Surging costs threaten to turn more voters against President Donald Trump and the GOP, and officials have leaked to the Financial Times that the president pleaded for help from a world leader during a recent phone call.

Trump's war with Iran continues with no end in sight, and disruptions to the global oil supply have sent gas prices climbing once again. Diesel has been hit especially hard, with prices hitting an all-time high of $6.50 per gallon on average — a spike that threatens to create a knock-on effect raising prices across the entire economy. Because nearly all of the trucks that haul virtually every sort of product across the United States run exclusively on diesel, experts warn that higher prices in that category will produce higher shipping costs, which are then passed on to consumers. And diesel's reach extends well beyond the highway: it also powers the freight trains, farm machinery, and construction equipment that keep raw materials and finished goods moving.

While Trump has frequently attempted to dismiss affordability concerns and label them a "hoax," reports indicate he is acutely aware of the crunch now facing the country — and sought a potential solution during a recent call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to a Monday report from the Financial Times.

"Donald Trump pressed his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a call on Sunday to halt Kyiv's strikes on Russian refineries over concerns that the attacks are exacerbating a global diesel shortage and pushing up prices, according to people familiar with the call," the outlet detailed. "The US president's main message was about 'diesel, diesel. . . diesel' and urging Zelenskyy to order his military to cease their drone and missile attacks, a senior Ukrainian official who was on the call told the FT."

The report continued: "Another senior Ukrainian official familiar with the call said that Trump emphasised he was very worried about the rising price of diesel and wanted to ensure Russian supplies could reach the global market to provide relief."

The call came shortly after Ukraine launched what has been described as its largest-ever drone strike against Moscow, hitting a major oil refinery and killing two people. Kyiv has spent months targeting Russian energy infrastructure, arguing the strikes drain the fuel and export revenue that funds Moscow's invasion — but those same refineries supply a global market in which Russia ranks among the largest diesel exporters, a tension now sitting at the heart of Trump's appeal. Zelensky said the conversation had been an "important conversation" and added that "There is diplomatic momentum."

Trump himself addressed the strike in a post to Truth Social, tying it to the troubles facing the global diesel industry.

"Russia has unfortunately lost control of its Diesel Oil Industry due to its War with Ukraine. A large number of their Diesel refineries have been blown up and are, at least temporarily, out of commission," the post read. "This ridiculous and never ending War with Ukraine must be ended. The whole World suffers as 25,000 people, mostly soldiers, are being killed each month. What a shame!"

Whether Zelensky will heed the request remains to be seen. But the episode lays bare the bind the president is in: strikes he wants halted are, according to officials familiar with the call, worsening a global diesel shortage — and with it the pump prices feeding an affordability crunch he has publicly dismissed as a "hoax."