The Latest: US pump prices remained above $4 a gallon throughout August for first time, AAA says

Venezuelans are expressing outrage and the oil industry is waiting for details on President Donald Trump’s announcement that Venezuela ’s acting president has agreed to give an unnamed U.S. company control of vast amounts of the South American country’s untapped oil reserves, at cost. Trump called it “THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!” but critics say U.S.

consumers won’t benefit for many years. Global crude prices are rising again after renewed warfare between the United States and Iran, the first significant military action in a month. The global energy supply shock has for the first time kept average prices Americans pay at the pump above $4 throughout August, according to the AAA.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told The Associated Press ahead of the Group of 20 finance ministers meeting he’s hosting in Asheville, N.C., on Monday and Tuesday that the Trump administration is prepared to exact “financial violence if we have to” as it pressures allies to join in “economic D-Day” sanctions on Iran. Here’s the Latest: Trump pushes back against opposition to data centers The president posted on social media that U.S. communities that don’t have data centers will “end up being backwards and poor.” “If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame,” Trump told the public.

“China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement.” There has been a backlash across the country to the construction of data centers needed to further develop artificial intelligence. The public has expressed concerns about their use of electricity and water, and their secretive development by tech companies. Many Americans are also worried that AI could increase economic disparities and cause widespread job losses.

Data center advocates stress that the local taxes these facilities pay can help fund public schools, reducing the financial burden on homeowners. US treasury secretary tries to rally global finance ministers to back Trump’s economic squeeze on Iran As Scott Bessent hosts meetings of the Group of 20 finance ministers in Asheville, North Carolina, on Monday and Tuesday, he aims to focus on relatively uncontroversial issues, from economic growth to addressing mounting debt, along with pressuring allies to join in “economic D-Day” sanctions on Iran. Bessent told The Associated Press on Sunday that the Trump administration is prepared to exact…

consumers won’t benefit for many years.Global crude prices are rising again after renewed warfare between the United States and Iran, the first significant military action in a month.