* Average pump price on Thursday was $3.88 a gallon, AAA

says

* Gasoline to hit $4/gallon next week, head higher,

GasBuddy says

* Last time US gasoline was $4 a gallon was in August,

2022

By Nicole Jao

NEW YORK, March 19 (Reuters) - U.S. gasoline pump prices

have jumped more than 30% this month,moving toward $4 a gallon

despite efforts by President Donald Trump to curb price

increases and contain supply disruptions stemming from the

Middle East war.

U.S. national average retail gasoline prices have climbed

about 90 cents a gallon, or more than 30%, since the U.S. and

Israel attacked Iran at the end of February. The average pump

price on Thursday was $3.88 a gallon, according to data from the

American Automobile Association or AAA.

Analysts said they expect pump prices to go higher, as crude

prices continue to surge. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude

futures have jumped nearly $30, or 43%, from $67.02 a barrel to

$96.14 over the same period.

"It now looks like gasoline will hit $4/gal next week and

could head toward $4.10/gal and beyond," wrote GasBuddy analyst

Patrick De Haan on X.

The $4 per gallon milestone, last reached in August 2022,

will further pressure consumers already strained by inflation.

Surging pump prices have become a political headache for Trump

and his Republican Party, which will soon be campaigning to hold

onto thin majorities in the U.S. Congress in November midterm

elections.

Trump had vowed to lower energy prices and ramp up U.S. oil

and gas production. But so far, much of his second term has been

marked by volatile markets, shifting policies like tariffs and

geopolitical turmoil.

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has choked supplies from one of

the world's top oil-producing regions, as Iran's attacks on

shipping in the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted exports from

producers in the Middle East.

Retail fuel prices have surged in tandem with oil prices,

driven by increasing feedstock costs.

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE?

This week, the Trump administration announced a 60-day

waiver of the Jones Act shipping law. The step will temporarily

allow foreign-flagged vessels to move fuel, fertilizer and other

goods between U.S. ports. Industry insiders expect it to have

only a marginal impact on price increases.

"Oil prices are set independently of transportation costs.

The waiver will only allow additional ships to carry supplies,"

said a fuel trading source who was not authorized to speak on

the record.

"I don't think it will dramatically lower prices," the

source added.

"Motorists hoping for a plummet at the pump from the Jones

Act waiver are probably going to be disappointed," GasBuddy's De

Haan said.

The Trump administration is also expected to announce a

decision to waive summer gasoline regulations which would

temporarily lift federal smog-cutting restrictions on

summer-blend gasoline.

Such a waiver could shave 10 to 20 cents a gallon off retail

gasoline prices, De Haan said, adding that consumers in cities

including Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C., where

reformulated gasoline is used, may save the most at the pump.