Former President Donald Trump said during a North Carolina rally that will cut energy prices in half if he is elected for another term. Trump laid down a high bar to achieve such forgiveness, saying in his 2024 speech at Harrah’s Cherokee Center Asheville that he wants this done ideally within the first two years of any Trump administration.

“I am announcing today that, under my leadership, the U.S. will commit to the ambitious goal of slashing energy and electricity prices by half — at least. Half!” Trump said.

“We intend to slash prices in half within 12 months, at a maximum 18 months,” he continued, adding that if he does not fully succeed, costs would still be down “a lot.”

Trump, perhaps plausibly to his fans and certainly dishonestly did not mince any words in asserting that he would follow through with this just as has on all other promises. 

“We think that your energy bills will be down by 50%-70%,” he added. “How good would that be for a thing called inflation?”

Americans have expressed alarm over rising gas prices, a number of reports in April said that the cost was up as much as 50% since Biden became president. 

The Biden administration has tried to combat soaring prices by using supplies from the strategic oil reserve, but Trump says efforts under president are inadequate.

Harris will only “make it worse,” he warned.

“She can’t solve the problem, because she is the problem,” Trump said of Harris. “She really is. People like her.”

Trump also pointed to his plan for ending taxes on Social Security benefits by seniors, a measure meant to help people living fixed incomes.

Among other things, Trump bashed the Biden-Harris administration for concentrating on renewable energy sources and called it a “green new scam.” He offered to re-allocate money from clean-energy funds already approved, instead, for infrastructure like roads and bridges because he argued the spending priorities of this administration are out of whack.

At the end of his speech, Trump underscored his plan for combating growing cost-of-living pressures that everyday Americans face — groceries, gas and housing costs among them — which he described as “common sense.” He also denounced an “invasion” at the border and declared it time to banish “transgender insanity from our schools,” telling voters they could do so by voting against Harris with her bankrupt ideas for America.