Gas prices are back above $4.40 a gallon, and so is the political blame game. Detractors of President Trump have placed decals on pumps nationwide, mocking him with the same caption that targeted his predecessor four years ago: “I did that!”
The stickers show Trump pointing at the price window, and they echo the labels that mocked Joe Biden over inflation in summer 2022. The irony is now complete: the man who once blamed the last president for rising costs is now getting the same treatment himself.
The Labels and the Price
According to AAA, diesel reached a new record Thursday at more than $6.39 a gallon. Regular gasoline averaged almost $4.44 a gallon, up seven cents from Wednesday.
Trump told supporters in North Carolina Wednesday evening: “It’s a very inexpensive price to pay for what we’ve done. Remember that.” He predicted prices would “come tumbling down … like a rocket ship in reverse.”
The irony is that gas prices dipped below $3 per gallon nationally in February. That dip is now a memory.
Operation Epic Fury and the Strait of Hormuz
Trump launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran Feb. 28. That timing matters, because Iran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz have been cited as a cause of higher prices.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Fox Business Wednesday that 18 million barrels of oil and oil products transited the strait yesterday. More than one-fifth of the world’s seaborne oil flowed through the strait during peacetime.
The pipeline used to reroute oil from the strait was shut down when Yemen’s Houthis attacked a Saudi pipeline. Wright said Wednesday he expected the pipeline to resume operation “soon.”
Another attack complicates the picture: the Houthis took islands near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, through which roughly 7% of global oil supply passed in June, per Kpler data.
Tariffs Are Blamed Too
Not all the stickers blame Iran. Some point to Trump’s own policies. One label reads: “These prices are tariff-ic!”
A hundred-count package of labels was selling for about $8 on Amazon Thursday morning.
The Precedent Set Under Biden
The comparison to Biden is exact. Average gas briefly topped $5 a gallon in June 2022 under Biden, amid fallout from Russia’s war on Ukraine and a post-COVID supply shock.
Trump criticized the affordability framing at last week’s GOP midterm convention in Dallas, calling it “fake” and saying “it was them that caused the affordability, to use their word, ‘crisis.'”
| Comparison | Biden Era | Trump Era |
|---|---|---|
| Peak gas price | Above $5/gallon in June 2022 | Above $4.44/gallon now |
| Blame on predecessor | Yes | Yes |
| Price record | Diesel hit record highs | Diesel hit record highs |
The pattern is consistent: when prices rise, someone points at the person in charge. Four years ago, that person was Biden. Now it is Trump.
What This Means for Trump
Trump’s response to the stickers is notable. He defended the price as “inexpensive” and promised a “rocket ship in reverse.” That is a confident posture, but it also invites the comparison that the stickers are designed to draw.
The stickers are a symptom of a broader problem for Trump. His critics are using the same playbook that worked against Biden, and the message fits cleanly on a pump sticker: the president owns the price.
The irony is complete.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs lower costs for drivers and small businesses and is against the kind of government funds that favor the biggest players rather than the people paying the prices at the pump. The stickers on the pumps are a symptom, not the cause, and they reflect a public that sees the president owning the price even as he denies it.
The irony of the moment is real. A president who once blamed his predecessor for rising costs is now getting the same treatment himself, and the stickers make the point without a single word of explanation needed. The paper has always argued that the middle class and small business carry the economy and get the least say in it, and the sticker campaign shows how little say ordinary Americans have over the prices they pay.
The reader should watch for the next round of promises and the next round of denials, and remember that the people putting up these stickers are not demanding action—they are demanding honesty. The paper wants the economy to work for everyone, not just the biggest players, and it wants prices that reflect real supply and demand, not political spin.
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