On this "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" broadcast, moderated by Margaret Brennan:
- Energy Secretary Chris Wright
- Anthony Salvanto, CBS News executive director of news and surveys
- Sen. Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona
- Zach Lahn, Iowa GOP nominee for governor
- Brett McGurk, who served as a top Middle East adviser to former President Joe Biden
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to browse full transcripts from 2026 of "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.
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who → moderate → Brennan
And this week on Face the Nation: One month away from midterms, and the pressure on the president to do something about high prices is building.
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pressure → build → prices
With control of the House and Senate at stake, President Trump has been on a red state road trip to get Republicans to the polls.
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Trump → get → polls
He now concedes that his party might have a messaging problem when it comes to the economy.
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it → concede → economy
(Begin VT)
DONALD TRUMP (President of the United States): We're doing a phenomenal job, but maybe we're doing a bad job in selling it.
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we → begin → it
And our new CBS poll has troubling news for the president's party, with nine in 10 voters saying they rate the economy on the basis of prices.
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they → have → prices
Seven in 10 say that Trump's policies are making food and grocery prices go up.
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prices → say → 10
say the conflict with Iran is making U.S. gas and oil prices either a lot or a little higher.
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prices → say → Iran
With early voting now under way, is it too late for Trump to turn things around?
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Trump → turn → things
We will talk with Energy Secretary Chris Wright about new efforts to get gas prices down.
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prices → talk → efforts
Plus, we will ask Zach Lahn, the Republican running for governor in Iowa, and Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly what they're finding out on the campaign trail.
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they → ask → trail
All that and more is just ahead on Face the Nation.
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that → face → Nation
We begin with one of the Trump administration officials tasked with working to lower those high gas and oil prices, Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
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We → begin → prices
So, it's good to have you here.
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it → have → you
You said this past week that Americans can expect lower gasoline prices and diesel prices by Election Day.
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Americans → say → Day
The Wall Street Journal editorial board has a piece outlining that the campaign to squeeze Iran financially is working, but they can still knock out significant Gulf energy infrastructure.
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they → have → infrastructure
They could be planning an October surprise before the U.S. midterms.
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They → plan → midterms
We are still seeing Iranian attacks on ships now.
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We → see → ships
I mean, how can you be so confident prices are headed down?
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prices → mean → ?
Well, because we've got increasing supplies coming out of the Strait of Hormuz, and they've continued to rise over the last months, over the last recent weeks.
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they → get → weeks
We've got U.S. gasoline production today at record high.
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production → get → record
We have demand for gasoline as we come out of the summer driving season starting to go down.
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we → have → season
Diesel's mostly been impacted by the Russia- Ukraine war and also by China's decision not to export diesel or gasoline into the marketplace.
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Diesel → impact → marketplace
And, of course, we're living with two refineries that were recently closed, large refineries in California that Gavin Newsom forced the closure of, and, frankly, 15 years of Democrat policies that have been energy subtraction, trying to close coal plants, close refineries, and shrink our capacity, which means, when you get in crisis, we're just less resilient than we should be.
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we → live → crisis
But you still think that, in the next four weeks, prices are going to go down?
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prices → think → weeks
Diesel prices have been going down.
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prices → go → ?
Gasoline prices have been going down.
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prices → go → ?
I expect that to continue.
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that → expect → ?
I want to talk about diesel in a minute, but I – I was reading that the U.S. was sending more defensive equipment to the Gulf countries to protect their oil infrastructure.
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U.S. → want → infrastructure
I see there was a gathering of national security advisers at Camp David on Friday to talk about Iran and the conflict in Yemen.
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I → see → Yemen
Can you share any outcome from that?
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you → share → that
I mean, is – is the U.S. about to escalate?
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U.S. → mean → ?
We did just see a third carrier strike group get sent to the region.
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group → see → region
Look, the president has – has taken a strong stand that Iran, the world's greatest terrorist regime – regime, cannot and will not have nuclear weapons.
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Iran → look → weapons
So, of course, we're looking at every avenue to achieve that goal, economically, to be prepared for what comes militarily.
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what → look → goal
But we cannot pass to the next administration an Iran armed with nuclear weapons.
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we → pass → weapons
Right, but he's also said that they're not seeking a nuclear weapon.
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they → say → weapon
He said that just the other day that they might have actually already stopped.
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they → say → ?
But in the immediate sense of threats to our neighbors who have refinery and production capacity, how do you guarantee that there is no October surprise that sends those prices going the opposite direction?
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prices → have → capacity
But everything we're doing is to grow the supply of diesel, to grow the supply of gasoline, and, frankly, again, to reverse years of policies that have been directed exactly the opposite, to shrink our ability to produce, refine, and deliver hydrocarbons.
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that → do → hydrocarbons
…and 400 more, not listed.
The Aporia
