During a Sunday appearance on Fox News, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt downplayed concerns over the rising gas prices in the U.S., attributing the spike to the conflict with Iran. Speaking with Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures, Leavitt described the situation as a “short-term disruption” but emphasized it as a necessary step in dismantling what she called the “rogue Iranian terrorist regime.”

The cost of crude oil has surged, closing at approximately $90 per barrel on Friday, a significant increase from the $65 per barrel reported on February 26. This rise occurred shortly before the joint U.S.-Israeli military strikes on Iran on February 28, marking the highest oil prices since the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Leavitt assured that the administration, under former President Trump, is capable of handling both international conflicts and domestic issues simultaneously, stating that Trump can “walk and chew gum at the same time.”

On the same day, Energy Secretary Chris Wright addressed the issue on CBS’s Face the Nation, acknowledging the temporary spike in energy prices. “Yes, we have a temporary period of elevated energy prices,” he admitted to host Margaret Brennan, but he predicted a swift resolution, suggesting prices would stabilize soon.

Wright elaborated, “In the worst case, this is weeks. This is not months. And it leads to a much better place. It leads to an Iran that’s defanged, that can’t threaten its neighbors, can’t threaten American soldiers, and can’t continue to drive up energy prices by making a mess of the Middle East.” He expressed optimism about a future where Iran shifts from conflict to commerce, reducing regional tensions and stabilizing global energy markets.

‘In the worst case, this is weeks. This is not months. And it leads to a much better place. It leads to an Iran that’s defanged, that can’t threaten its neighbors, can’t threaten American soldiers, and can’t continue to drive up energy prices by making a mess of the Middle East. They can move to commerce, not conflict,’ Wright added.

Speaking with CNN’s State of the Union host Jake Tapper, Wright noted that the administration wants to see gasoline ‘back below $3 a gallon. And it will be again before too long.’

The Energy Secretary also noted on Face the Nation that ‘there’s no energy shortage at all in the Western Hemisphere.’ Pressed by Tapper on a specific timeline, Wright doubled down on his ‘weeks, not months’ line.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt spoke with Sunday Morning Futures host Maria Bartiromo on March 8, 2026

Fire breaks out at the Shahran oil depot after US and Israeli attacks, leaving numerous fuel tankers and vehicles in the area unusable in Tehran, Iran on March 8, 2026

‘The United States is a net exporter of oil, a large net exporter of natural gas, but refineries in Asia and Europe are seeing an interruption from the normal crude flows, but there is massive energy stores around the world,’ Wright concluded.

Trump’s White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, has reportedly demanded action to bring gas prices down as the war with Iran sends oil skyrocketing, sources have revealed.

Wright and other top officials, including a council led by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, ‘are getting screamed at to find some good news’, industry executives said.

Iran has shut the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil flows, sending prices soaring more than 10 percent in a single week, with Brent crude jumping from $72 to more than $82 a barrel.

US President Donald Trump and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright attend a roundtable on the Ratepayer Protection Pledge in the Indian Treaty Room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, DC, US, March 4, 2026

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles looks on during a roundtable in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 6, 2026

Energy bosses and Trump officials pitched ideas, including a temporary holiday on the gasoline tax or putting boots on the ground to defend oil infrastructure in Gulf states.

The White House is ‘looking under every rock for ideas on improving energy prices, especially gasoline prices,’ one energy executive told Politico.

Karoline Leavitt dismissed the reporting as ‘sensationalist, unverified gossip for clicks. Nobody is panicking.’ A White House official told the Daily Mail that Wall Street is not anticipating inflation, with Treasury yields down 50 basis points since Trump took office and core inflation down to its lowest rate in almost five years.

But the pain at the pump lands at a delicate moment for Trump, who faces crucial midterm elections in November. A new Daily Mail/J.L. Partners poll puts his approval rating at its lowest point ever, down four points to 44 percent since Friday.