US Petrol Prices Set Record High Average Under Trump Ahead of Midterms

The average price of a gallon of petrol during President Donald Trump’s second term is set to reach a record high for any U.S. administration on 2 November 2026, one day before midterm elections dominated by cost-of-living concerns. A Financial Times analysis of federal data places the second-term average above $3.46, edging past the previous high recorded under Joe Biden.

AAA data showed the national average at $4.17 on 1 November. That is more than one-third higher than when Trump returned to office in January 2025. Diesel has risen more than 70 percent over the same period and stood at $6.30 a gallon, after touching a record $6.53 in September. Both fuels remain below the daily peaks seen after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, when petrol briefly reached $5.02.

Trump campaigned in 2024 on a pledge to cut petrol prices to $2 a gallon. Prices instead climbed after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran in February 2026, disrupting oil flows. The rise has become a liability for Republican candidates. Farm states and other competitive districts face higher diesel costs that feed into transport and food prices.

The daily price on election day is expected to be the highest ever recorded for a midterm, according to GasBuddy petroleum analyst Patrick De Haan. Petrol remains below the absolute peak of the Biden years, but the sustained elevation through the campaign season has altered the political calculus. No major policy measure has reversed the trajectory before Tuesday’s vote.

Voters in 2024 associated high fuel costs with the prior administration. The current average now exceeds that benchmark by a narrow margin, giving both parties a concrete number to cite in the final hours of campaigning.