(AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Before the ongoing conflict with Iran, Donald Trump bragged about bringing down gas prices. But Thursday, the president turned that brag on its head.

“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 posted to Truth Social.

Trump then positioned himself as a strong arm against evil.

“BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stoping [sic] an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World. I won’t ever let that happen!” Trump wrote.

AAA reported this week that the current average national gas price was $3.60, up more than 60-cents in a month. On Monday, oil prices topped $100 a barrel before fluctuating the rest of the week.

Thursday morning, Trump’s Secretary of Energy Chris Wright would not rule out oil hitting $200 a barrel as the war intensifies.

CNN anchor Kate Bolduan asked Wright how much more pain at the pump Americans will have to endure.

“Gas prices are going up, jet fuel prices are jumping, and CEOs are saying that ticket prices are also going to go up. Iran just said that the world should be ready for oil at $200 a barrel. You don’t agree with Iran on anything, but do you agree the people need to be prepared for that?” Bolduan asked.

“We’re going through short-term energy disruption for just huge long-term gain. You’re seeing Iran’s behavior. They’re attacking every country in the region,” Wright responded.

Also Thursday, a statement purportedly from Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei claimed the Strait of Hormuz, “a key shipping route for a fifth of the world’s oil supply, should remain closed,” NPR reported.

The statement comes a day after Trump claimed at a rally in Kentucky that the war was all but over.

“Doesn’t mean we’re going to end it immediately, but they are– they’ve got no Navy, they’ve got no air force, they’ve got no anti-air traffic anything,” Trump told reporters. “They have no systems of control. We’re just riding free-range over that country.”

“And now we’re gonna look very strongly at the straits. The straits are in great shape. We’ve knocked out all of their boats. They have some missiles, but not very many. I think we’re in very good – we’re in very good shape,” Trump said.

The post Trump Brags About High Oil Prices as Americans Balk at the Pump: ‘When Oil Prices Go Up, We Make a Lot of Money’ first appeared on Mediaite.