The price of gasoline in the US breaks the record of any presidency: $3.46 per gallon

IN 30 SECONDS

• What has happened? A gallon of regular gasoline averages more than $3.46 in the second term of office trumpthe highest record of any presidency, according to the EIA.
• Who is behind? The war with Iran, the brake on shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and the Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries.
• What impact does it have? It arrives in the middle of legislative election day and makes fuel more expensive in Spain via Brent and the exchange rate.

The price of gasoline in the US has surpassed $3.46 per gallon, the highest average of any presidency. The data, updated this Tuesday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA, the federal organization that publishes the average of the country’s suppliers every week), exceeds by one thousandth the 3,457 that left Joe Biden.

It is not just any number. The record is certified on the same day that the United States votes in its legislative electionswith the Republican Party with the majority at stake and with the fuel installed in the public conversation for months. The irony bites: it was that same indicator that helped politically sink Biden.

trump He came to the Oval Office promising to drill more and make gasoline cheaper. He repeated it at every rally. Already in his second term, the supplier returns the bill in the most uncomfortable way: the average of his term is the most expensive in the history of the country, according to the EIA series.

A record that is signed at the polls

The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline so far in the second term exceeds $3.46. The difference with Biden It is minimal—one thousandth—but enough to change ownership of a title that no administration wants. In the last week prices have fallen slightly; Analysts warn that the relief may be short-lived.

GasBuddythe country’s most used price-tracking app, summed it up on Monday: ‘Volatility may return quickly after the election.’ The phrase is from his analyst Patrick DeHaan and points to the two fronts that move crude oil right now: an attack or a truce in the Strait of Hormuz and the Ukrainian bombings of Russian refineries.

Hormuz, Iran and Russian refineries: the crude oil that does not arrive

The underlying explanation is geopolitics. The war with Iran has pushed oil up and has slowed fuel shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, the sea route through which a substantial part of the world’s supply transits. Added to this is the war between Russia and Ukraine, which has destroyed critical oil infrastructure and strained the European market.

Washington can order more drilling, but it cannot order the Strait of Hormuz to remain open.

In the weeks prior to the legislative elections, the White House moved in three directions: it pressured the European Union to release emergency reserves, allowed the import of Russian products and ordered broader access to duty-free tinted diesel. They are patches. None replaces the barrel that does not arrive.

The result has clear winners. Chevron declared last Friday a net profit of $9.9 billion in the third quarter, nearly 200% more than in the same period in 2025. Exxon Mobil It more than doubled its profits, up to 15.4 billion. trump He charged against both in August: ‘They are making too much money with a shortage,’ he said. ‘I don’t like it, and I should be the last to say it because I’m a big proponent of free enterprise.’ Weeks later he boasted in public that American producers were earning more.

Washington Logic

Why is the White House accepting a politically toxic price? Because the decision that provokes it—the fight with Iran—responds to another logic: that of national security and that of commitments with allies in the region. The coalition that supports Trump has nothing at stake at the pump in an Ohio suburb; the balance of the Persian Gulf is at stake. And there is a precedent that explains the instinct: in 1973, the Arab embargo turned gasoline into a political weapon and Washington responded by launching the strategic oil reserve, the same one that is now looked askance at. Every president since then has learned the same uncomfortable lesson: fuel prices are not governed from the Oval Office.

Spain views this record from the Brent and exchange rate barriers. The Spanish fuel market is made up of crude oil priced in dollars: tight oil and a weak euro translate into more expensive pumps here as well. Repsol and Cepsa They refine with that reference, and tourism, which contributes around 12% of Spanish GDP, notices it in each high season. The request to release European emergency reserves is decided in Brusselswith Spain sitting at the table, and that is the real channel through which Washington touches the pocket of the Spanish driver.

The key window is now open. The next meeting of the FOMC (the committee of the Federal Reserve which sets interest rates) comes with crude oil that does not yield, and the market discounts that energy inflation will return to the center of the debate if Hormuz does not calm down. In Madridthe impact will come through two known routes: the fuel bill and the cost of debt financing. A high barrel during the winter complicates the de-escalation that the European Central Bank had been drawing.

The market has already discounted it. The record, however, has a statistical trick: it measures the average of a mandate, not today’s price. But in politics the average person doesn’t vote. The pump does.

Case File

• The case: The average per gallon of regular gasoline in Trump’s second term exceeds $3.46, the highest record of any presidency, according to the EIA.
• Key data: $3.46 compared to Biden’s $3.457; Chevron’s profit of 9.9 billion in the third quarter (close to 200% more) and Exxon Mobil’s profit of 15.4 billion; stopping shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
• For Spain: The increase in prices comes via Brent and the exchange rate, putting pressure on the cost of fuel, tourism and debt financing; Brussels decides on emergency reserves with Madrid at the table.