“The oil was at $1.85 a gallon for cars.”

Remarks on night one of the Republican midterm convention, Dallas

He was describing Iowa in the weeks before he attacked Iran, and no reported average for regular gasoline there came near $1.85. Iowa's average was $2.65 when he visited Clive in January 2026, $2.36 for the year to that point, and $2.59 three days before the United States and Israel attacked Iran. The state's lowest average of 2026 was $2.31, on January 5.

There is a price that matches, and it is the claim's best defence. E85, the ethanol blend, averaged $1.88 in Iowa in January 2026 and $1.92 statewide on the day one Iowa station reported it in February. He did not say E85. He also described a figure he saw or was told rather than a state average: in January he said he had been told gas hit $1.85, and in Dallas he said he saw it. On any reading the number he gave was roughly 70 cents below the cheapest regular-gasoline average Iowa recorded that year.