Maggie Hassan

Hassan said families were already struggling financially with the costs of groceries, housing, health insurance, and more, then President Trump chose to launch a military campaign without consulting Congress or fleshing out a plan to deal with the fallout, including “this predictable spike in gas prices.”

Hassan, as the top Democrat on the Senate Joint Economic Committee, released a breakdown that shows fuel prices have increased 35 percent since Feb. 28. That translates to motorists spending an additional $13.46 each time they fill up the tank of their sedan (more for larger vehicles). That amounts to an estimated increase of $38.3 million in gas spending in New Hampshire, nearly $8.4 billion nationwide, according to the analysis.

Trump contends the war is going swimmingly, and the economic disruption caused by Iran essentially halting oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz will pass.

“Many Americans have been concerned to see the recent rise in gasoline prices here at home,” he said during a televised address Wednesday night. “This short-term increase has been entirely the result of the Iranian regime launching deranged terror attacks against commercial oil tankers and neighboring countries that have nothing to do with the conflict. This is yet more proof that Iran can never be trusted with nuclear weapons.”

Trump said the strait “will open up naturally” and gas prices “will rapidly come back down.” But he also urged other countries to intervene and take control of the key waterway, saying Iran has been decimated both militarily and economically. “The hard part is done, so it should be easy,” he said.

Hassan, however, said the Trump administration has taken a go-it-alone approach that’s causing financial pain domestically.

“For a war to be successful, you have to make sure you have the support of the American people, and you have to make sure that you have strong alliances, so that when faced with something like the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, you have a strategy and a plan for keeping it open, or for addressing the impacts of the closure of the strait,” she said. “The administration did none of that.”

To help alleviate pain at the pump, Hassan said she would support suspending the federal gas tax (which costs 18.4 cents per gallon of gasoline), an idea lawmakers are considering.

While polling shows most New Englanders oppose the war in Iran and Republicans may be losing ground politically in New Hampshire as a result, there are also some signs that business is continuing as usual for some.

Art Elmers pulled up to the Mobil station in a Jeep Grand Cherokee after Hassan left. He spent $83 to fill up the tank, but noted his company will foot the bill, as he came to New Hampshire from his home state of New Jersey for business.

“It is discouraging,” he said of the elevated prices. “But I think it is short-term. I really do. I think once the issues in the Middle East flatten out, finish off, we’re going to see the prices come back down.”

Elmers said he believes Iran posed a real threat, so he tends to support how the situation is being handled. That said, he’s eager for an off-ramp.

“If I saw this two months from now, then I’d start to be a little more worried,” he said.

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