It’s a simple equation for them: you take the hit now so you don’t have to face down a nuclear-armed Iran later. Even with gas over $4.50 a gallon, a lot of Trump’s base in the state say it’s a fair price to pay.
The president has been as plain-spoken about it. When put on the spot about whether he’d make a deal with Tehran to ease the burden on families, he was unflinching. “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation,” he said. “The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran, they can’t have a nuclear weapon.”
Democrats have made hay of that, calling it cold. But if you get out of the Denver suburbs, you’ll hear a different take. Here, keeping the country safe is worth the extra at the pump and the register.
In the northeast part of the state, what seems like a non-sequitur in Washington makes sense. The residents here will forgo a little relief on their grocery bill to make sure Iran doesn’t get the bomb.
And they point out that energy didn’t come cheap under Joe Biden either. With fuel running high across the board, his supporters are more interested in the long view than what’s on this week’s receipt.
Weld and Morgan counties haven’t given a Democrat the nod for president since 1964. That kind of loyalty is hard-won, and it comes with the understanding that you sometimes have to make do at home to hold your ground overseas.
Inside Colorado’s Highway 52: voices from the pump
Drive down Highway 52, with its grain elevators and oil pumpjacks, and you can see the numbers. At Stubs in Wiggins, the sign says $4.34. That’s 50% more than when Trump was in the White House last year.
Residents along Highway 52 described a trade-off that guides their choices:
– National security before near-term relief
– Discomfort with Democrats’ direction
– Trust that Trump will lower costs later
– Acceptance that prices may stay high
“$36 used to be a full tank,” said 42-year-old cashier Amy Van Duyn. “Now it’s half.” Her co-worker Tonyah Bruyette has felt it in her own way. “We’re putting it in the tank rather than on our table.”
Wiggins is a town of 1,400 or so and the trust in Trump is firm. He put up 49 points in Morgan County in 2024. “He’s fighting for us,” Bruyette said. “It feels like he hears us.”
Then you have someone like Mike Urbanowicz in Roggen, who sees the squeeze from behind the wheel. His co-op is moving 150 truckloads of grain a day and the cost of fuel is in every one of them.
Urbanowicz has voted for Trump three times, though he’s an independent. He thinks the president was “naive” to think he could put a quick end to the problem with gas. “I voted for him because the alternative is so bad,” he said, shrugging off the idea of Democrats and their “full-blown socialism.”
Some 25 miles to the southwest, Jim Miller is tending to his old Dodge in Prospect Valley. A self-described “half-hippie, half-cowboy” from Boulder, he is fine with a little hardship.
“I struggle, like everybody else does, but I’m willing to sacrifice a little,” Miller said, thinking back to the days of rationing in the war. “That’s been lost in this country.”
Identity, distrust and a durable bond with Trump
For some, it’s not just about policy. It’s a matter of who you are and who you don’t like.
Lexys Siebrands, 22, is a good example. She’s a gay woman and a new Christian who made the switch to the Republican side in 2022. “There was a lot of liberal hypocrisy,” she said. As for the situation with Iran, “Something was going to happen eventually, one way or another.”
Her mom, Jyl, 49, has made the same journey from independent to GOP. She doesn’t like the price of gas, but a nuke in Tehran is a bigger worry. “People just have to give it time,” she said.
Is there anything that would make her waver on how he’s handling things? “No,” she said without missing a beat. “I’m all on board.”
What voters say they are weighing
From the outside, the president’s position might look a bit wobbly. But in these parts, people have the stomach for it.
There are reasons for it. They remember when prices were up under Biden. And they like the fact that the administration is standing firm on Iran.
The broader trend and what comes next
But you can only be patient for so long. Urbanowicz expects to be paying top dollar for fuel well into the fall, no matter what happens in the Middle East.
For the moment, the numbers are with him. In the towns where the pickup is always running and the tattoo shop is busy, the line is the same: you put up with it today so you don’t have to regret it tomorrow. How long that holds up with $4 gas in the rearview is another story.
