By Tolga Sahin | Staff Writer
President Donald Trump addressed the nation Wednesday from the White House, declaring that the U.S. is “on track to complete all of America’s military objectives shortly” in Iran — a message aimed at reassuring a public paying more at the pump and growing skeptical of his handling of the economy.
Gas prices in Waco have climbed to $3.68 a gallon, up 28% from a year ago, as the five-week-old conflict disrupts global oil markets.
The address came 32 days into Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. military campaign against Iran’s nuclear program and military infrastructure. Iran’s attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz have pushed gas prices above $4 a gallon nationally, and a CNN/SSRS poll released Tuesday found Trump’s economic approval at a career-low 31%, his overall approval at 35% and just 27% approving of his handling of inflation — down from 44% a year ago.
Dr. Patrick Flavin, chair of Baylor’s political science department, said the war contradicts the America-first foreign policy brand that helped Trump win the 2024 election.
“It would be politically challenging for Trump, who has run on getting the U.S. less entangled with the rest of the world,” Flavin said. “Now we see sort of the reverse of that — in Venezuela or Iran, he’s sort of going back on that isolationist view.”
Trump said Iran’s original leadership is dead and a new group has opened discussions, but warned the U.S. would escalate if no deal is reached, targeting Iran’s electricity grid and oil infrastructure.
“If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric-generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously,” Trump said.
The U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury Feb. 28 after intelligence indicated Iran was weeks from producing a nuclear weapon, following the destruction of several nuclear sites in June under a separate operation, Midnight Hammer. Trump declared the campaign’s core objectives nearly complete.
“Never in the history of warfare has an enemy suffered such clear and devastating large-scale losses in a matter of weeks,” Trump said.
With national gas prices above $4 a gallon and diesel topping $5.20, much of the speech was devoted to reassuring Americans that the pain is temporary. Trump blamed the spike on Iran’s attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and pointed to record domestic production.
“America has plenty of gas,” Trump said. “Under my leadership, we produce more oil and gas than Saudi Arabia and Russia combined.”
Trump acknowledged the 13 American service members killed since the operation began, saying he traveled twice to Dover Air Force Base to meet their families.
“Every single one of the people, their loved ones, said, ‘Please, sir, please finish the job,'” Trump said. “And we are going to finish the job.”
The war has also complicated Trump’s push to lower interest rates. Rising energy prices put upward pressure on inflation, making it harder for the Federal Reserve to justify cutting the federal funds rate — something Trump has publicly demanded.
Dr. Mark Kelly, a clinical associate professor of economics, said the Fed faces an impossible bind — if it cuts rates to stimulate the economy, inflation could climb back above 3%. If it holds rates steady to contain prices, borrowing costs stay high for households already stretched thin.
“If they drop rates, inflation could jump up to above 3% again, which their target is 2%,” Kelly said. “That’s why there’s a lot of debate about what the Fed should be doing right now.”
Trump promised gas prices would fall once the Strait of Hormuz reopens, comparing the 32-day campaign favorably to years-long conflicts in Vietnam, Iraq and Korea.
“When this conflict is over, the strait will open up naturally,” Trump said. “The gas prices will rapidly come back down. Stock prices will rapidly go back up.”
Flavin said the key political question heading into the midterms is whether Trump’s base will follow him into a conflict he once promised to avoid.
“His supporters who before wanted the U.S. to disengage with the world and be less entangled — will they suddenly change their minds and say, ‘Well, Trump says it’s good, so we’re in support of it?'” Flavin said. “Certainly some will. The question is, will most of them, or will there be some pushback?”
The president also referenced the U.S. military operation in Venezuela, which toppled Nicolás Maduro’s government and gave the U.S. access to the country’s oil reserves — the second largest on Earth. Trump described the operation as swift and decisive.
“That was quick, lethal, violent and respected by everyone all over the world,” Trump said.
Lindsay Flanigan, a College Station senior and president of Baylor’s College Republicans, said the Venezuela operation reflected well on the administration’s willingness to act.
“I was very impressed, and I think all Republicans were impressed with the speed and the efficiency of the operation to remove a foreign head of government,” Flanigan said. “So swiftly done and so effectively done.”
