April 23, 2026 - Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Wednesday sought to play down his earlier forecast that gasoline prices may not dip below $3 a gallon until 2027, which drew a sharp rebuke from his boss, President Donald Trump.

“I never said gas prices wouldn’t go down until next year,” Wright told a Senate Appropriations panel. “Never, never said such a thing.”

Wright told CNN over the weekend that sub-$3 gas “might not happen until next year,” even as he projected that the surge in pump prices driven by the U.S. and Israeli war in Iran had peaked.

The president refuted Wright’s timeline in an interview with The Hill on Monday, calling it “totally wrong.”

Pressed on the comments by Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) on Wednesday, Wright said he had “left some uncertainty” on the timeline.

“There was a thing on the news that I said they might not be below $3 a gallon — I didn’t know when,” Wright said. “I left some uncertainty in there. But I should also share your desire for lower gasoline prices. I’m with you.”

Wright similarly sought to walk back the comments in a separate hearing Wednesday. “I don’t know the future of energy prices,” he told the Senate Energy Committee, pointing out that pump prices are still lower than they were during the Biden administration.