With an unpopular war and high gasoline prices dragging down his party’s midterm election chances, President Trump flew to Phoenix on Friday to speak to some of his most enthusiastic supporters and promise that prices would soon come down.
At a Turning Point USA event at Dream City Church, Mr. Trump said he had worked out a deal with Iran to get commerce flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, which would lead to lower oil prices. The strait had been open for business before the war the United States and Israel launched in Iran almost two months ago.
“This will be a great and brilliant day for the world, because Iran has just announced that the Strait of Hormuz is fully open and ready for business,” Mr. Trump said to applause from the crowd of hundreds who had gathered in the megachurch’s cavernous auditorium.
Later in the speech, the president claimed that Americans would soon see more helpful effects of the cease-fire in the war, which he called a “little excursion.”
“Wait ‘til you see prices fall,” Mr. Trump said. “Did you see oil is down today, and prices are down?”
The Phoenix event continued a campaign in recent days by the president to downplay the economic consequences of the Iran war, and concluded a tour of western swing states meant to promote his economic agenda and stave off G.O.P. electoral defeat in November.
In Las Vegas on Thursday, Mr. Trump extolled a tax deduction for tipped workers while arguing that “we’re having some fake inflation because of the fuel, the energy prices.”
The president on Friday acknowledged that he had the midterm elections in mind, suggesting that Democrats could retake the House, a result that would likely subject his administration to a torrent of investigations.
“For some reason, a president — Republican, Democrat — the party does poorly in the midterms,” he lamented to the crowd in Phoenix. “It doesn’t make sense. I’m still trying to figure it out.”
A battery of Arizona political candidates spoke before Mr. Trump, who credited Turning Point, a group for young conservatives, with helping him win Arizona in 2024.
While the war in Iran has caused some fissures in the Republican coalition — a majority of Republicans remain supportive of it — the crowd gathered in Phoenix was made up of ardent Trump supporters, shielding the president from public discontent. His admirers booed NATO and chanted “USA.” Many wore red Trump hats, and some carried signs that said “Build the Red Wall,” the name of the event.
Erika Kirk, the chief executive of Turning Point whose husband, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated last year, introduced the president. She referred to protesters who had gathered outside the church to oppose Mr. Trump’s policies, and urged those gathered to vote for Republicans.
Among the attendees, there was some concern about high prices, but also belief that Mr. Trump was the right person to respond to any economic woes.
“Our nation’s bankrupt,” said Diana Jones-Pickerill, a local school board candidate who attended the speech wearing a sparkling Trump brooch. “We need a businessman.”
In an interview after the speech ended, Ms. Jones-Pickerill said she had been “a little bit concerned” about gas prices “when they went up as high as they did, as fast as they did. But they are coming down now.”
Cy Bassett, a retiree who lives in Phoenix, said he was not worried about the cost of gas, and believed the price increases were a “temporary thing” the president would solve once shipping routes were freed up.
His wife, Jacqui, said that she and her husband went to a nearby mountaintop to pray over the church before Mr. Trump arrived. She said they prayed that the president, who has survived assassination attempts, would be safe from protesters.
“We were praying and claiming this land for the Lord’s purpose,” Ms. Bassett said. Of Mr. Trump, she said: “He was anointed by the Lord.”
Luke Broadwater covers the White House for The Times.
The post In Phoenix, Trump Eyes Lower Gas Prices and Frets About the Midterms appeared first on New York Times.
