WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance warned Wednesday that consumers face a “rough road ahead” as global energy prices soar due to the Iran war.
“We’ve got a rough road ahead of us for the next few weeks, but it’s temporary,” Vance said at an event in Auburn Hills, Mich., outside Detroit, as oil prices spiked close to $110 per barrel.
‘Look, gas prices are up, and we know that they’re up and we know that people are hurting because of it, and we’re doing everything we can to ensure they stay lower,” said the VP, adding that President Trump was “working on a number of things — in fact, a couple of things that I think will be announced in just the next 24 to 48 hours.”
Vice President JD Vance spoke at EDSI Cables in Auburn Hills, Mich., on March 18, 2026. APEarlier Wednesday, Trump issued a 60-day waiver to the Jones Act of 1920 to allow foreign ships to transport oil between US ports.
Last week, the president ordered the release of 172 million barrels of oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve — a roughly nine-day domestic supply — to try to tamp down prices.
The war has deprived Trump of his frequent midterm-election-year boast that gasoline prices plummeted on his watch.
Over the past month, the average national gas price has spiked 92 cents to $3.84 per gallon.
Gas prices seen at a station in Palo Alto, Calif., on March 10, 2026. Energy prices are soaring globally as the Iran War puts pressure on the Strait of Hormuz. Bloomberg via Getty ImagesThe cost of transportation has a significant impact on the cost of other goods.
“It’s not going to last forever. We’re going to take care of business. We’re going to come back home. And when that happens, you’re the see energy prices come back down to reality,” Vance promised.
“But in the meantime, we have got a problem. We know we have a problem. We’re doing everything we can to address it.”
