Ohio records its most expensive August ever for gasoline amid Trump’s war with Iran

Trump promised to cut energy prices in half and later said gasoline would soon fall below $2 a gallon. One year later, Ohio averaged nearly $4 in August and hit $4.18 as the war with Iran disrupted global energy markets.

Ohio motorists just endured the state’s most expensive August at the gas pump on record.

The statewide average price for regular gasoline was $3.988 per gallon in August, according to newly released data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

That was the highest August average in the EIA’s Ohio gasoline price series, which dates to 2003.

The previous record was set in August 2012, when regular gasoline averaged $3.776 per gallon statewide. This year’s average topped that mark by more than 21 cents per gallon.

The year-over-year increase was even larger.

Regular gasoline averaged $3.147 per gallon in Ohio in August 2025, according to the same federal price data. That means the August 2026 average was about 84 cents per gallon higher than one year earlier, an increase of nearly 27%.

The record comes less than two years after President Donald Trump repeatedly made cheaper energy a centerpiece of his campaign to return to the White House.

At an Oct. 9, 2024 campaign rally in Scranton, Trump promised to cut energy prices by 50% within his first year back in office. Six days later, at an Atlanta campaign rally, he repeated the promise: “I will cut your energy prices in half within 12 months.”

Trump continued predicting dramatically cheaper gasoline after taking office.

During an Aug. 6, 2025 White House appearance, Trump said gasoline would “soon” be “less than $2 a gallon.”

Instead, one year later, Ohio drivers spent August paying almost twice that amount on average.

Prices climbed well above $4 per gallon during portions of the month.

The EIA’s weekly Ohio data show regular gasoline averaging $4.085 per gallon on Aug. 3 before falling to $3.899 on Aug. 10.

One week later, the statewide average surged to $4.180 per gallon on Aug. 17, an increase of more than 28 cents in seven days.

The average then fell to $3.981 on Aug. 24 and $3.797 on Aug. 31.

The surge has coincided with the prolonged war with Iran launched by the United States and Israel on Feb. 28.

The conflict has repeatedly disrupted energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that handled roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil before the war. Reuters reported that the war has pushed oil and gasoline prices higher by restricting energy flows through the strait, with U.S. gasoline climbing above $4 per gallon nationally.

Gasoline prices have remained elevated for much of the year following the outbreak of the conflict. Reuters reported Aug. 31 that prices surged after the Iran war began and climbed above $4 per gallon during the spring, while global fuel supplies were disrupted and U.S. refiners recorded sharply higher profits.

Ohio’s monthly numbers reflect that turmoil. Regular gasoline averaged an extraordinary $4.627 per gallon in May, according to EIA data, before falling during June and July and rising again during August.

By mid-August, Trump was no longer promising Americans immediately cheaper gasoline. He was telling them to accept higher prices as a cost of the war.

At an Aug. 14 political rally in New York, Trump urged Americans to tolerate paying “a tiny little bit more for your gasoline” while the conflict continued, arguing that the cost was justified by his effort to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, Reuters reported.

At the time, the national average was approximately $4.08 per gallon, 29% higher than a year earlier.

Three days later, Ohio’s weekly average reached $4.18.

Trump and his administration have since sought ways to bring prices back down. The president has accused oil refiners of profiteering, called for a Justice Department investigation and pressed companies to increase refining capacity.

Reuters reported that Trump convened major oil and refining companies as his administration faced mounting political pressure over gasoline prices ahead of November’s congressional elections.

The White House has also pursued greater access to Venezuelan crude oil, while arguing that expanded domestic refining and production will eventually reduce fuel prices.

But global markets remain exposed to the war in Iran. Oil prices jumped again this week after renewed U.S. strikes and Iranian retaliation threatened shipping and energy supplies around the Strait of Hormuz. Reuters reported Wednesday that Brent crude settled above $95 per barrel as the conflict entered its seventh month.

The August record reflects nominal pump prices and is not adjusted for inflation. But measured by the prices motorists actually saw at the pump, the EIA data show that no August since the agency began tracking Ohio prices in 2003 was more expensive than August 2026.