President Donald Trump got into a testy exchange with a reporter asking questions about a sore spot for Trump: high gas prices. In fact, the president got so frustrated he lashed out at the âwise guyâ journalist for daring to press him on the high cost of fuel.
Gas prices shot up after Trump launched his deadly and unapproved war on Iran on Feb. 28, and while theyâve been falling slowly, theyâre still averaging over $4.00 a gallon for regular unleaded, according to Triple A.
The cost on Friday, April 24, had edged up by 2 cents from the previous day to $4.05 a gallon, $1.21 higher than in February before Trump attacked the Islamic Republic.
In an Oval Office exchange between CBS News senior White House and political correspondent Ed OâKeefe, a visibly upset Trump tried to change the subject.
âIf youâre asking for more time to sort out negotiations with Iran,â OâKeefe began.
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An angry Trump interrupted, âIâm not asking you for more time.â
As OâKeefe continued pressing the president on how long Americans should expect high gas prices, a testy Trump continued talking over the reporter.
âIâm not asking anyone for more time. No,â Trump insisted before falling back on his old playbook.
âIf you need more time, does that mean Americans should expect to pay more for gasoline?â OâKeefe pushed back.
âFor a little while, and do you know what they get for that? You know what they get for that? Iran without a nuclear weapon thatâs going to try and blow up one of our cities or blow up the entire Middle East. You want to see what shock would be?â Trump claimed.
Heâs repeatedly changed his justifications for attacking Iran from the beginning, first saying it was over regime change and their ballistic weapons systems, then contending they were within weeks of having a nuclear weapon, which is the reason heâs landed on and has stuck with for the past several weeks.
But every time Trump has been asked about sky-high gas prices over the past seven weeks, he keeps pivoting to the stock market, which is in record territory, but plenty of middle- and lower-income Americans donât own stocks or have any money invested in the stock market, so itâs meaningless to them.
âI have to be honest. The stock market is at an all-time high right now. I thought it would have been down 20, 25 percent,â he claimed, then Okeefe tried to interject.
But Trump wasnât having it, resorting to name-calling, which is a trademark of his when it comes to reporters asking questions he doesnât like. âCan I finish my question, wise guy?â
Trump went on to explain how he expected the market to drop significantly over the war.
âBut I had to do what was right for the country, even the world. You canât let them have a nuclear weapon ⊠but the stock market today hit an all-time high,â he boasted.
A frenzy erupted on social media over Trumpâs remarks.
âThis dude is a coward. If he didn’t have the secret service and money to protect him he would never talk tough like this. You can always tell a punk that’s never been punched in the mouth!â a Threads user observed.
Another took offense at Trump calling OâKeefe a name. âWhoâs the âwise guyâ first? You spoke all over the top of the reporter. Learn your manners trump.â
This poster took exception to Trumpâs bad grammar. âItâs let me answer the question f-cking moron, not let me finish my question.â
Trumpâs bravado over gas prices and his devil-may-care attitude toward struggling Americans come as a majority report cutting their budget to afford higher gas prices, according to the latest CNBC All-America Economic poll.
The survey released Thursday, April 23, shows that almost 80 percent of U.S. households have cut their spending due to the high cost of gas.
