President Donald Trump on Friday said that Americans would continue to grapple with high gas prices in the U.S. amid the ongoing war with Iran. Still, GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan said consumers were paying billions in excess costs weekly.

Trump Says Consumers Paying 'Tiny' Bit More at the Pump

Addressing a crowd in Garden City, New York, Trump defended higher gasoline prices in the U.S. as tensions escalate with Iran. High gas costs were because the U.S. was pursuing denuclearization of Iran, which he said was the "number one state sponsor of terror in the world." He then added that $4 gas was "okay" and said that he would "never apologize" as he "did the right thing."

Quoting a post by user @acyn, which featured a clip of Trump defending the gas prices, De Haan said on Saturday that Americans would pay "$338 million more on gasoline than they did one year ago," adding that it added up to "$2.35 billion more every week."

According to the American Automobile Association (AAA) data, the national average price of gas remained above $4 on Sunday at $4.0656/gallon. However, the price demonstrated a slight decline from Saturday's $4.0704/gallon national average.

On the oil front, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 0.16% to $82.27/bbl at the time of writing this article, but the Brent crude recorded a 0.21% uptick to $88.71/bbl at press time. The United States Oil Fund (USO) ETF, on the other hand, declined 0.04% to $126.55 during overnight trading.

De Haan had earlier warned of rising prices at the pump, saying that the national average price had never been more than $4/gallon after August 12 in U.S. history.

Iran War

Trump earlier touted a good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, directing Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to reduce the military exercises the U.S. conducts with South Korea. He also said that the President of South Korea had refused to participate in the ongoing war with Iran.

Meanwhile, the administration has been facing sharp criticism after reports emerged of the deteriorating conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, with Democrats raising concerns about sailors' mental health, food supplies and safety aboard the aircraft carrier, which has spent more than 260 days deployed, including months in the Middle East.