Oil Prices Fall Toward $59 as Trump Pushes $2 Gas Goal

The statement is well-supported by the provided primary sources. It makes two key claims: 1) Donald Trump publicly stated a goal of $2/gallon gasoline, and 2) this occurred as oil prices were falling toward $59/barrel. First, the transcript of the '60 Minutes' interview, which aired on October 14, 2018, directly confirms that then-President Trump made the statement. He said, "if you look at the gasoline, it's coming down. I think we'll have $2 gasoline very soon."Second, the authoritative data from the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) confirms the oil price trend. At the time of the interview in mid-October 2018, WTI crude oil prices were trading in the low $70s per barrel, having just peaked above $76 earlier in the month. Immediately following this period, prices began a sharp and sustained decline. The daily and monthly charts show that oil prices were indeed at the very beginning of a fall that would see them cross below $59 per barrel by mid-November 2018 and continue to fall further. Therefore, the two events described in the statement occurred concurrently. Trump made his public statement at the start of a major downward trend in oil prices, a trend that was clearly "falling toward $59 per barrel." The evidence from the sources is consistent and directly supports both components of the statement.