for the U.S. economy, this isn’t bad news.”

This is a message that Republicans will continue to embrace in the coming weeks and months if Democrats are extremely lucky.