Americans paying way more for gas this holiday weekend, thanks to Trump

Trump’s reckless decision to tear up the Iran nuclear deal, and to hit that country with new sanctions, means America motorists will suffer a ballooning tax this year in the form of rapidly rising gas prices.

In fact, as nearly 40 million Americans prepare to hit the road this holiday weekend, they’ll be facing the highest Memorial Day gas prices in four years, according to the American Automobile Association.

“These higher oil prices are translating directly to soaring gas prices, something we know disproportionately hurts middle- and lower-income people,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) stressed on Wednesday. “Whatever meager benefit working families might have seen from Trump’s tax scam for the rich is being wiped out by the gas prices that President Trump is responsible for.”

The direct connection between a sudden White House initiative and a clear jump in gas prices between Trump’s decision on May 8 to withdraw from the Iran deal secured by President Obama and the financial hit to consumers is stark.

And it also unfortunately comes as no surprise. Indeed, the sky-high prices were predicted in advance of Trump’s move.

As one senior petroleum analyst told Vox earlier this month, “Gas prices nationally would rise to over $3 a gallon if Trump places wide-ranging sanctions on Iran.”

That’s because as many as one million barrels of crude oil come from Iran to the United States every day, and killing the deal would likely cut off that supply of goods.

Iran produced nearly four million barrels of oil per day in April, according to the latest S&P Global Platts OPEC survey. That was up from three million barrels per day in January 2016, when the nuclear deal took effect.

Trump’s spiteful move to cancel Obama’s pact with Iran came at a time when oil prices were already on the rise due to production cuts by OPEC and Russia, as well as instability inside Venezuela.

Prices are up 60 cents in just the last year, according to AAA.

And this weekend, as millions take to the roads, one in four U.S. gas stations will be charging $3 or more per gallon at the pump.

Thanks, Trump.