“Twelve months from January 20th…your gasoline for your car is going to be 50% cheaper,” Donald Trump told a gathering at the Economic Club of Detroit while he was running for president in 2024. Along with dubious campaign pledges like ending the Russia-Ukraine war on “day one” and a promise of “no new foreign wars,” Trump’s gas price promise is getting renewed attention as the average fill-up price across the nation surged, at least temporarily, above $4 per gallon this week.
“I will cut your energy prices in half, 50 percent. 5-0, within 12 months of taking office,” Trump said.
WATCH: President Trump outlines economic, energy, tax plans during Detroit, MI rally pic.twitter.com/yH0URZDL1T
— RSBN
(@RSBNetwork) October 19, 2024
When Trump was inaugurated for the second time in January 2025, the average price of gasoline nationwide that week was $3.13, meaning had Trump’s promise been fulfilled, the price a year later would be near $1.57. It has never approached that, despite disputed claims by Trump last year that the price had fallen to $1.98. In the aftermath of the Iran war this week, pump prices saw the $4 level breached.
The AAA auto club, which tracks gas prices nationwide, reported on January 23, 2025 that “pump prices eked out a three-cent gain since last week to $3.13. Meanwhile, today’s national average per kilowatt hour of electricity at a public EV charging station remained at 34 cents.”
Trump’s speech in Detroit also included electricity price promises, with a pledge to cut these in half also for consumers during his first year back in office.
[NOTE: According to powerlines.org, electricity and gas were the fastest drivers of inflation in 2025, with electricity up 6.7% nationwide.]
Trump critics who have never viewed his promises as anything more than campaign bluster tend to amplify a different segment of the then-candidate’s speech in Detroit. The much-shared segment, shown below, includes little in the way of hard promises or facts, but for Trump critics is an example of his status as a fundamentally flawed candidate exposing a lack of preparation and discipline.
There’s something off with folks who can listen to this and still say they need to hear more from Kamala Harris before deciding who they’ll vote for.
Trump’s remarks at the Detroit Economic Club are like watching someone try to read a map upside down—rambling, incoherent, and… pic.twitter.com/4IagtF7i30
— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline) October 11, 2024