Trump says gasoline will "drop like a rock" after Iran conflict ends

Washington: President Donald Trump said US gasoline prices will "drop like a rock" once the conflict with Iran is resolved, acknowledging that fuel and farm input costs have risen but calling the increases a temporary price for preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

In an interview with NBC's Meet the Press, Trump conceded that higher energy costs have hit American farmers, but he insisted the economic pain will be short-lived and justified by his administration's actions against Iran.

"As soon as that's complete, gasoline prices are going to drop like a rock," he said when asked about farmers facing rising fuel and fertiliser bills.

The comments come as the White House faces mounting political pressure over the economic fallout from the campaign against Iran, which Trump said has reached its 100th day since the initial US strikes.

Responding to farmers' concerns, Trump said rural voters continue to back him because of his record, noting that he provided "$28 billion" in assistance during his first term. He said he had to choose between keeping energy costs low and confronting what he described as the nuclear threat from Tehran.

"I could've kept it that way. But I said, I have to take a little bit of a turn," he said. "The farmers are going to understand it better than anybody. We're going to have higher gasoline. We're going to have a little higher fertiliser... But I'm going to get rid of a nuclear weapon in the hands of very dangerous people."

Trump tied any future decline in fuel prices to either a negotiated settlement with Tehran or the successful completion of US military objectives. Asked if gasoline prices had already peaked, he replied: "They're going to come low, very low. They're going to go lower than they were before."

He said the timing depends on how events unfold. "It depends where the war goes. It could be, I'll have to give them a shot, and it could be we'll sign an agreement. If we sign an agreement, it'll go down now. Otherwise, it'll go down after we're finished," he said.

Throughout the interview, Trump defended his handling of the conflict, rejected claims that it contradicted his pledge to avoid prolonged foreign entanglements, and said US strikes had significantly weakened Iran's capabilities. "We're not going to be there," he said when asked why the campaign would not become a quagmire.

Trump also highlighted a stronger-than-expected US jobs report as evidence of economic resilience, calling the employment figures "really strong" and saying the country was seeing record economic performance.

(Inputs from IANS)