President Donald Trump was widely mocked for making a nonsensical comparison between gas prices in Iowa versus California during a ceremony at the White House in which he was given an award for being the "undisputed champion of beautiful clean coal."
Trump's recognition reportedly came from the Washington Coal Club, a pro-coal advocacy organization with financial links to the sector. The award was presented by James Grech, chief executive of Peabody Energy, the nation’s largest coal producer. The bronze trophy depicts a miner equipped with a headlamp and pickaxe.
The ceremony coincided with Trump signing an executive order instructing the Department of Defense to enter long-term power agreements with coal plants supplying military bases and other facilities deemed essential to national security.
He also announced that the Department of Energy would distribute $175 million to six initiatives aimed at upgrading and prolonging the operation of coal plants serving rural or remote communities in West Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina, and Kentucky.
But of course a White House ceremony wouldn't be a White House ceremony without Trump taking the stage to ramble incoherently and pontificate about things he knows nothing about—such as the moment he took a swipe at California over gas prices from a year and a half ago.
He said:
"You see what's happening with gasoline. I was in Iowa last week. Gas was $1.85 a gallon and many of them are $1.99 and $1.91. I saw we have them just under $2 now."
"I saw a little while ago, just a year and a half ago, they were at $3.50, $4, $4.50 in California. $7. Those are some crazy taxes."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
It made no sense to see Trump treat regional price differences and temporary price spikes as proof of a single policy effect when in reality gas prices vary widely by location and market conditions.
But of course he did, though—and he's flat out wrong about what prices look like at the moment.
Gas prices in California climbed for a second straight week, reaching an average of $4.31 per gallon for regular fuel last Monday, up from $4.18 the week before, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The statewide average has increased roughly 34 cents over the past month. Over the last year, prices have fluctuated between a low of $3.98 on Jan. 19, 2026, and a high of $4.73 on April 7, 2025. By comparison, the average price a year ago was slightly higher, at $4.39 per gallon.
People were quick to mock him in response.
Much as it did during Trump's first round in office, the Trump administration has generated controversy for making plans to order grid operators to buy electricity from struggling coal and nuclear plants in a bid to extend their life, marking an unprecedented federal intervention into energy markets.
These plans drew significant criticism from researchers and policymakers alike whose findings conclude that the coal industry is largely obsolete. Nonetheless, Trump has previously come under fire for stacking his administration with coal energy veterans and other members of the fossil fuel lobby.
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