Trump has only one real option to slash gas prices | CNN Business

The energy crisis is a financial nightmare for Main Street and a political nightmare for the White House. Inflation is racing back to life, real wages are shrinking and voters are blaming President Donald Trump for $4.50-a-gallon gas. Trump now faces a break-the-glass moment to avoid gas prices from blowing past Biden-era records highs. Yet Trump has already taken emergency steps designed to limit the damage. His administration is draining oil from America’s stockpile at the fastest pace on record. Shipping restrictions have been waived. Some sanctions on Russia and Venezuela have been eased. While other ideas have been floated, such as suspending the federal gas tax, the reality is Trump really only has one lever left to slash gas prices: Get the Strait of Hormuz reopened — one way or another. “There’s precious little the administration can do,” said Jan Stuart, global energy strategist at Piper Sandler. That’s why Stuart expects the energy crisis will get worse this spring and summer, pushing gas to $5 a gallon as soon as this month. Stuart expects Brent crude futures to average $130 a barrel next quarter, shattering the prior quarterly record, and to remain near $100