President Donald Trump mistakenly claimed that gasoline prices were already below $2 per gallon to convince the Fed to lower interest rates.

"Gas oil just broke $1.98 a gallon, the lowest in a few years," Trump said in an article on social media platform Truth Social on Friday. "Consumers have been waiting for prices to fall for years. Without inflation, the Fed should lower its interest rates!!!"

On Monday, American drivers paid an average of $3.165 per gallon, according to the Driving Association AAA. It was nearly 2 cents higher than last week, about $1.18 higher than Trump's claim. According to AAA data, gasoline prices have risen by about 4 cents since Trump took office on January 20, when consumers paid an average of about $3.12.

Gasbuddy also believes that gasoline prices have risen by about 2 cents in the past week to $3.12 per gallon in the past week, based on data from more than 12 million price reports, covering more than 150,000 gas stations nationwide. This week's increase is the first time drivers have paid more on pumps in nearly a month.

Nevertheless, the national average of natural gas prices fell by 12 cents, 49.6 cents lower than the same period last year, according to Gasbuddy.

RBOB gasoline Futures did indeed hit $1.98 per gallon Thursday, the day before Trump served. The contract is currently trading at about $2 after hitting a low of about $1.96 on Monday. However, the RBOB contract does not reflect the driver's current payment on the pump. The contract can wholesale unfinished gasoline before it includes other expenses, including mixing in ethanol to produce retail gas.

When CNBC asked the president whether it mentioned RBOB, Trump administration officials pointed to the contract's recent price action.

Patrick de Haan, head of oil analysis at Gasbuddy, said only analysts, wholesalers and fuel buyers of the big store chain care about RBOB.

"This price doesn't include anything. It doesn't include taxes, it doesn't include tariffs, shipping, the cost of doing business, the cost of credit card - I mean it all."

"It's not near explaining what the consumer pays," the analyst added. "Knowing how much the RBOB is, it has nothing to do with the consumer because they don't pay the wholesale price of RBOB."

According to De Haan, in some places, consumers may pay less. He said

“I have nothing at the retail level in the past few weeks, $2 per gallon,” he said. However, De Haan said he has seen personal payments of $1.99 per gallon, but those payments reflect the loyalty consumers use to reduce the redemption they pay in the pump.

"In the Apple-to-Apple comparison, we haven't seen retail prices for everyone below $2.20 per gallon, but what we're seeing is that consumers can lower prices by using points and other promotions," De Haan said.

De Haan said that as refinery maintenance summary and U.S. supply increases, U.S. gasoline prices will soon drop below $3 per gallon. De Hahn said that the price of pumps is currently at its lowest level since 2021.

White House spokesman Taylor Rogers said gasoline prices were at record lows during Trump's first term, "thanks to President Trump's release of American energy."

Gasoline prices fell last month as Trump’s tariffs and OPEC+ producers quickly brought more supplies to the market.

"While some of the damage caused by double adrenal studies continues, President Trump's economic agenda is reducing prices for American families at a lightning speed," Rogers said.