Diesel hit a record six dollars a gallon the week Trump admitted oil prices would not come down before the midterms.
Democrats think they can go on the offensive on the cost of living.
But John Kennedy had a message for the White House to turn the tide in the midterms.
Kennedy Tells Trump Iran War Gas Prices Demand a Nationwide Address
The Louisiana Republican sat down with CBS's Face the Nation and did not waste anyone's time.
Kennedy called Iran's latest proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz exactly what it is: "not a serious offer."
"The president's not Bambi's baby brother," Kennedy said. Trump rejected Iran's terms, and Kennedy backed the call.
Kennedy has been pushing the same recommendation since July – and the White House has still not acted on it.
"I would like to see him give a nationwide address or let Rubio and General Caine do it and explain why we went into Iran, why we're winning, and how we're going to get out," Kennedy told host Margaret Brennan.
"The president doesn't take orders from me, he barely takes suggestions," Kennedy said. He described himself as "pretty persistent" all the same – and said the recommendation stands.
American families who "lie down to sleep at night and can't" are worried about one thing: "the cost of living."
The Iran war is part of why that cost keeps climbing.
Seven months ago, the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran.
Since then, the Strait of Hormuz – the narrow waterway that normally handles roughly 20 percent of the world's daily oil flow – has been partially blocked.
The International Energy Agency called it the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.
AAA tracked diesel at $3.69 a gallon when 2025 started. The national average has since hit a record $6.20.
Diesel is the fuel the American economy runs on.
Those costs roll straight into grocery bills, home prices, and the package on the doorstep.
"The strait is at least partially closed, and it's affected the price of oil. And oil's in everything, including gasoline, and it's painful as hell," Kennedy said.
His prescription: settle or escalate.
"We've got to either figure out a way to settle this thing, to get the strait open, or to escalate," Kennedy said.
He ruled out ground troops but took nothing else off the table.
Kennedy's read on November was equally direct: "The experts will be wrong. They almost always are. None of these guys have ever run a campaign in their natural lives."
He predicted the midterms will be "close" and said Trump's best path between now and Election Day runs straight through kitchen-table costs.
The war is seven months old and the pump price is not going down significantly before November.
The question is whether Republicans play defense until Election Day or go on offense with four years of economic damage Democrats left behind.
https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/2104227691918491855
Kennedy Pushed Senate Leadership on Cost of Living for Months While Washington Debated College Sports Rules
The Iran war is only part of Kennedy's frustration. The other part is his own party's failure to prosecute the case.
Democrats drove prices up more than 20 percent over four years. Republicans won in November 2024 on a promise to bring them back down.
Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill on Independence Day 2025 – a sweeping tax and spending overhaul that made a start. Kennedy's argument is that it should not have been the last move.
He has pushed Senate Majority Leader John Thune to go back to budget reconciliation – this time targeting the regulations that add roughly $2 trillion in costs to American goods.
"I have been preaching as persuasively as I can for months now that we need to do another reconciliation," Kennedy told Fox News. Thune has not moved.
"I have been chasing my friend, Senator Thune, like he stole Thanksgiving, since we passed the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' to do more on cost of living because we haven't done a damn thing," Kennedy told reporters. "And it's biting us in the a** right now."
On NBC's Meet the Press earlier this month, Kennedy said Senate Republican leaders had "dropped the ball" on inflation five months ago.
Thune responded by waving off most proposals, arguing they would not move gas prices while the Strait remains blocked. The Senate pressed ahead with the college sports bill instead.
Americans, Kennedy said, are "not worried about whether the football coaches are happy… they're worried about cost of living."
Democrats drove up the price of everything in America and handed Republicans a four-year record to run against. Republicans have the receipts.
Republicans have about a month to make their close argument for the midterms.
Kennedy's closing pitch is already written: explain the war and make Democrats own their inflation record. Kennedy has been running that play for months. It is time his party ran it with him.
Sources:
- Kaia Hubbard, "Sen. Kennedy Urges Trump to Focus on Affordability, Address Nation on Iran Ahead of Midterm Elections," CBS News, September 27, 2026.
- "Diesel Tops $6, Fuel Shock Threatens Truckers, Farmers, Consumers," Fox Business, September 13, 2026.
- "4 GOP Senators Rebel Against Trump on Iran War, Vote With Dems to Rein in Authority," Fox News, September 24, 2026.
- "Kennedy Urges GOP to Restart Spending Battle Amid Soaring Cost of Living, Warns Against Wasting Majority," Fox News, 2026.