Energy Secretary Chris Wright defended President Donald Trump on Sunday against criticism of rising energy costs in the U.S. as well as the ongoing tensions with Iran.
Trump Wants Peace, Says Chris Wright
In a post on the social media platform X, Wright shared a clip of his interview with ABC where he said that he could “appreciate” Trump’s efforts to resolve the “long-term problem,” but acknowledged that the efforts came with “short-term political pain” for the President and the administration.
“President Trump wants to bring peace to the world and drive energy prices down. He works every single day on that,” Wright said. He then slammed Democratic lawmakers, saying that they had “striven for 15 years” to drive energy prices in the U.S.
The Energy Secretary then pointed to gas and diesel prices in Democrat-led states being higher than GOP-led states. “Their [Democrats’] newfound love for low energy prices is a little politically disingenuous,” Wright said.
According to the data provided by the American Automobile Association (AAA), the national average price of gas on Sunday was $4.2988/gallon, while diesel was at $6.3224/gallon. In California, the average price of gas on Sunday was $6.1782/gallon, while diesel cost $8.5123/gallon on average.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also attributed September’s hotter inflation reading largely to an energy shock and argued that energy prices should ease after the Iran war ends.
Iran’s Ghalibaf Touts Data Authority
Amid ongoing tensions, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf urged countries in the Gulf region to deny AI companies that support U.S. military infrastructure resources and proposed setting up a "Persian Gulf Data Authority" and urged Gulf governments, investors and businesses to deny resources to AI and data companies supporting U.S. military operations.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi also warned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was dragging the U.S. into another war in a bid to escape prosecution following Trump’s endorsement of the PM ahead of general elections in Israel.
Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.
Photo courtesy: Jesse Paul / Shutterstock.com
© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.
