Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is pointing the finger at Democratic state officials for the current surge in gas prices. In a recent interview on Fox News with Aishah Hasnie, he claimed that regional costs are largely driven by local policy rather than the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
According to The Hill, Burgum argued, “The price of gasoline varies across our whole country largely right now by state policy and state taxes, not by the underlying fundamentals.” Instead, he pointed at the specific tax structures and energy requirements of individual states. He specifically highlighted California as a prime example of where these costs are essentially “self-inflicted.”
He pointed that as a nation, the United States is producing and exporting more oil that ever before, same as natural gas:
“About half the states that went down this path where they over rotated towards “we’re going to have energy transition, we’re going to move from affordable, reliable secure American energy and we’re going to rely on intermittent, highly subsidized, weather-dependent sources of energy,” they’ve got substantially higher energy prices than the states that don’t.”
Burgum tied it to local policies
The Daily Beast also covered the interview, noting that Burgum seemed to find some amusement in the way gas price maps are presented to the public. “I have to smile everytime I see on the screen the national average for gasoline, because it’s about like if a weather reporter said, “Here’s the temperature in America tomorrow. It’s gonna be 46 degrees,”” he said.
Burgum suggested that people are overthinking the global impact of the war when they should be looking at their own state legislatures. He highlighted that by discussing the situation in California, which The Hill noted currently holds the title for the highest average fuel costs in the nation.
“They are going to have high prices,” Burgum said. “You can thank [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom for that and the state legislature for the policies they put in. That has nothing to do with the Strait of Hormuz.” As noted by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, California does deal with a unique set of circumstances. This includes the highest gasoline taxes in the country, strict clean energy mandates, and a limited number of refineries.
According to The Hill, gas prices have seen a sharp increase since the U.S. and Israel initiated a joint attack on Iran on February 28. Additionally, the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz has reportedly created a massive bottleneck for global energy supplies.
As of Saturday afternoon, the national average was sitting at just over $4 a gallon, which represents a 30 percent jump from the $3 a gallon seen a year ago, according to data from AAA. In California, the situation is even more pronounced, with average prices hitting $5.75 on Saturday compared to $4.65 at the same time last year.
The outlet reported that the administration has been working to manage public concern regarding the economic fallout of the conflict. Energy Secretary Chris Wright recently stated at an Atlantic Council event that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was rising very meaningfully.
The president doubled down on this by posting on Truth Social. Trump announced, “Today, I am pleased to announce that this effort has resulted in more than 100 MILLION Barrels of Oil making its way through the Strait, and into the Open Market.” Recently, Trump also stated that the US has been removing millions of barrels of oil without Iran’s knowledge.
On Truth Social, Trump then claimed that “This wildly successful effort is because the UNITED STATES of AMERICA CONTROLS the Strait of Hormuz — NOT Iran. Their military is defeated, and their economy is lost. It’s over for Iran.”
Looking forward, there is hope for some stability in the energy sector. The U.S. and Iran have now reportedly agreed on a peace deal, with the president indicating that the strait would be reopened immediately afterwards.
Burgum remains adamant that the administration will not settle for a bad deal. He insists that prices will continue to drop across the country, though he maintains that states like California will continue to see elevated costs due to their own internal policies.
Published: Jun 15, 2026 08:32 am