Petrol prices set to hit record high under Trump on eve of US elections

{"text":[[{"start":10.56,"text":"Petrol prices since Donald Trump returned to office are poised to set a record high for a US presidential administration just a day before Americans vote in midterm elections dominated by the rising cost of living."}],[{"start":23.68,"text":"An FT analysis of federal data shows that the average price of a gallon of petrol during Trump’s second term will top $3.46 a gallon on November 2, beating the previous average high set under Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden."}],[{"start":39.171,"text":"The US president’s unwelcome record comes as fuel costs — which have surged since he launched his war against Iran in February — have emerged as a major liability for Republicans ahead of this week’s vote."}],[{"start":50.2,"text":"“High energy prices are a key driver of the affordability concerns that are going to be top of mind for people at the polls,” said Jason Bordoff, head of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. “And those energy prices are the result of self-inflicted wounds this administration has imposed on the country.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":69.16,"text":"On the campaign trail in 2024, Trump won over many voters with a pledge to slash petrol prices to $2 a gallon and tackle rampant inflation that had dogged Americans under Biden. Instead, the war has sent prices markedly higher."}],[{"start":83.56,"text":"Petrol costs have surged more than a third since Trump returned to office in January last year, sitting at $4.17 on Sunday, according to the AAA. They remain below the daily peak of $5.02 under Biden, however, which was reached after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Diesel has risen more than 70 per cent during Trump’s second presidency and now stands at $6.30 a gallon, having reached a record of $6.53 in September."}],[{"start":113.52,"text":"That has pushed up inflation and created an electoral liability for the president. The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index rose at an annual rate of 3.6 per cent in September, versus 2.6 per cent before Trump took office."}],[{"start":128.04,"text":"Polls suggest frustrated voters will lash out at the president’s party this week, with House and Senate races in states that were previously solidly Republican coming down to the wire. A recent FT survey found 56 per cent of voters claimed to be financially worse off under Trump."}],[{"start":144.24,"text":"“If modern living boiled down to a price, it’s the price at the pump,” said Bob McNally, a former energy adviser to the George W Bush administration and president of consultancy Rapidan Energy. “Whether a voter is filling up that day or not, it’s likely that they see a pump price.”"}],[{"start":161.16,"text":"Sharply rising fuel prices amounted to “a sudden tax increase that the voter didn’t consent to and Congress didn’t vote for,” said McNally. “And as presidents [Jimmy] Carter and George HW Bush can attest, that’s an enormous headwind for any incumbent party going into an election.”"}],[{"start":178.52,"text":"Iran has largely blocked oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz for much of the year. The war has caused widespread damage to refineries and other energy infrastructure in the Middle East, exacerbating the supply strains from Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries and pushing up global fuel prices."}],[{"start":196.501,"text":"The US president has defended the price rise as a side effect of a war he argues was necessary to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. He has said prices will plummet once the conflict ends."}],[{"start":207.84,"text":"“Protecting America’s national security from threats by a radical terrorist regime that has chanted ‘Death to America’ for 47 years was the right thing to do and President Trump is the only president who has had the courage to do it,” said White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers in a statement to the FT."}],[{"start":225.84,"text":"A White House official said that, when adjusted for inflation, prices were higher under Biden."}],[{"start":231,"text":"Diesel — a key input for agriculture and industry — has been a particular problem for the White House in recent months, as Republicans in the country’s farming heartlands come under acute pressure from voters."}],[{"start":242.62,"text":"The average price of diesel since Trump returned to office has already outstripped its Biden-era level of $4.076, reaching $4.339 last week, FT calculations of EIA data show."}],[{"start":255.92,"text":"Trump has taken a series of extraordinary measures designed to push down prices, including waiving environmental and shipping regulations as well as encouraging governors to co-ordinate efforts to suspend state excise taxes."}],[{"start":267.88,"text":"“This administration has gone to further lengths than any to try and tamp down pump prices,” said McNally. “But at the end of the day, any White House’s power is limited.”"}],[{"start":278.08,"text":"Trump’s most controversial move was temporarily waiving sanctions on the import of Russian diesel through an agreement with President Vladimir Putin."}],[{"start":286.72,"text":"Three tankers — including one blacklisted by the US and another blacklisted by the EU — are scheduled to unload a combined 140,000 tonnes of diesel at US ports just days after the midterm elections."}],[{"start":301.08,"text":"Analysts say the diesel deal with Putin will have little impact on prices in the short term due to the small initial volumes pledged. The longer-term impact is likely to be limited unless there is a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv."}],[{"start":314.92,"text":"“At the end of the day, probably very little of this diesel is going to come to the US because Russia doesn’t have much diesel to sell,” said Rachel Ziemba, an analyst at the Center for a New American Security. “You would need an energy ceasefire and time to rebuild and repair the Russian refineries.”"}],[{"start":332.12,"text":"On Friday, Exxon and Chevron warned the diesel crisis was here to stay as the US oil companies reported near-record profits worth a combined $25.3bn."}],[{"start":343.16,"text":"Trump has stirred up anger by hailing energy groups’ earnings as a boon for the US. “I don’t give a damn, I’m going to say it: we’re making a freaking fortune,” he told a crowd in Georgia, provoking a backlash in some parts of the country."}],[{"start":357.16,"text":"“Trump and his ultra-wealthy Big Oil buddies are popping champagne as they pocket billions off of Americans’ pain,” said Alex Glass at Climate Power, an environmental non-profit group."}],[{"start":373.04,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1793607982_2638.mp3"}