One month ago, the national average for a gallon of gas was $2.92. Today it is $3.84. The Iran war’s disruption of Strait of Hormuz energy flows has pushed oil above $107 a barrel and sent energy costs climbing at a pace that American families feel every time they pull up to a pump.
Trump’s response was not a task force. It was not a speech about “complex global factors.” It was a 60-day executive waiver of the Jones Act — a century-old shipping law — combined with eased sanctions on Venezuelan oil and an explicit order to open American ports to global energy supply.
That is a president using every tool available to protect American consumers. Here is what each piece does.
The Jones Act has been on the books since 1920. It requires that any goods shipped between American ports must travel on ships that are U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged, and U.S.-crewed. The law was designed to protect the American maritime industry — and it does, by restricting competition. The tradeoff is that it limits the number of tankers that can legally move fuel between domestic ports, which constrains supply flexibility precisely when the energy market needs it most.
Trump’s 60-day waiver removes that restriction. Foreign vessels can now legally transport oil, natural gas, fertilizer, and coal between American ports for the next two months. That expands the available tanker fleet for domestic energy distribution, reduces bottlenecks between regions where supply is abundant and regions where it is tight, and gives the market more options to route energy where it is needed fastest.
Analysts project the direct impact at approximately three cents per gallon — a modest but real reduction in the context of a market that has moved nearly a dollar in a month. The more significant effect is market confidence: the signal that America is actively managing its energy supply chain rather than passively absorbing price shocks has a stabilizing effect on futures markets independent of the physical supply changes.
Alongside the Jones Act waiver, the Treasury Department moved to ease sanctions on Venezuela’s state oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., authorizing it to sell oil to U.S. companies and on global markets.
This is a pragmatic move, not an ideological one. Venezuelan oil production has been effectively cut off from American markets since the sanctions regime tightened. With Qatar’s LNG facility now damaged and Strait of Hormuz flows disrupted, every additional barrel of oil accessible to global markets matters. Venezuela has significant proven reserves and existing production infrastructure. Routing that oil into global supply during a 60-day window reduces upward price pressure regardless of the politics involved.
Trump has been consistent about this framework: American consumers come first. If easing sanctions on a socialist government’s oil company for 60 days keeps gas prices manageable during an active war, that is the call a president who prioritizes Americans over ideology makes.
Biden’s energy policy response to price shocks consisted primarily of releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve — a finite resource that temporarily suppresses prices while depleting America’s emergency buffer — and asking OPEC to pump more. Both approaches outsourced the solution to someone else.
Trump’s approach combines regulatory flexibility, sanctions management, and supply chain optimization into a coordinated 60-day response. The Jones Act waiver expires. The Venezuela authorization is temporary. The goal is not to permanently restructure American energy policy but to bridge the gap while the Iran conflict resolves and normal Strait flows resume.
Gas at $3.84 is not comfortable. Gas at $3.84 with a president actively working every lever to bring it down is a fundamentally different political and economic situation than gas at $3.84 with a president blaming oil companies on television.
The tools are in motion. The timeline is 60 days. Watch the pump price.