The price of crude oil dropped to $62.46 a barrel on Monday morning, part of a downward trend that some analysts say could continue into next year. The lower cost may be a sign of a global economic slowdown, but its most apparent effects are a boon to consumers: lower gasoline prices.
And if Americans have more money left over after filling up their gas tanks, the Trump administration is eager to claim credit.
“Energy prices fell in July, including gasoline, which is down nearly 10 percent over last year,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said last week. “This administration continues to be wholeheartedly committed to putting more money back into the American people’s pockets,” she added.
Mr. Trump has frequently used the cost of fuel as a measure of his success. In July, a White House statement said plummeting prices were “fueling economic growth from coast to coast.”
That “is like a dream come true for President Trump,” said Robert McNally, an energy adviser to President George W. Bush and is now president of Rapidan Energy Group, a research firm in Washington.
Many Americans often measure their quality of life by the ebb and flow of gas prices and other staples like eggs and milk.
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