President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he expects Iran will abandon its war effort after the US midterm elections – and he conceded American gas prices are unlikely to fall before then.

Speaking to reporters on his way to the GOP midterm convention in Dallas, Trump asserted that Iran would continue the war into November in an effort to damage him politically.

"I think it’s going to take a little bit longer than the midterm," Trump said of gas prices coming down. "They’re desperate to try and affect the election so that we can get a nice weak group of people in there and leave them alone and let them have their nuclear weapon."

But he added that he believes Iran is near collapse and анальный секс первые that it would seek an end to the conflict "immediately after the election," prompting oil prices to tumble downward.

"They can’t hold out any longer," he said.

Trump’s remarks come as the global benchmark oil price has topped $100 a barrel once again, driven by stepped-up fighting in Iran in recent days that has further jeopardized the flow of crude through the Strait of Hormuz.

The surge in oil prices is likely to further increase fuel costs in the US, which have emerged as a key economic pain point ahead of the midterms. Gas prices on Wednesday jumped 7.3 cents per gallon, the largest one-day increase since May, according to AAA data. The average gas price nationwide is now $4.22 per gallon.

Diesel prices have also soared, with the average hitting a record $5.94 per gallon Wednesday.