Trump National Mall rally attendees blame war on Iran for rising gas prices

Supporters who attended President Donald Trump's rally on the National Mall admitted they felt shortchanged by rising gas prices, but largely declined to blame Trump — instead pointing to the Iran conflict and continued frustration with inflation under former President Joe Biden.

“My favorite president used gas up to about $5 a gallon for no reason, and that was Mr. Biden,” said Billy from North Carolina.

Fox News Digital spoke to Americans who gathered on the National Mall Wednesday evening for President Donald Trump's 250th anniversary “Great American State Fair” rally, where attendees wondered if they would be hurting their pockets as worries about being able to pay for war with Iran and the November midterm elections.

“Affordability has a lot to do with the highest interest rates in 48 years under President Biden, so it's going to take some time to get those rates back to where we were before that,” said James McNair of Maryland.

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“I'm not that worried about the cost. I think our president is probably the best businessman who's ever been president, and things will change,” said James' brother, David.

“Being in Gen Z, everything is more expensive now,” New York's William sums up.

Many of the attendees pointed out that while they recognize that fuel prices are high, they say the recent increase is related to the escalating conflict with Iran—a development they continue to support.

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People watch as US President Donald Trump speaks during the opening ceremony of the Great American State Fair on the National Mall on June 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

“I don't think prices are any worse than when Biden was in office,” said Lisa from Maryland.

Before the war, the national average price of gasoline was $2.98 per gallon. Prices peaked at $4.56 per liter in late May before gradually falling to $3.87 per liter at the end of June.

Lisa and her husband, Matt, both serve in the Army and have expressed differing views on the Trump administration's Iran crackdown.

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Attendees hold American flag placards during a celebration of the opening of the Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington, DC, June 24, 2026. The fair runs through July 10 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States. (Al Drago/Getty Images)

“The prices have gone up and I'm concerned,” said Matt from Maryland.

Matt shared that his drill sergeants warned him about being deployed to Iran back in 1985. “Here we are today in 2026, still dealing with this problem.”

“If we are concerned about fuel prices, we will continue to worry more and more until we get a handle on governments that do not conform to our standards,” said Matt.

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Father and son traveled from New York. (Ashley DiMella/Fox News Digital)

Norma Holm from Indiana also said that she believes that eventually Iran will have to be dealt with and said that it is better to take this issue up a notch rather than leave it to the next generation.

“We take the gas prices and everything else for the party, but things are not going well, and President Trump, don't underestimate him.”

Washington and Tehran have agreed to halt military strikes in the region when delegates are scheduled to meet on June 30 in Doha, Qatar for talks.

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Some attendees of the event are hoping that a resolution to the Iran conflict will lead to lower prices.

“As the war in Iran comes to an end and the peace agreement hopefully gels, we'll see. I think gas prices are already going down, not much, not where we would like to see, but those things take time,” said James from New York.