The tale of the tape: Trump repeatedly pledged to cut gas prices by 50% -- Popular Information

[erronis]

https://popular.info/p/the-tale-of-the-tape-trump-repeatedly
Judd Legum and Rebecca Crosby

"Mark it down, and you can get very angry at me if we don't do it."

During the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump promised that if he were elected president again, he would reduce the price of a gallon of gas by 50% within a year of taking office. "12 months from January 20th... your gasoline for your car is going to be 50% cheaper," Trump declared at a speech to the Detroit Economic Club on October 10, 2024. "That's a big thing."

On January 20, 2025, the day Trump took office for a second term, the average price for a gallon of gas was $3.12. Had Trump kept his pledge, gas would now cost about $1.57 per gallon.

On Tuesday, the average price of a gallon of gas was $4.02. Instead of the 50% reduction in gas prices that Trump promised, prices have increased by more than 28%.

Trump also promised to drive down other energy costs, including electricity bills and home heating gas, by 50%. "Energy costs, all of it, air conditioning, heating, all of it, including gasoline, will drop by more than 50% within the first 12 months," Trump pledged during an August 19, 2024, rally in York, Pennsylvania.

Home heating oil has gone from $3.94 per gallon on the day of Trump's inauguration to $5.57 per gallon today, a 41% increase. Residential electricity costs averaged 15.92 cents per kilowatt-hour in January 2025. Today, Americans are paying an average of 18.05 cents per kilowatt-hour, an increase of 13%.

. . .

"Under the Trump economic plan, we will cut your energy prices in half," Trump said at a September 21, 2024, rally in Wilmington, North Carolina. "Mark it down, and you can get very angry at me if we don't do it." Two days later, in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Trump promised, "If you vote for me, I will cut your energy and electricity prices in half within 12 months."

There are many more examples, all of which are on tape. Popular Information has compiled some highlights. Watch:

(video on Popular Information site)

. . .

[Jilly_in_VA]

1. Yeah, and I paid $3.89/gallon yesterday at Costco

Everyplace else was higher.

[Norrrm]

2. I must have slept all day 20 Jan 2026.... I missed it.

unimportant

Finally, after campaigning on lower energy prices, Trump has, at times, dismissed the issue as unimportant.

“If they rise, they rise,” Trump said.
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Something about affordability comes to mind.