Average US Gasoline Price Under Trump Edges Past Biden-Era Average as Midterms Near

The average retail price for a gallon of regular gasoline during President Donald Trump's second term has edged past the average recorded across the entire Biden administration, delivering a politically damaging milestone for Republicans ahead of the midterm elections. According to daily data from the American Automobile Association, the Trump-era average has reached $3.472 per gallon, narrowly exceeding Biden's average of $3.471 per gallon by less than one cent.

The comparison cuts directly against a central Trump campaign promise. Running in 2024, Trump pledged to drive gasoline prices below $2 a gallon and blamed what he called Biden's "war on energy" for high fuel costs. During Trump's first term, the national average was $2.47 a gallon, including a pandemic-era low of $1.77 in April 2020. Prices at the start of 2026 were safely below $3 a gallon, but a war that has disrupted global oil supplies reversed that trajectory sharply.

Trump has argued that elevated fuel costs are an acceptable trade-off for preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, but the spike has fueled voter frustration. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, called the outcome "pretty astonishing" and noted that no one would have predicted it ten months ago. He added that high gas prices historically hurt incumbents, citing the damage they inflicted on Biden as well. Meanwhile, 2026 has already set the record for the most days with gas at or above $4 a gallon in the Biden era, intensifying pressure on the Republican Party heading into the midterm campaign.