Trump calls for suspension of federal gas tax as Americans seek relief at the pump: ‘I think it’s a great idea’

WASHINGTON — President Trump called Monday for the temporary suspension of the federal gas tax to give Americans relief at the pump amid surging oil prices caused by the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Trump told CBS News during a brief phone interview. “Yup, we’re going to take off the gas tax for a period of time, and when gas goes down, we’ll let it phase back in.”

Gasoline has been taxed at 18.4 cents per gallon since the 1990s to generate up to $40 billion in annual revenue for the Highway Trust Fund, which provides support for road maintenance and construction, among other projects.

The average price of a gallon of regular gas was $4.52 as of Monday, according to data from AAA, up nearly 40 cents from this time last month.

Temporarily suspending the federal gas tax will likely require congressional approval. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced on social media that he would introduce legislation to that effect when Congress reconvenes later today.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright expressed openness to the proposal over the weekend.

“We’re open to all ideas, everything has tradeoffs,” Wright told NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday. “All ideas to lower prices for American consumers and American businesses.”

When the war in Iran broke out, the US partnered with allies to release some 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to stabilize markets.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration began “Project Freedom” to militarily escort private vessels through the strait. But that plan was quickly put on pause due to supposed progress in talks with Iran, as well as protests from US partners in the region — most notably Saudi Arabia.

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Graphs @ the link.

The United States federal excise tax on gasoline is 18.4 cents per gallon and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel fuel.[1][2] Proceeds from the tax partly support the Highway Trust Fund. The federal tax was last raised on October 1, 1993, and is not indexed to inflation, which increased 122% from October 1993 until November 2025. On average, as of April 2019, state and local taxes and fees add 34.24 cents to gasoline and 35.89 cents to diesel, for a total US volume-weighted average fuel tax of 52.64 cents per gallon for gas and 60.29 cents per gallon for diesel.[3]

State taxes

The first US state to tax fuel was Oregon, introduced on February 25, 1919.[4] It was a 1¢/gal tax.[5] In the following decade, all of the US states (48 at the time), along with the District of Columbia, introduced a gasoline tax. By 1939, many states levied an average fuel tax of 3.8¢/gal (1¢/L).

In the years since being created, state fuel taxes have undergone many revisions.[6] While most fuel taxes were initially levied as a fixed number of cents per gallon, as of 2016, nineteen states and District of Columbia have fuel taxes with rates that vary alongside changes in the price of fuel, the inflation rate, vehicle fuel-economy, or other factors.[7]

The table below includes state and local taxes and fees. The American Petroleum Institute uses a weighted average of local taxes by municipality population to create an average tax for the entire state. Similarly, the national average is weighted by the fuel volume sold in each state. Because many states with the highest taxes also have higher populations, more states (i.e., the less populated ones) have below-average taxes than above-average taxes.

Most states exempt gasoline from general sales taxes. However, several states collect full or partial sales tax in addition to the excise tax. Sales tax is not reflected in the rates below.

Taxes on gasoline and diesel for transportation by US state in US cents per gallon as of July 2025[8]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_taxes_in_the_United_States

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