LAFAYETTE PARISH (LAFAYETTE) — As the war in Iran continues, drivers across the country are seeing higher prices at the pump, a cost the president says is necessary to secure international peace.
But for many residents, the rising cost of fuel is becoming a daily burden.
Nathaniel Moore, who lives in Lafayette, said he’s frustrated by how far his money no longer goes when filling up.
“We already struggling here right where we at, so—I just don’t get it,” Moore said.
Moore said he typically spends $10 a day on gas, but it no longer stretches the way it used to.
“I pay $10 a day, every day, every day, and I don’t even get a half a tank,” he said.
A Shop Rite employee at the Ambassador Caffery Parkway location in Lafayette said prices climbed quickly earlier this month. On Wednesday, March 4, the station’s average price for regular gasoline started the day at $2.21 per gallon and rose to $2.99 by the end of the day.
However, in a statement by President Donald Trump over the weekend, he expressed no concern about the increases.
"Worried about gas prices?" a reporter asked off-screen.
“No—,” said Pres. Trump, defending the actions tied to the conflict, saying the move was long overdue. “This is a short excursion into something that should’ve been done 47 years ago; 47 years it’s taken to do this, and no president had the guts to do it."
According to AAA, the national average price for regular gasoline is now $3.41 per gallon, while diesel averages $4.51 per gallon—the highest average since Aug. 20, 2024.
Some drivers say the rapid increases are difficult to keep up with.
“They get more money, and then we get less of what we want,” Moore said.
Just this past week, regular gasoline prices rose 43 cents and diesel jumped 75 cents—the largest weekly increase since early March 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine.
Drivers outside Louisiana are noticing the same trend. One woman in Atlanta said prices in her neighborhood climbed sharply in just days.
“On Monday, I feel like gas was like $2.89, so it had went up a tiny bit,” she said. “But now my neighborhood gas is $3.49.”
For Moore, the frustration is simple.
“Trump is messin’ up if you ask me,” he said. “That’s all I got to say about that part.”
