In a phone interview with The Hill, Trump said Wright was “totally wrong” in suggesting gas prices might not fall below $3 per gallon until next year.

Instead, Trump tied any meaningful drop in prices to the ongoing conflict involving Iran. “As soon as this ends,” he said, indicating he expects prices to ease once tensions subside.

Wright, speaking on CNN a day earlier, struck a more cautious tone. He said it’s possible prices could dip later this year, but acknowledged it may take until 2027 depending on how the situation develops, particularly with disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz — a key global shipping route for oil.

“Prices have likely peaked and should start to come down,” Wright said, adding that a resolution to the conflict would help bring broader energy costs down.

His outlook differs from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said last week that gas prices could return to the $3 range as early as this summer.

Global oil markets have been on edge amid escalating tensions tied to Iran and shipping restrictions through the Strait of Hormuz. In the U.S., gas prices have climbed past $4 per gallon — levels not seen since the early months following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. AAA reported the national average at $4 on Monday.

Oil prices also jumped after the U.S. seized an Iranian vessel near the Strait over the weekend. Brent crude rose to about $94 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate hovered near $88.

At the same time, the U.S. has been enforcing a blockade targeting Iranian ports, further tightening supply. According to Reuters, Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Asim Munir, raised concerns about the blockade during discussions with Trump, calling it a barrier to negotiations. Trump, however, disputed that account.

“He didn’t recommend anything on the blockade,” Trump said. “It’s very strong. They’re losing about $500 million a day. We control it — they don’t.”

Vice President JD Vance is expected to head a U.S. delegation to Islamabad for potential talks involving Pakistani and Iranian officials. Still, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that no final decision has been made on whether negotiations with the U.S. will move forward.

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There’s a grown-up version of that conversation as well. For the first time in nearly four years, mortgage rates have dropped below 6%. But just how many Americans have home-buying money right now?

Half of us struggle to pay our monthly mortgage or rent, according to a recent survey. More than 80% of prospective buyers said last year that difficulty coming up with a down payment plus closing costs was holding them back.

For folks who can buy a home, the falling mortgage rates are great news: Even just one percentage point can represent tens of thousands of dollars over the life of a mortgage.

However, when nearly a quarter of Americans report living paycheck to paycheck, the recent mortgage rate news only highlights the growing disconnect between America’s economy and its people. It’s like hearing the Dow Jones industrial average has crossed the 50,000-point threshold when the wealthiest 10% of Americans own more than 90% of the stock and nearly half of all private-sector workers don’t have access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan.

Democrats are right to point out the shortcomings of President Trump’s economic policies. But what are the policies they are pushing to address the expanding chasm between the haves and the have-nots? Campaigning on the principles of democracy — free speech, peaceful transfer of power, due process — is a response to what Republicans are doing wrong. But those aren’t the issues that motivated voters and brought Trump back to power.

Trump won his second election in part because he sold a vision of wealth — and the promise of wealth acquisition is also part of the American dream. George Washington, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson … the founding fathers were among the richest men in the colonies. Yes, the American Revolution was a fight for sovereignty. And that was not all philosophical. The American dream was always a material one, with wealth and ownership as centerpieces.

Modern progressives, especially elected officials in office, do not like to talk about money in that way, but the reality is that protecting democracy requires more than upholding the Constitution. It includes making sure people feel as if democracy is working for them. People will assess that in part by whether it’s hard to get by and whether it’s imaginable to get ahead.

That’s one of the reasons the Biden administration sounded so out of touch when it came to the economy in 2024. Far too often, the pain that the have-nots were experiencing during his time in office would be met with metrics that mostly benefited the haves. Same economy, different impact. Case in point: While grocery prices had soared for four years and inflation-adjusted wages were flat, corporations pulled in a record $4 trillion in profit just in the last quarter of 2024. CNN noted that the top five U.S.-based oil and gas companies pulled in profit of more than $250 billion during the first three years of the Biden administration, an increase of 160% compared with the same period of the first Trump administration.

The U.S. economy was breaking records while simultaneously breaking hearts.

Although Trump campaigned on that disconnect, since returning to the White House his policies have only served to exacerbate the issue. So far more than 90% of the tariffs he imposed have been paid for by U.S. consumers and U.S. businesses. We have rising healthcare costs. Trump’s first year back in office was the worst for job growth in a nonrecession year since 2003.

Trump certainly has a lot to answer for, and his response to Americans’ economic pain has been almost word for word the same as President Biden’s.

All of this means that Democrats have plenty to blame on Republicans during the midterm election campaigning this year. However, from a messaging perspective, Democrats have not wowed anyone with an alternative platform — thus the party’s historically low approval rating. Party leaders continue to talk about the fight for democracy, sounding like law professors consumed by theory. Rallying around key economic policy proposals that will help the work force bring home a bigger paycheck is equally important and demands more of the party’s time.

Trump’s critics need to stay on message regarding his attacks on democracy, and sure voters would like to be choosing candidates based on good governance. But when you can’t save money or see a way to buy a house before turning 40, “good governance” becomes a distant second to having money in your pocket.

The message that will resonate most is the one that makes voters feel that in America, you can still have both.

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