High fuel prices and rising inflation caused by the war of aggression against Iran are straining household budgets across the United States and emerging as a central liability for President Donald Trump and Republican candidates just days before the midterm elections.

NBC News cited figures from the AAA motor club on Saturday showing that average gasoline prices in the US remained above $4 per gallon, up more than $1 from levels before the US and the Israeli regime launched their aggression against Iran in late February.

The data showed that people in some US states, including California, Hawaii, Nevada, and Washington, were paying an average of $5 per gallon for gasoline.

NBC News also cited an analysis by Brown University showing that American households had suffered losses of more than $70 billion due to rising gasoline prices since the start of the US-Israeli aggression against Iran.

The increase in oil prices resulting from the war against Iran has also led to higher jet fuel prices and increased airfares in the US, it said.

This comes as a report published by PBS News earlier this week cited monthly inflation figures from the US Federal Reserve showing that households were struggling with elevated consumer prices less than a week before the country's midterm congressional elections.

The report also cited data from the Commerce Department showing that the headline inflation rate in the US had risen 3.6% in September from a year earlier, up 0.2% month on month.

The data showed that monthly inflation in the US had increased by 0.5% in September, the highest level since May, with rising fuel prices blamed for much of the increase.

Higher gasoline prices have become a key liability for President Trump and Republican candidates heading into midterm elections, with polls showing broad voter disapproval of the president's handling of gas prices and the economy as a whole.

A New York Times/Siena poll in late October found that nearly three-quarters of likely voters disapproved of Trump's handling of gas prices, and 69 percent disapproved of his handling of the cost of living.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll in mid-October put Trump's approval at 31 percent, with Democrats holding a 12-point lead among registered voters.

Trump has publicly dismissed the political cost of waging the war against Iran.

At a rally in Georgia this week, he said aides had warned him not to boast about oil profits from the war while Americans pay more at the pump. “I said, I don't give a damn.”