US president Donald Trump has made the suggestion that rising oil prices due to the Iran war is actually a good thing and people are absolutely baffled.
Since Trump launched the US into war with Iran without prior approval from Congress, oil prices around the world have surged.
Shipment of oil via the Strait of Hormuz – one of the world's most important shipping routes – has all but stopped amid the risk of air strikes due to the war that is ongoing in the Middle East, which began after the US and Israel initiated strikes on Iran on 28 February. Multiple vessels that have risked travel have been hit by “unknown projectiles”.
Due to the disruption, oil prices have continued to surge, with consumers seeing the effects in the price of petrol at the pumps. Despite this, Trump has attempted to make the suggestion that the rising price of oil is actually a good thing.
In a Truth Social post, he claimed: “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.”
His attempt to spin the spike in oil costs into a positive, as everyone pays more at the pump, has been widely slammed.
One critic summarised: “The multi-national oil companies operating in the US make a lot of money. The average American gets screwed. Which pretty much sums up Trump and the Republican Party’s approach to the economy.”
Along similar lines, another pointed out: “Think about that Trump is saying here: When oil prices go up, Big Oil companies make more money at the expense of American consumers
“And Trump thinks that’s a good thing.”
“This is the dumbest s**t I’ve ever seen,” wrote another.
Someone else mocked Trump by writing, “Credit where due: ‘High gas prices are good actually’ is a brilliant midterms message, and the president should definitely keep hammering it.”
“Imagine. If. Biden. Had. Said. This,” wrote another.
Unfortunately for everyone, the Trump administration is issuing conflicting information on the status of the war, and there appears to be no endpoint in sight.
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