Trump once bragged about low gas prices. The Iran conflict has him doing an about-face

Since starting a war with Iran caused oil and gasoline prices to spike, President Donald Trump has pivoted from a focus on keeping energy prices low to painting high oil prices as a positive. The about-face comes as Trump's team has struggled to offer a clear plan for opening up the critical Strait of Hormuz so that tankers full of oil and natural gas are no longer stranded. “The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” Trump said Thursday on his social media site.