Governor Gavin Newsom took to X on Tuesday to pin California's soaring gas prices on the White House, claiming that "Americans will pay $1.5 BILLION MORE at the gas pump just this week because of Donald Trump's war with Iran."

As reported by Fox News, the deflection drew swift and pointed pushback from critics who noted an inconvenient fact: Californians are paying $5.33 per gallon while the national average sits at $3.57.

That gap didn't materialize because of Iran. It's been there for years.

Steve Hilton, a Republican candidate for California governor, framed the math plainly:

"He's blaming these insane gas prices in California, $5.49, $5.69, heading to $6, on the war in Iran. It's not the war in Iran, because in the rest of the country, they don't have $5.49, they have $3 gas."

The numbers from AAA confirm California stands alone. The next closest state, Washington, averages $4.72. Hawaii comes in at $4.69. Nobody else is even in the neighborhood.

The $1.76 question Newsom won't answer

If Trump's foreign policy were the primary driver of gas prices, every state would be bleeding at the pump. A Newsom spokesperson insisted that "prices are up an average of 60 cents nationwide, not just in California." Fine. That accounts for 60 cents. It does not account for the remaining $1.76 separating California from the national average.

California levies the highest gas tax in the country at roughly 70 cents per gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Stack on top of that the state's boutique fuel blend requirements, its cap-and-trade program, and a regulatory environment that has systematically driven refiners toward the exit, and the picture becomes clear. Hilton called it the "direct result of 15 years of one-party Democratic rule."

Roxanne Hoge, chair of the Los Angeles County GOP, described Newsom's deflection as something sharper:

"A textbook case of projection, pointing fingers at others while his own record is riddled with mismanagement and failure."

Hoge added that Newsom "has driven supply down by banishing producers while not fixing infrastructure with gas tax money as promised." That charge cuts to the core of the scam. Californians pay more in gas taxes than any state in the union. Where is the infrastructure?

Sacramento's plan to make it worse

While Newsom blames Washington, his own California Air Resources Board is proposing to pull 118.3 million allowances out of the state's carbon market between 2027 and 2030. The board has also increased its carbon reduction target to 90% by 2045. These are not the actions of a government concerned about energy costs.

Chevron President Andy Walz laid out what this means in a letter to Newsom and state regulators, obtained by The California Globe:

"The proposed regulation will cripple the survivability of the state's remaining refineries, which will result in California losing the entire industry to this misguided program."

Walz warned the proposed "cap-and-invest" amendments would:

• Increase transportation and aviation fuel prices for consumers
• Risk significant job losses, including many high-paying union jobs
• Reduce funding for essential public services
• Upend California's fuels market and threaten critical energy and national security assets

Chevron characterized the broader regulatory push as a state-run "shakedown." The company warned the proposed move could kill more than half a million jobs and spike gas prices by more than a dollar per gallon. On top of what Californians already pay.

So to recap: the governor who presides over $5.33 gas is backing a regulatory regime that his state's largest refiner says will add another dollar. And his public messaging strategy is to blame the president.

The national security dimension

Tim Stewart, spokesperson for the U.S. Oil & Gas Association, argued that California's dysfunction is no longer a California-only problem:

"California's energy malaise is beginning to infect the other western states' economies and unless there is a course change immediately, we will all feel the pain of decades of horribly bad California energy policy led by Governor Newsom."

Stewart called the state's mismanagement of energy production and distribution "a national security issue," noting its cascading effects on "agriculture, manufacturing, housing, the financial system." When California closes refineries, the supply shock ripples outward. Western states that depend on California's refining capacity pay the price for Sacramento's climate ambitions whether they voted for them or not.

Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum posted on X Wednesday that California "continues to close refineries & drive up gas prices" and noted his department has approved over 6,000 drilling permits to advance the "American Energy Dominance Agenda & lower gas prices nationwide." His assessment of the state's trajectory was blunt: "California is KILLING their economy!"

The real audience

Newsom's spokesperson responded to the criticism with a revealing line: "We don't know who Steve Hilton is." This from the office of a governor who is widely considered a top contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination and is currently on a national book tour. Hilton is running for Newsom's job. They know who he is.

The spokesperson continued that "if they're serious about protecting consumers, they should direct that concern where it belongs: at Donald Trump." The governor's office also claimed "there's no end in sight to Trump's war taxing American families at the pump."

This language tells you everything about who Newsom is talking to. It's not Californians filling up at $5.33. It's a national Democratic primary electorate that rewards performative combat with the White House. Every press release, every X post, every refusal to engage with the actual causes of California's energy crisis is a campaign ad dressed up as governance.

Hoge saw it clearly: "We all know that Gavin Newsom has moved on to campaigning for president in spite of his atrocious record at home."

Hilton called on Newsom to come home from his book tour and "suspend the gas tax." That would provide immediate relief. It would also require Newsom to admit that state policy, not foreign policy, is the primary culprit. Don't hold your breath.

The public isn't buying it

Stewart offered what may be the sharpest assessment of Newsom's strategy:

"It doesn't have to be this way, and Governor Newsom knows it. He also knows that no matter how hard he tries, he can't pin this on Trump or our industry. The public isn't buying it anymore."

The numbers make the argument themselves. A $1.76 gap between California and the rest of the country didn't appear because of geopolitics. It was built, regulation by regulation, tax by tax, refinery closure by refinery closure, by a state government that treats affordable energy as an obstacle to its climate agenda. Newsom can point at Washington all he wants. Californians know which capital is bleeding them dry.