WIGGINS, Colorado - Behind the cash register at Stubs liquor store, Amy Van Duyn watched the red-and-green gas price sign, ticking up daily. The price was $4.34 per gallon, about 50% higher than when President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year.
"I used to fill my tank for $36," said Van Duyn, 42. "Now $36 gets me half a tank." Her co-worker Tonyah Bruyette added: "We're putting it in the tank rather than on our table."
Like most in Wiggins, a farming town of 1,400, Van Duyn and Bruyette remain ardent Trump supporters. He won surrounding Morgan County by 49 percentage points in 2024.
Nationally, Trump's fortunes appear to wane. His war with Iran has sent fuel prices soaring past $4.50 a gallon, and a Reuters/Ipsos poll found nearly 8 in 10 Americans hold him responsible.
When asked if economic woes were motivating a deal with Tehran, Trump responded: "I don't think about Americans' financial situation. The only thing that matters when I'm talking about Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon."
Democrats seized on the comments, but in interviews along Colorado's Highway 52, Trump voters echoed his logic. They were willing to pay more for gas to eliminate a possible Iranian nuclear threat.
"It feels like he hears us," said Bruyette. "That he is fighting for us."
Jim Miller, 65, a retired commodities broker, said enduring high gas prices was worth preventing Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon. "I struggle, but I'm willing to sacrifice a little. That's been totally lost in this country."
Mike Urbanowicz, 66, a trader who voted three times for Trump, considers himself an independent. He said gas prices hurt his industry, but he prefers Trump to Democrats moving towards "full-blown socialism."
In Fort Morgan, Lexys Siebrands, 22, a recent convert to Christianity and Trump voter, saw war with Iran as inevitable. Her mother Jyl, 49, said: "I hate high gas prices, but fear a nuclear-armed Tehran more." Asked if she had any red lines, she replied: "No. I'm all on board."
