‘I don’t give a shit about Iran. I don’t want to pay higher gas’: Motor City motorists feel pinch as gas prices surge

On a rainy Detroit afternoon at a gas station off Interstate 75, Victor Rodriguez watched the pump tally tick up as he filled up his F-250 diesel pickup truck for $4.19 per gallon. It totaled $110. “Ridiculous,” he said.

The US-Israel war on Iran has crippled major portions of the oil supply chain, sending gas prices soaring as the conflict enters its third week. Rodriguez said he supports “getting rid of this thug”, referring to Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by the US, but the cost is too high.

Rodriguez said he jumped off the freeway while returning from an airport drop-off because he saw diesel advertised for $4.19 per gallon. The high price is a deal compared with the $5.00 per gallon he saw in Romeo, an exurb where he lives about a half-hour drive north.

“Nothing is worth higher gas prices, obviously,” Rodriguez said.

Across Michigan, gas prices have spiked by 60 cents per gallon over the most recent week analyzed by insurer AAA. Most have pushed even higher in recent days, topping $4.30 at one station near downtown Detroit, where prices are generally among the highest. Prices are up 27 cents across the US on average, according to AAA’s last figures.

Gas prices matter in Michigan – a critical swing state that Donald Trump narrowly won twice and lost once. His promise to lower prices across the economy helped propel him back to power here in 2024. So far he has dismissed the nation’s pump pain as temporary. “I don’t have any concern about it,” the president told Reuters. “They’ll drop very rapidly when this is over, and if they rise, they rise, but this is far more important than having gasoline price go up a little bit. And they haven’t risen very much.”

That sentiment was not widely shared in Detroit, where those filling up at gas stations broadly expressed frustration over paying higher prices for the war, with some exceptions.

“I don’t give a shit about Iran. I don’t want to pay higher gas,” said Kevin Dass, an underemployed father of two in Detroit who paid $3.49 per gallon on Eight Mile Road, a busy thoroughfare that separates the city and suburbs. He is considering driving less, but options are limited – metro Detroit’s public transit system is sparse and unreliable.

A few miles north in Madison Heights, Del Carey shook her head and said the war is “unnecessary” as she paid $3.70 per gallon to fill up her SUV. “I think we should stay in our own business and leave theirs alone,” Carey said.

She lives in nearby Warren, in Macomb county, a swing county that received national attention in recent years for its outsize role in deciding presidential elections. She said no one she knows is for the war. Though Carey has not started making any financial adjustments, she may cut back on dining out if high prices continue, reflecting a broader anxiety about the economic future.

Rodriguez also lives in Macomb county. He said his liberal friends and neighbors are angered by the war and prices while conservative folks he knows are more supportive of Trump, but even they are struggling with elevated gas prices.

But Trump isn’t the only one getting the blame. Rodriguez said he also blames the Opec oil cartel for price gouging, and Michigan’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer, a potential future Democratic presidential contender. Michigan just passed a gas tax to raise money for road repairs. That went into effect at the beginning of the year.

“We’ve got a problem with Trump and we’ve got a problem with Gretchen,” Rodriguez said.

Earl Striggan, who filled up at $3.60 a gallon at a station in Clawson, said he is categorically against war. “War is never worth it. It’s good for no one,” he said. He is not feeling the pinch yet, but he added that he can see what’s on the horizon. “If it continues on this slope, it’s going to get real dicey and a lot of people aren’t going to get in their car – they’ll stay in the house and that’s going to affect businesses,” he said.

Imminent relief from higher gas prices doesn’t seem to be on the horizon. Oil spiked at $119 per barrel early this week, marking the first time prices surged past $100 per barrel since the July 2022 Covid price shocks. Prices are expected to rise further if Iran continues with its closure of the strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage through which many oil tankers must pass.

“If Hormuz traffic remained stopped, the monumental oil supply shock will manifest as sharp price spikes in wealthy nations that sap disposable incomes,” oil industry analyst Rory Johnston said. Poorer nations could see physical shortages, he added. Even if the strait reopened today, oil prices would be slow to come down.

Not everyone was upset about the prices, including Ken, an autoworker in Detroit who declined to give his last name. He acknowledged the hit people are taking, but said he trusts the president’s judgment.

“It’s been proven that Iran massacred thousands of their citizens, so I back Trump even though I didn’t vote for him – Iran needs to get the fuck on,” Ken said.

The financial pinch is minimal for him so far, he said, because he makes enough to cover the costs. And, he added, “every little thing that happens makes our prices go up. This is just one more thing that happens, so I’m not overacting.

“Now if it goes up to $10 per gallon – then we might have a problem,” he added.