Full transcript of "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Oct. 4, 2026

On this "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" broadcast, moderated by Margaret Brennan:

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MARGARET BRENNAN: I'm Margaret Brennan in Washington.

And this week on Face the Nation: One month away from midterms, and the pressure on the president to do something about high prices is building.

With control of the House and Senate at stake, President Trump has been on a red state road trip to get Republicans to the polls. He now concedes that his party might have a messaging problem when it comes to the economy.

DONALD TRUMP (President of the United States): We're doing a phenomenal job, but maybe we're doing a bad job in selling it.

MARGARET BRENNAN: And our new CBS poll has troubling news for the president's party, with nine in 10 voters saying they rate the economy on the basis of prices. Seven in 10 say that Trump's policies are making food and grocery prices go up. And nine in 10 say the conflict with Iran is making U.S. gas and oil prices either a lot or a little higher.

With early voting now under way, is it too late for Trump to turn things around?

We will talk with Energy Secretary Chris Wright about new efforts to get gas prices down. Plus, we will ask Zach Lahn, the Republican running for governor in Iowa, and Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly what they're finding out on the campaign trail.

All that and more is just ahead on Face the Nation.

Good morning, and welcome to Face the Nation.

We begin with one of the Trump administration officials tasked with working to lower those high gas and oil prices, Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

CHRIS WRIGHT (U.S. Energy Secretary): Good morning, Margaret.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So, it's good to have you here.

You said this past week that Americans can expect lower gasoline prices and diesel prices by Election Day. The Wall Street Journal editorial board has a piece outlining that the campaign to squeeze Iran financially is working, but they can still knock out significant Gulf energy infrastructure.

They could be planning an October surprise before the U.S. midterms. We are still seeing Iranian attacks on ships now. I mean, how can you be so confident prices are headed down?

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: Well, because we've got increasing supplies coming out of the Strait of Hormuz, and they've continued to rise over the last months, over the last recent weeks.

We've got U.S. gasoline production today at record high. We have demand for gasoline as we come out of the summer driving season starting to go down. Similar stories with diesel. Diesel's mostly been impacted by the Russia- Ukraine war and also by China's decision not to export diesel or gasoline into the marketplace.

And, of course, we're living with two refineries that were recently closed, large refineries in California that Gavin Newsom forced the closure of, and, frankly, 15 years of Democrat policies that have been energy subtraction, trying to close coal plants, close refineries, and shrink our capacity, which means, when you get in crisis, we're just less resilient than we should be.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But you still think that, in the next four weeks, prices are going to go down?

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: Absolutely. Diesel prices have been going down. Gasoline prices have been going down. I expect that to continue.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to talk about diesel in a minute, but I – I was reading that the U.S. was sending more defensive equipment to the Gulf countries to protect their oil infrastructure.

I see there was a gathering of national security advisers at Camp David on Friday to talk about Iran and the conflict in Yemen. Can you share any outcome from that? I mean, is – is the U.S. about to escalate? We did just see a third carrier strike group get sent to the region.

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: Look, the president has – has taken a strong stand that Iran, the world's greatest terrorist regime – regime, cannot and will not have nuclear weapons.

So, of course, we're looking at every avenue to achieve that goal, economically, to be prepared for what comes militarily. But we cannot pass to the next administration an Iran armed with nuclear weapons. Not only is that a threat to peace and stability.

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: That's a massive long-term threat to energy prices.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Right, but he's also said that they're not seeking a nuclear weapon. He said that just the other day that they might have actually already stopped.

But in the immediate sense of threats to our neighbors who have refinery and production capacity, how do you guarantee that there is no October surprise that sends those prices going the opposite direction?

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: Hey, well, there's no guarantees. There's no guarantees in conflict. There's no guarantees in life.

But everything we're doing is to grow the supply of diesel, to grow the supply of gasoline, and, frankly, again, to reverse years of policies that have been directed exactly the opposite, to shrink our ability to produce, refine, and deliver hydrocarbons.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Can you say whether the president has decided he will escalate post-Election Day? That's when that third carrier strike group will be arriving, mid-November.

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: Oh, I'm definitely not going to get in front of the president's plans or policies. But remember…

MARGARET BRENNAN: He's thrown that out there himself.

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: … he's – he's always planning for contingencies and he's always negotiating. How you communicate, what you – what you lean in on, it sends a message to the other side. He's been a master, a master at doing that.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So he's got both tracks still going, diplomatic and military pressure?

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: Of course, of course, at all times.

MARGARET BRENNAN: OK, you talked about diesel.

The world's wealthiest countries, the G7, this past week agreed to release 100 million barrels of fuel over four months. They're going to front-load it with a lot of diesel in the next 20 days. I know you asked our friends and allies to consider doing this. How significant a price impact and for how long?

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: It's a big deal. It's a big deal.

Europe has very large diesel stores. They – you know, they don't refine enough diesel to supply their own economies, so naturally they store a lot of diesel. They're very keen to see American diesel continue to flow to Europe. They've got a lot of diesel in stores. Why not release some of that?

This is what you store diesel for, when all the Russian exports of diesel are shut down, when the Chinese have said, we're not going to deliver any more diesel, and you still have a reduction of diesel flows coming out of the Gulf. But we're restoring those. But that takes time.

This is just common sense. This lowers diesel prices, not just in the United States, but it lowers them in Europe and around the world. But it will drive diesel prices down as those releases come. It'll drive diesel down through the winter in the United States and around the world.

And – and, by then, we'll be in another place. We'll have more refining capacity online. I – I suspect we'll continue to see diesel decline as we go into next spring as well.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So, below six bucks, which is where it is?

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes, by post-midterms, or where…

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: It's down a little over 20 cents so far.

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: I think you'll see it continue to go down. Yes, you should see it below $6 before too long. But exactly when, I certainly don't know that.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So the allies did this after President Trump said he was considering a diesel export ban. You had so many quotes where you were telling people, this is not a good idea. Let's not do a diesel export ban.

But the president kept saying it was a consideration. Has he completely ruled out an export ban at this point?

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: Look, every day, he's throwing out ideas. He's engaging with discussions with me, others in the administration.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Even when you're saying it's not a good idea?

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: No, he – he – he's a thinker.

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: He says – well – well, but there's different ways to slice this cat. There's different ways to look at it.

He's always looking, how do I lower energy prices? How do I lower heating prices, electricity prices, gasoline prices, diesel prices? In fact, I would say his constant communication of that may have been quite helpful in achieving – in achieving the deal we just struck.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Because people thought he might actually not listen to you and go ahead and do it?

MARGARET BRENNAN: That was the – the ploy, essentially?

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: It – it wasn't a ploy. It's just a constant dialogue about the many levers we have. How can we drive down diesel prices and drive down gasoline and – and other prices along with it?

MARGARET BRENNAN: So we checked, and it looks like, because of this Lindsey Graham bill that gives the president more sort of powers to punish the buyers of Russian fuel, he has to make a decision by October the 18th as to whether he's going to put tariffs on the biggest buyers. That would be China, and that would be India. Is he going to do that?

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: Look, he – he leaves every decision until the end. He'll evaluate the trade-offs. He has worked ceaselessly to try to end this war.

Not only would end – would ending this war end the killing of – of tens and of thousands of people every month. It would dramatically lower energy prices. He's wanted to end that conflict, yes, since before he was president.

So – and – and there is constant, constant dialogues with both sides in that to try to bring that war to an end.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But, at this point, like, what's the direction here? You just had this big state visit. Are we actually in a position where the U.S. might put tariffs on China for buying Russian oil? Are we actually going to see that? And what impact would that have?

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: Again, I won't get in front of the president on that. We're trying to have the best relations we can.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I'm sure you've looked at the projections on what it would do for pricing.

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: Of course we're trying to have great relations with China and move that ball forward. I think things are going reasonably well there.

But then the flip side is, you've got to look at every leverage you've got to bring a murderous conflict to an end.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Mm-hmm. So, he may? And you would encourage him to?

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: I'm not going to say. I'm not going to say on either one of those.

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: He's – he's looking to how to end that conflict and how to lower prices for Americans every day.

Well, the date just stood out, you know, weeks before the midterms, doing something that could arguably push prices back up, and so if it's a national security decision – decision versus a political one. Be interested to know your point of view.

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: Hey, if his decisions were political, he would have just kicked the can down the road and delivered a nuclear-armed Iran to the next president. You've got to respect that.

That's an incredible move to lean in and say, I'm not going to let them become nuclear-armed. He knew it was going to elevate energy prices in the short run. He said, I'm going to take a hit there, but I got to do the right thing.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You did tell him that, that there would be a huge energy price spike, when he made this decision?

SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: He – he was well aware of – of the risk to energy flows that were coming out of the Persian Gulf region. He said, I simply cannot – the world cannot sustain a nuclear-armed Iran, and I'm not going to do it.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Secretary Wright, thank you for your time today.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Face Nation will be back in a minute. Stay with us.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Our new CBS News Battleground Tracker poll finds that, if the election were held today, Democrats have a lead in that battle for control of the House. It would give them a 229-seat majority, with Republicans at 206 seats.

Anthony Salvanto is our executive director of elections and surveys and joins me now.

So, Anthony, when you look at this, the president's argument that he has the best economic numbers of any president in the history of the world don't seem to be persuading.

ANTHONY SALVANTO: It all comes back to prices, which is how people evaluate the economy.

Number one, the Democrats are winning more of the votes of people who say that they are hard-hit by prices. But this affects Republicans too in this way. Republicans tell us they're less likely to turn out than Democrats say.

And that's important. It's driving a lot of that lead that you just described. But then you look at the Republicans who are saying that. The ones who give the president relatively worse marks on handling inflation than they do for other matters, the ones who were most hard-hit themselves by prices, they're not necessarily switching over and voting for Democrats.

They're just saying they're going to sit this one out. And that's a big part of this. It's also, when you pull back the lens and look wider at what the electorate wants, you see opposition to a candidate in principle who supports tariffs. They don't want a candidate who supports data centers, because they think AI is going to take jobs, and they want a candidate who opposes the Iran conflict, because they think that's driving up gas prices.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Hispanic voters were so pivotal in 2024 for Republicans. Where are they now?

ANTHONY SALVANTO: Hispanic voters have moved more towards the Democrats than they were in 2024. And what that means is that the Republicans will not necessarily get the gains out of redistricting that they had hoped for if they can't keep those Hispanic voter gains that they made in 2024, Hispanic voters just as concerned about the economy and also a little more concerned about the president's focus on deportation.

MARGARET BRENNAN: And, even with a majority, it's a narrow one. That creates all sorts of political challenges.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to Arizona Senator Mark Kelly. He joins us from Charleston, South Carolina, where he is campaigning for his fellow Democrats.

SENATOR MARK KELLY (D-Arizona): Good morning.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Our CBS polling shows that Democrats have reason to be optimistic about taking the House, but how much harder will it be in the Senate?

SENATOR MARK KELLY: Well, Margaret, there is a lot of energy in the states I have been to recently, whether it's Ohio or Iowa, Kansas, Georgia, now here in South Carolina. I think we have real opportunities in a lot of places.