By Bo Erickson
HEBRON, Kentucky, March 11 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump sought to reassure Americans during a trip to Kentucky and Ohio on Wednesday that rising gasoline prices linked to the Iran war were temporary, as fellow Republicans worried that the increases are stoking voter anxiety about the economy.
Trump's campaign trip was his first since the start of the U.S.-Israeli military operation in Iran on February 28. It offered him a chance to sharpen his economic message and tout his record ahead of November's midterm elections, when his fellow Republicans will be defending narrow majorities in both chambers of the U.S. Congress.
On his first stop, at a plant in Cincinnati, Ohio, Trump's initial remarks focused on the Iran war.
Gasoline prices are up 61 cents from last month on average in both Kentucky and nationwide, according to travel organization AAA.
"Oil will be coming down," Trump said on Wednesday. "It's going to come down more than we, than anybody understands."
Trump told Cincinnati's Local 12 TV channel that the U.S. would reduce the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve "a little bit." His predecessor, former President Joe Biden, also released oil from the SPR to limit price rises during the early months of Russia's war in Ukraine.
Trump's remarks on the economy in Hebron in northern Kentucky were the latest in a series of speeches Trump has delivered around the country to sell the American public on his economic policies.
Trump touted his efforts to lower drug prices, one of the key selling points for Republicans in the elections, as well as cuts to income taxes on tips and overtime for many Americans as part of the "One Big Beautiful Bill" passed by Congress last year.
CAMPAIGN AGAINST KENTUCKY REPUBLICAN MASSIE
Hebron is part of the district represented by Republican U.S. Representative Thomas Massie, a Trump critic who often breaks with his party.
Massie led the high-profile push for more transparency from Trump's Justice Department in its handling of files connected to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump has endorsed Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL officer and farmer, to face off against Massie in the party's primary on May 19.
"Thomas Massie is a disaster for our party," Trump told the Kentucky crowd. "He's got to be voted out of office as soon as possible."
In an interview with Reuters, Massie remained optimistic about his prospects despite criticism from Trump.
"The political reality of Wednesday is that more people are going to know that President Trump has endorsed against me,” he said. “The good news is our polling shows that even if, in the impossible case 100% knew that on (the) May 19 primary, I would still win."
(Writing by Bo Erickson and Costas Pitas; additional reporting by Steve Holland and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Ross Colvin, Will Dunham, Howard Goller and David Gregorio)
