Karoline Leavitt Claimed Gas Prices Are Down Under Trump While Americans Are Paying Nearly a Dollar More at the Pump

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on 15 April 2026 that gas prices had decreased since Trump took office, a claim directly contradicted by AAA data showing the national average has risen by more than a dollar per gallon since the start of Operation Epic Fury.

Leavitt made the remarks at a press briefing alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who was present to defend his earlier description of rising energy costs as a 'small bit of economic pain.'

The average price of a gallon of regular petrol in the United States stood at approximately £3.18 ($4.11) on the day of the briefing, according to AAA data, up from £2.31 ($2.98) on 26 February 2026, the day before the US and Israel launched coordinated airstrikes on Iran under Operation Epic Fury.

Leavitt's Exact Claim and the Briefing Context

The briefing on 15 April 2026 was called in part to address questions about Bessent's 'economic pain' framing, which had drawn criticism after he appeared to acknowledge that Operation Epic Fury was pushing up consumer prices.

Fox News senior correspondent Peter Doocy pressed Bessent directly, asking when Americans would see the £2.32 ($3) per gallon price that Energy Secretary Chris Wright had previously suggested was achievable by summer. Bessent replied that the timeline depended on how ceasefire negotiations with Iran progressed and noted that the Strait of Hormuz had not yet fully reopened.

Leavitt then intervened. 'Thank goodness we have a president in an administration that believes in American energy dominance, in bringing down prices at the pump,' she said. 'Look at how gas prices decreased over the past year since this president was in office.' That final sentence is the core of the claim.

The Daily Caller, citing AAA figures, reported that the national average on 15 April 2026 was £3.18 ($4.11) per gallon, compared with £2.45 ($3.17) on 15 April 2025. On that year-over-year comparison, the average was not down. It was 94 cents per gallon higher.

Leavitt's statement also added: 'President Trump has built the greatest economy in the world before. He is doing it again.' Bessent, standing at her side, did not correct the gas price characterisation. The White House has not issued a clarification or retraction as of the time of publication.

What AAA and Federal Data Show

The trajectory of US petrol prices in 2026 is not ambiguous. According to AAA's published weekly reports, the national average for a gallon of regular petrol was £2.31 ($2.98) on 26 February 2026, the day before Operation Epic Fury commenced.

By 26 March 2026, AAA reported the average had climbed £0.77 ($1.00) in a single month to £3.08 ($3.98). On 2 April 2026, AAA confirmed the average had exceeded £3.16 ($4.00) per gallon for the first time since August 2022. By 9 April, the figure had risen further to £3.21 ($4.16). By 16 April, AAA's live tracker showed £3.16 ($4.09).

The Congressional Research Service, in a March 2026 report on the Strait of Hormuz crisis, noted that the closure of the strait, through which approximately 20% of the world's seaborne oil trade passed before the war, had placed significant upward pressure on global energy markets.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the US benchmark, closed at £69.89 ($90.80) per barrel on 15 April, up from £51.68 ($67.02) on 27 February 2026, the day before airstrikes began, according to figures cited by The Daily Caller from Investing.com.

AAA reported that prices rose 21.2% in March 2026 alone, the largest monthly increase since the Consumer Price Index was first published in 1967. California drivers were paying as much as £4.55 ($5.89) per gallon by early April, according to SmartAsset data compiled from AAA state averages. Diesel costs rose even more sharply, with the national average for a gallon of diesel increasing 50.2% year-on-year to £4.19 ($5.43) by April 2026.

Where Leavitt's Claim Has a Sliver of Grounding and Where It Falls Apart

There is one narrow reading of events in which Leavitt's claim holds partial water. During the early months of Trump's second term in 2025, petrol prices did fall. A White House release from October 2025 celebrated a GasBuddy-reported national average of £2.31 ($2.98) per gallon, describing it as 'the lowest average intra-day price in four years.' Prices had also dipped below £2.32 ($3.00) per gallon briefly in late 2024 and into early 2025. The White House's argument rests on comparing that trough to the higher prices of the Biden era's peak years.

But that framing collapses when examined against the relevant baseline. When Biden left office on 20 January 2025, the national average for regular petrol was approximately £2.38 ($3.08) per gallon, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and Department of Energy monthly data, consistent with GasBuddy and AAA daily archives for that period. As of 15 April 2026, the national average was £3.18 ($4.11) per gallon. That is roughly £0.73 ($0.94 to $1.03) more than what Americans paid when the current administration began, not less.

Governor Gavin Newsom of California responded to Leavitt's briefing on social media, writing that the national average was 'up 94 cents a gallon nationally from a year ago today.' Representative Ilhan Omar stated gas prices were 'the highest they've been in years, rising over 21% in the last month.' Both figures are consistent with AAA and EIA data. The administration has not disputed the underlying price numbers. Its argument, as articulated by Bessent, is that the short-term disruption is a necessary consequence of a longer-term strategic goal.

Leavitt told Americans that gas prices went down on a day when AAA confirmed they had not.