YORKTOWN, NY — On a day of historic gas price increases and rising inflation, President Donald Trump’s Treasury secretary visited a New York diner to promote the administration’s tax policies — and dismissed surging costs as a temporary bump.
Scott Bessent, head of the U.S. Treasury Department, visited a diner in a Hudson Valley swing district about 40 miles north of New York City on Friday, April 10, alongside Rep. Mike Lawler, R-New York. The visit was intended to tout the Trump administration’s economic policies in a district key to keeping GOP control of Congress.
It came on the same day as Trump’s worst inflation report of his second term — and amid the highest monthly gas price increase in recorded history.
A ‘Temporary Blip’?
Before a diner roundtable with local residents, Bessent toured Regeneron, a biotech firm, where he addressed rising costs with CBS News New York.
“This is a temporary blip from the one-time increase in gasoline prices,” he said. “If you look at the futures market, we’re going to get on the other side of this.”
The latest Consumer Price Index data, released April 10, tells a different story: gas prices in March spiked 21.2% — the largest monthly increase since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking in 1967. Over the past year, gas prices are up 18.9%. Gas price increases accounted for nearly three-quarters of all monthly price hikes.
Consumer prices rose 3.3% year-over-year in March, the largest increase in two years. Consumer confidence is also dipping as wages struggle to keep pace with costs.
Tax Breaks and SALT in the Spotlight
At the Hill Blvd Diner in Yorktown, Bessent and Lawler celebrated the state and local tax (SALT) deduction for residents in high-taxed New York — a sticking point for Lawler and other vulnerable House Republicans in Democratic-leaning states. Twenty salt shakers were placed around the U-shaped roundtable, with press viewing the gathering.
Bessent highlighted tax breaks, investment accounts for young children, and no taxes on tips for certain workers under the federal tax and spending bill moving through Congress.
What Locals Are Saying
Rep. Lawler attributed the price volatility to the situation in the Middle East, and said he expected prices to drop once the Strait of Hormuz — currently being tolled by Iran during ceasefire negotiations — reopens.
“Obviously the situation in the Middle East has created some volatility in the oil markets, which have driven up costs,” Lawler told reporters. “Prior to the conflict, gas prices were down below $3 a gallon for the first time in years.”
Local officials weren’t as optimistic. Brendel Logan, deputy supervisor in Ramapo and a Democrat who has supported Lawler for his bipartisanship, called on officials to act.
“Our people are suffering,” Logan said.
State Assemblyman Matt Slater, a Republican, said the area was facing an “affordability crisis” and backed the federal GOP tax policies as a path to relief.
Claire Kerrigan, a bartender in Yorktown, said she appreciated the no-tax-on-tips provision — but said she was prepared for continued pain at the pump and grocery store.
“You buckle up,” Kerrigan said. “You cut back. When you see something on sale, you buy three of them instead of one.”
Contributing: Rachel Barber, USA TODAY
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