Overview
- Pressed on CNN on Thursday, Rep. Jim Jordan defended higher pump prices as the cost of confronting Iran, said “that’s life,” and then denied using the phrase when host Kaitlan Collins repeated it back.
- A Republican strategist, Melik Abdul, warned Jordan’s defense will not calm voters who judge leaders by what they pay at the pump, calling the approach a losing message.
- The White House has floated a temporary federal gas-tax suspension as visible relief, a step that would trim roughly 18 cents per gallon but deliver only small, delayed savings and strain the Highway Trust Fund unless replaced.
- Average U.S. prices climbed from under $3 before the Iran war to above $4.50, in part because fighting has choked the Strait of Hormuz, a route that normally carries about one-fifth of the world’s seaborne oil.
- Trump said Tuesday he does not think about Americans’ financial situation when weighing Iran policy, reinforcing criticism that reassurances on affordability ring hollow.