Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) isn't letting up on President Donald Trump or Energy Secretary Chris Wright. On Wednesday, his press office fired off another round of criticism as elevated energy costs continue squeezing ordinary Americans amid the Iran war.

Newsom Hits Back Over 'Iran War Blend'

Taking to X on Wednesday, Newsom's official Press Office quoted a post by Wright, pointing to the "Iran war blend" of gasoline in the U.S. with an AI-generated image of Trump changing prices at a Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) gas station.

"Trump's Chief Oil Shill Chris Wright sure spends a lot of time scapegoating California for Trump's Iran war gas price spike," the Press Office said in its post.

Trump's Chief Oil Shill Chris Wright sure spends a lot of time scapegoating California for Trump's Iran war gas price spike. https://t.co/qXerrz8ozG pic.twitter.com/X5a2FVYhOv

— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) September 16, 2026

Wright had criticized Newsom following the latter's criticism of Trump, blaming Sacramento for heightened fuel costs in California and saying that the state's imports of Iraq-sourced oil were a cause for national security concerns.

In a separate post, the Press Office handle quoted a post by user Rachel Coyle, which pointed to high fuel costs in Ohio. "Can't wait for Trump's Energy Secretary to blame Governor Newsom for this!" the post said.

Can't wait for Trump's Energy Secretary to blame Governor Newsom for this! https://t.co/OVSYJXQeeT

— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) September 16, 2026

The Press Office then shared a screen capture of a Wall Street Journal article published on Tuesday that shared how ordinary Americans had paid $100 billion in excess fuel costs since the war with Iran kicked off in February 2026. "MAGA out here blaming the Governor for Trump's Iran War — Newsom Derangement Syndrome on full display," the post said.

MAGA out here blaming the Governor for Trump's Iran War — Newsom Derangement Syndrome on full display https://t.co/H010lZpN73 pic.twitter.com/7ZeVGCQGUb

— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) September 17, 2026

Oil, Gas Prices

Amid the Iran war, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures contracts ending in October slipped 1.25% to $101.15 at the time of writing this article. Brent crude futures contracts ending in November also slipped 1.67% to $104.06 at press time.

On the gas front, the national average price of gas on Wednesday was at $4.3672 per gallon, while diesel crossed the $6.3 mark to $6.3103 per gallon. In California, gas commanded an average price of $6.0440 a gallon, while diesel, on average, was sold for $8.2668 per gallon. The prices were sourced from data collected by the American Automobile Association (AAA).

The United States Oil Fund (NYSE:USO) slipped 1.15% to $154.37 during overnight trading on Wednesday. On the other hand, ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil (NYSE:UCO) ETF rose 0.13% to $52.36 during overnight trading.

Peter Navarro Slams Kevin Warsh

Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro slammed Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, saying that the Fed's decision to hike the interest rate range by 25 basis points would hurt the U.S. economy, adding that the Iran-war-induced energy costs were already acting like a Fed rate hike.