On a rainy afternoon in Detroit, at a gas station along Interstate 75, Victor Rodriguez watched the pumps increase as he filled up his F-250 diesel pickup truck for $4.19 a gallon. Totaled $110. “Ridiculous,” he said.
The US-Israel war against Iran has paralyzed significant portions of the oil supply chain, sending gas prices soaring as the conflict enters its third week. Rodriguez said he supports “getting rid of this bully,” a reference to Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated by the United States, but that the cost is too high.
Rodriguez said he jumped off the highway while returning from an airport because he saw an ad for diesel for $4.19 a gallon. The high price is a bargain compared to the $5 per gallon he saw in Romeo, a suburb where he lives about a half-hour drive north.
“Obviously, nothing is worth higher gas prices,” Rodriguez said.
Across Michigan, gas prices rose 60 cents per gallon during the most recent week analyzed by insurer AAA. Most have risen even higher in recent days, topping $4.30 at a station near downtown Detroit, where prices are typically among the highest. Prices have risen 27 cents on average in the United States, according to the latest figures from AAA.
Gasoline prices matter in Michigan, a swing state where Donald Trump narrowly won twice and lost once. His promise to lower prices across the economy helped propel him back to power here in 2024. He has so far dismissed the nation’s pump problems as temporary. “I don’t have any concerns about it,” the president told Reuters. “They will go down very quickly when this is over, and if they go up, they will go up, but this is much more important than the price of gasoline going up a little bit. And they haven’t gone up much.”
That sentiment was not widely shared in Detroit, where gas pumpers generally expressed frustration at paying higher prices because of the war, with some exceptions.
“I don’t give a shit about Iran. I don’t want to pay more for gas,” said Kevin Dass, an underemployed father of two in Detroit who paid $3.49 a gallon on Eight Mile Road, a busy thoroughfare that separates the city from the suburbs. You’re considering driving less, but your options are limited: Metro Detroit’s public transportation system is sparse and unreliable.
A few miles north, in Madison Heights, Del Carey shook his head and called the war “unnecessary,” as he paid $3.70 a gallon to fill up his vehicle. “I think we should go about our own business and leave theirs alone,” Carey said.
He lives in nearby Warren in Macomb County, a swing county that has received national attention in recent years for its outsize role in deciding the presidential election. She said no one she knows is in favor of war. Although Carey has not begun making any financial adjustments, he may stop dining out if high prices continue, reflecting broader anxiety about the economic future.
Rodriguez also lives in Macomb County. He said his liberal friends and neighbors are angry about the war and prices, while the conservatives he knows are more supportive of Trump, but even they are struggling with high gas prices.
But Trump is not the only one being blamed. Rodriguez said he also blames the OPEC oil cartel for the price rise, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a potential future Democratic presidential contender. Michigan just passed a gas tax to raise money for road repairs. This came into effect at the beginning of the year.
“We have a problem with Trump and we have a problem with Gretchen,” Rodriguez said.
Earl Striggan, who filled up with gas for $3.60 a gallon at a Clawson gas station, said he is categorically against the war. “War is never worth it. It’s not good for anyone,” he said. He doesn’t feel the pinch yet, but added that he can see what’s on the horizon. “If it continues down this slope, it’s going to get really dangerous and a lot of people aren’t going to get in their cars, they’re going to stay home and that’s going to affect business,” he said.
Imminent relief from rising gas prices does not appear to be on the horizon. Oil soared to $119 per barrel earlier this week, marking the first time prices surpassed $100 per barrel since the Covid price shocks of July 2022. Prices are expected to continue rising if Iran continues to close the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage through which many oil tankers must pass.
“If Hormuz trafficking remains stopped, the monumental oil supply shock will manifest as sharp price increases in rich nations that sap disposable income,” said oil industry analyst Rory Johnston. Poorer nations could suffer physical shortages, he added. Even if the strait were reopened today, oil prices would take time to fall.
Not everyone was upset about the prices, including Ken, a Detroit auto worker who declined to give his last name. He acknowledged the blow that people are receiving, but said that he trusts the president’s judgment.
“Iran has been proven to have massacred thousands of its citizens, so I support Trump even though I didn’t vote for him; Iran needs to move on,” Ken said.
The financial problem for him so far is minimal, he said, because he earns enough to cover the costs. And, he added, “every little thing that happens makes our prices go up, this is just one more thing that happens, so I’m not exaggerating.
“Now, if it goes to $10 a gallon, then we could have a problem,” he added.
