A reporter noted that many locals can't afford air travel and asked Duffy to address gas prices being about a dollar higher than a year ago. Duffy thanked the reporter for the question, then remarked that no one had complained about inflation under Biden, calling that strange. The reporter, though, shot back, asking once again about gas prices.
When pressed again specifically on gas prices, Duffy credited the administration's push for U.S. "energy dominance" — increased domestic production, refining, and net-exporter status — with keeping fuel costs down. He acknowledged oil prices near $81–82 a barrel amid tension in the Strait of Hormuz, but argued that's low given the circumstances, crediting American energy output. He then pivoted to Iran, saying a nuclear-armed Iran would undermine the region and pose environmental and safety risks if a weapon were ever used, and framed the administration's approach as juggling short-term Middle East disruption versus long-term peace and security.
As for a nuclear Iran, it would have been nice if Trump didn't throw Obama's Iran Deal in the rubbish, don't you think?
"A lot of people around here can't afford to fly," a reporter said. "Can you say something about the dollar, gas prices are a dollar more than they were a year ago. Can you talk to us about that?"
"No one over here complained about Joe Biden's inflation, which is wild," Biden insisted.
"Can you talk about gas prices?" the reporter asked again.
"We have a President who has fought to bring back American energy dominance, common sense energy that gives us American jobs and lowers our gas prices," he continued. "But also with that, we can't have a nuclear Iran; it destabilizes the world."
"So again, we're in a great place with what we produce in America, and you have a short term disruption in the Middle East, because a long term safety for America, but for the rest of the world, because Iran will not have a nuclear weapon, and that means it will use a nuclear weapon, which means if you look at it, anyone who cares about the environment, you look at what happens to the environment if one of these bombs go off, it is cataclysmic, not just for the human heart, for lives, but for the environment," he continued.
"And so the President is fighting to make sure that we preserve peace and prosperity without a nuclear Iran for not just this generation, but future generations," he added.
In short, Duffy is telling struggling Americans to suck it up because Trump chose to go to war with Iran. The Pentagon in July stated that direct military and operational outlays for the war in Iran have reached $37.5 billion. However, independent analysts and economic trackers estimate the total financial burden—including munitions replacement, base repairs, and greater economic fallout—is significantly higher.
Since Duffy brought up inflation under Biden, let's compare, shall we? The inflation rate was 3.0% when Joe Biden left office in January 2025, compared to 3.4% as of July 2026 under Donald Trump.
