LEILA FADEL, HOST:
President Trump is under pressure to bring down gas prices before the midterm elections amid surging energy prices from the war in Iran.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Trump met with oil and gas executives on Tuesday to discuss increasing capacity. He's also betting that a new oil deal with Venezuela can help to ease pressure on drivers. Neither effort is likely to pay off soon - certainly not by November - but that may not really be the point.
FADEL: NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez is here to discuss the politics of all this. Good morning, Franco.
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: OK. So let's start with the Venezuela deal, because the way the president is selling this is that it's the answer to high prices. Is that true?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, I mean, the reality is Venezuela's oil reserves are so messed up that it'll likely take years before oil production meaningfully ramps up to make a difference. A U.S. official not authorized to discuss this deal publicly admitted to reporters that the oil industry has been devastated by corruption and lack of investment and that it also needs to be rebuilt. I asked when we could reasonably see that, and he did not answer, stating that there was no timetable. But again, experts say that this could take years.
FADEL: What about meeting with executives? Does that do anything to fix gas prices if the problem is the oil just isn't moving because of the war with Iran, because of the fight for control of the Strait of Hormuz?
ORDOÑEZ: Certainly not overnight. I mean, before the war, tens of millions of barrels of oil - about a fifth of the world's consumption - passed through the Strait of Hormuz in Iran. Now it is a fraction of that, and it's going to be very hard to change that without ending the war. But this is the top issue on many voters' minds. I mean, and that's because gas prices are basically a proxy for the rest of the economy. We talk all the time about the big signs at gas stations displaying prices - how it's a massive scoreboard for the economy going up and down the highway.
Now, Jon McHenry, a veteran Republican pollster - he told me that Trump has an incentive to take action, even if his policies won't necessarily produce results over the next few months ahead of the midterms.
JON MCHENRY: The first challenge is - just show that you know people are concerned about it and that you care about it as well and that you're doing something about it.
FADEL: Yeah. And with the midterms coming up, I imagine Republicans are glad he's talking about affordability, right?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. I mean, one of the challenges for Trump and especially for other Republicans is that he so often is taking the party off message. Last week is a good example of that, with all the talk about changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America during the trade fight with Canada. Doug Heye, the former communications director for the Republican National Committee, told me that Trump is hurting Senate candidates in tight races by forcing them to talk about things they don't want to talk about.
DOUG HEYE: In North Carolina, does Michael Whatley want to be answering questions about renaming of lakes or whatever the side issue will be, you know, later this week, which we know is going to come? Or does he want to speak - be talking about, here's what I'm trying to do for you?
ORDOÑEZ: So yes. Heye's glad Trump's talking about the economy. He just wishes he did it sooner.
FADEL: So gas prices in the U.S. now average about $4 a gallon nationally. And Trump likes to blame former President Biden, but how much do Americans hold Trump responsible?
ORDOÑEZ: Well, I mean, we've seen recent polling that shows even Trump's base is growing more frustrated. I mean, part of the problem for Trump is that before the U.S. launched strikes against Iran, average prices were $1 a gallon lower national in February. We're talking under $3. And that is just a reality that Trump just can't escape.
FADEL: That's White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez. Thank you, Franco.
ORDOÑEZ: Thank you, Leila. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
