President Trump said his administration is considering a pause on the federal gasoline tax to ease pain at the pump as elevated fuel prices pile pressure on drivers ahead of the midterms.
Trump told reporters Tuesday that the White House is looking at suspending the levy, a step aimed at putting money back in Americans’ pockets while global energy disruptions keep prices high. Newsmax reported the president’s response when asked directly about the idea.
“We’re thinking about that,” Trump said.
"We’re thinking about that,"
He offered no timeline or start date. Any suspension would need Congress to pass legislation. The president lacks unilateral power to scrap or freeze the statutory tax.
The federal gasoline excise tax sits at 18.4 cents per gallon. The diesel tax is 24.4 cents per gallon. Most of that money flows to the Highway Trust Fund that pays for roads and bridges.
One day earlier, Trump signed an executive order expanding access to tax-exempt red-dyed diesel by waiving the off-road-use restriction so more drivers could buy it. He announced that move at a campaign rally in Nebraska, part of a broader effort to increase fuel availability and lower costs for farmers and other consumers. Readers following that order can see the details in coverage of how Trump signed the red-dye diesel order.
In the Oval Office on Monday, Trump went further on the gas tax itself. The Washington Examiner reported his blunt reply to a question about suspending it.
“Yeah, I’m going to reduce,” Trump said.
"Yeah, I’m going to reduce,"
That stance tracks with comments he made months earlier. In May he called a temporary lift “a great idea” and said the tax could phase back in once prices fell. The New York Post reported those remarks along with the then-average regular gas price of $4.52 a gallon, nearly 40 cents higher than the month before.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Trump told CBS News at the time. “Yup, we’re going to take off the gas tax for a period of time, and when gas goes down, we’ll let it phase back in.” When pressed on duration he answered “till it’s appropriate.”
"I think it’s a great idea... Yup, we’re going to take off the gas tax for a period of time, and when gas goes down, we’ll let it phase back in."
Fuel costs climbed after the outbreak of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Disruptions to oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical energy route, and refinery problems in Russia added to the squeeze. Energy industry executives warned Monday that oil-market turmoil could last for years. Trump has pointed to those same disruptions and other global energy problems as drivers of the higher prices hitting American families.
Republicans hold the tools to act. They control the Senate 53-45 with two independents who caucus with Democrats, according to Senate records. The House stands at 218 Republicans, 214 Democrats and one independent as listed by the House clerk on Oct. 5. That majority gives the party a clear path to move legislation if it chooses, yet the November midterms loom large. White House aides have already framed the coming campaign stretch as one where Trump routinely beats low expectations, a point underscored when Rogers said Trump always defies the polls.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll completed Monday put Trump’s overall approval at 32 percent, unchanged from September and tied for the lowest of his political career. That number arrives as voters head toward the Nov. 3 elections and feel the pinch every time they fill a tank. Trump’s focus on concrete cost-cutting steps, rather than talk, matches the pattern seen when he told an Alabama midterm crowd the stop was a sign of respect where it all began.
Because the gas tax is written into statute, only lawmakers can suspend it. Trump has been clear since May that he wants the cut temporary and tied to actual price drops. The administration has already used executive tools on red-dyed diesel and continues to chase measures that expand supply. The next move sits with Capitol Hill, where Republican majorities can either deliver relief or leave drivers carrying the full load of global shocks and federal levies.
Working families do not set oil prices in the Strait of Hormuz or decide Highway Trust Fund formulas. They simply pay what the pump demands. Leaders who keep looking for every lawful way to lighten that load are doing the job voters hired them to do.