The View of the War From a Florida Gas Station

Since the start of the war in Iran, the average price of gas in the United States has climbed by nearly a dollar.

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

speaker 1

Can I get a number 4, please?
cameron joudi: Yeah. That’s it, brother? There you go, brother.
michael barbaro: Can you just explain what it is you’re about to do?
cameron joudi: I’m going to raise the gas price. [MUSIC PLAYING]

michael barbaro: From “The New York Times,” I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.”

cameron joudi: So we got to go into the fuel manager menu and fuel price configuration. All right. I’m going to go from $4.49 on my premium to $4.69.

michael barbaro: For the past four weeks, gas stations across the United States have become a kind of microcosm of the war’s domestic impact. It’s there, at thousands of pumps and cash registers, that a test of wills is playing out in real time.

cameron joudi: I just got to download the fuel prices to my pumps and that’s that, the price increased.

michael barbaro: Between gas station managers deciding day after day just how much to charge for a gallon of gas, and already cash-strapped consumers deciding just how much pain they’re willing to endure.

michael barbaro: I mean, does any part of you just feel really bad that you have to do that?
cameron joudi: Yeah, yeah. I feel bad. I mean, it’s a necessity. I have to. But, yeah, I feel bad. That kind of hurts.

michael barbaro

Today, the view of this war from a neighborhood gas station in Jacksonville, Florida. It’s Friday, March 27th.

[ENGINE HUMMING]

archived recording (anna foley)

OK, I think this is it.

archived recording (michael barbaro)

Yeah, here we go.

[HORN HONKS]

archived recording (anna foley)

Yo, I’m getting there.

archived recording (michael barbaro)

Hey, Florida.

archived recording (anna foley)

Florida drivers.

michael barbaro: Last week, “Daily” producer Anna Foley and I headed to suburban Jacksonville to talk to a gas station manager named Cam Joudi.

michael barbaro: Hey, guys.
cameron joudi: What’s going on? Welcome here.
anna foley: Hi.
michael barbaro: Michael.
cameron joudi: Cameron.
michael barbaro: Cameron, nice to meet you.
cameron joudi: Nice to meet you guys.

michael barbaro: Now, why this station and this manager?

anna foley: We can come on back?

michael barbaro: Because Cam runs a quickly vanishing business in this country, an independently-owned gas station.

michael barbaro

You got some serious Little Debbie —

cameron joudi

Serious Little Debbie stuff, of course. Yeah, right there, right in front, staring at me across the way all day. Whispering my name.

Honey Buns —

michael barbaro: Meaning that Cam, and Cam alone, sets the price.

michael barbaro: I’ve never been in the guts of the cashier’s —
cameron joudi: Is it all you ever dreamed it would be?
michael barbaro: — the cashier’s wing of the store.

michael barbaro: We met him on a Tuesday, when regular unleaded gas at his station cost $3.79 a gallon, about 40 percent higher than before the war started. Cam was manning the cash register of the station’s convenience store. And it’s inside this store, on a residential street across from an elementary school, where you really see how intimately he’s woven himself into this community.

cameron joudi: What’s up, Rick? Mr. Lee. Hey, Louis.
louis: How are you?
cameron joudi: Yeah, you’re good, brother.
michael barbaro: Are you on a first name basis with a lot of your customers?
cameron joudi: I am. Yeah. Yeah. After eight years, almost nine years, this July, it’ll be nine years, I got a lot of regulars that come in here.

michael barbaro: Cam took over the business about a decade ago from his father, who started buying convenience stores after he immigrated to the US from Syria by way of Guatemala.

cameron joudi: This gas station, in particular, he bought right around the time my sister was born, I believe. Seems to be a trend. He has a kid, he has a gas station. He has a kid, he has a gas station. I don’t know.

michael barbaro: And Cam grew up watching his father really become the unofficial mayor of this neighborhood.

cameron joudi: He always goes back to the show, “Everybody Loves Raymond.” That’s his name, Raymond. So even growing up as a kid, we couldn’t go out to eat without running into somebody that he knew from one of the stores. A waiter, somebody in the back cooking our food in the kitchen, somebody waiting in line for their coffee, he knows everybody.

michael barbaro: And it went beyond just knowing everybody. His father’s customers were treated as an extension of the Joudi family.

cameron joudi: I didn’t know the extent of my dad’s impact on some of these customers until I started working here, when some of them would come in here and tell me, your dad, my power was off, and he loaned me the money I needed to get the electricity back on. And stuff like that. It’s like, Dad, did you really do that? He’s like, of course, I did. They’ve been coming to my store for 10, 15 years.

michael barbaro: So for Cam, this was really the only way he knew to run a business.

cameron joudi

These regular customers that I get in here, I mean, I’ve known them now for eight years. That’s a longer time than I’ve known my kids. I only got a four-year-old. So some of these people, they’ve been around for my wife’s pregnancies. I had several regular customers, when they found out my wife was pregnant, they brought me boxes and boxes and boxes of diapers.

Like, it’s just really cool. I don’t think a lot of people get to experience that, where a customer comes to your business almost every single day, sometimes up to six times a day, and become a huge part of your life. They really do.

michael barbaro: And just to give you an example, when Cam catches local students shoplifting, which happens with some frequency, he never calls the police. He tells somebody else.

cameron joudi: I know their PE coach. He comes in here every day. So I tell him, I show him a picture of the kid on my camera, and he makes them run laps or push-ups.
michael barbaro: Get out of here.
cameron joudi: Swear to God. Yes.
michael barbaro: That’s local justice.
cameron joudi: I love it. [MUSIC PLAYING]

michael barbaro: So when the war broke out a few weeks ago —

cameron joudi: Right before the war, I remember we were sitting at $2.79 for a long time.

michael barbaro: — and Cam realized he was going to have to raise gas prices —

cameron joudi: So from $2.79 to $2.99 to $3.09.

michael barbaro: — over and over —

cameron joudi: We went up almost $0.20 in 48 hours.

michael barbaro: — and over again.

cameron joudi: I went, gosh, it’s been almost every day.

michael barbaro: He wasn’t repeatedly raising gas prices on strangers. He was raising prices on people he really cares about. People who he knows are already stretched very thin.

cameron joudi: I hope they understand that I’m not pricing my gas to make a quick buck. I’m pricing my gas how I need to price it in order to stay afloat.

michael barbaro: And just to explain how this works, this is actually not making Cam more money.

cameron joudi: My distributor of fuel is charging me per gallon. And then I have to account for if they’re going to charge me to get it to the gas station. So —
michael barbaro: Trucking fees.
cameron joudi: — trucking fees to the store itself. And then we also have to account for the different fees that are associated with the customer purchasing gas, the credit card companies and debit card companies.

michael barbaro: For Cam, the margins on gas are actually pretty slim.

cameron joudi: I mean, there’s really such a small amount of profit to be made per gallon for a business like mine. I mean, I’m talking maybe $0.10 to $0.15 per gallon max for my store.

michael barbaro: His pumps hold about 8,000 gallons, which usually lasts a couple of weeks. And so $0.10 of profit on that is about $800, which is a surprisingly small amount of profit for a gas station to make on gas.

michael barbaro

How did you think about this question of how much you could increase the price at the pump, knowing your customer? How did you balance all that?

cameron joudi

I mean, my regular customers, they’re pretty loyal. I like to think that they would choose my store over a big corporate-owned gas station, a big chain gas station, a franchise like that, just because it’s my store. Can I consider the customer when I’m making these gas prices? Not really.

Because as much as I love my regular customers, I can’t take a loss per gallon. I can’t. It would be even — it’d be difficult to even figure out what my break-even number would be. I got to at least make a couple cents off of each gallon, or there’s really no point in —

michael barbaro

Selling gas.

cameron joudi

— selling gas. I could take the gas price of that big chain gas station up the road that’s priced at $3.99 today. I could say, well, I’m independently owned, I need to have a bigger profit margin, and price mine for $4.09. I could do that. There’s no problem with me doing that.

I know gas station owners that do that. They go $0.10 over their nearest big corporate gas station just so that they can make a little bit more of a profit margin. I choose not to, specifically because of the relationship I have with my regular customers.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

I would love for this to be over next week and I go back to $2.79 a gallon. That’d be awesome. I hope beyond hope that it is temporary and it does not last long. But yeah, I do worry about the —

the longevity of these high prices. It would be a strain on a lot of people, myself included.

michael barbaro: But despite his best intentions, as we wrapped up our conversation and Cam’s day came to an end, he checks in on prices around town. Most of his rivals were at $3.99 a gallon for regular. He had been holding steady at $3.79. He looks out at the pumps —

cameron joudi: I don’t like to do it when customers are pumping gas.

michael barbaro: — and he makes the call to raise the prices.

cameron joudi: So I’m going to raise it from $3.79 to $3.99.
michael barbaro: That’s a big jump.
cameron joudi: It is a big jump. Yeah.
michael barbaro: So if I go outside right now, even on that big sign?
cameron joudi: The big sign is happening right now too. And it’s almost instant. Yep. Boom.

michael barbaro: We’ll be right back.

michael barbaro: Good morning, Cam.
cameron joudi: Good morning. It’s cold.
michael barbaro: It’s cold for Florida.
cameron joudi: Yes, it is. That’s right.

michael barbaro: The next morning, just before 7:00 AM, Anna and I returned to the gas station to watch Cam open it up for the day.

cameron joudi: Just gotta turn the lights on. Turn the gas pumps on. And we’re open for business.
anna foley: Those were the pumps?
cameron joudi: The pumps, yeah.

michael barbaro: We wanted to understand just how much this relentless increase in gas prices, including Cam’s most recent hike, were hurting his customers.

michael barbaro: So this is $3.99 day. Do you think that people are going to notice the $0.20 increase today?
cameron joudi: Definitely. Oh, yeah. $3.79 to $3.99, it’s a big jump. And yeah, we’ll definitely get some people in here that are, we were just — we were $0.20 cheaper yesterday. What happened, Cam?

michael barbaro: Over at the pumps —

michael barbaro: If you want to talk about gas prices.
speaker 2: You want me to start cussing now, huh?

michael barbaro

— people did not hold back.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

speaker 2: It’s out of hand. Out of hand.
speaker 3: Oh, my god. It’s awful. It’s just going to affect so many people. I mean, it’s really so sad because people already struggling, and this was just so unnecessary.
speaker 4: It’s like, you’re paying double now than what you was paying a couple of weeks ago.
speaker 5: People that are on fixed incomes, they have a tough time with these gas prices.
speaker 6: See? $100. $98.80.
michael barbaro: That’s a very expensive amount of gas.
speaker 6: It’s never been this bad, man.

michael barbaro: Most people didn’t stick around for a very long conversation. They got back in their car. They told us they had to go to work. But among those who really talked to us, what became clear was just how minutely they could describe gas prices’ impact on their finances, and how these far higher prices have become a kind of referendum, a referendum on the war in Iran, on President Trump himself, and really on the entire promise of America.

michael barbaro: We’re talking to people about gas prices. If you have thoughts.
andrew: Oh, [CHUCKLES]: I’ve seen them $2-something. Now they’re at $4. So, yeah.

michael barbaro: We met a guy named Andrew who like many people in Jacksonville is a veteran. The region is a major military hub.

andrew

I mean, I just got out of the military about a year ago. So now, I’m on a fixed income type stuff. So seeing the gas prices go up really hinders that a little bit.

michael barbaro

Were you in Iraq or Afghanistan?

andrew

Jordan, Afghanistan area. And yeah, once I saw that they cut off the Strait, I was like, there go the gas prices.

michael barbaro

When you fill your car, what is the actual cost now?

andrew

$50, it’s usually like $30.

michael barbaro

So where has that come from in that pie chart of your life?

andrew

Usually, it comes from our grocery budget, because everything else is bills. You can’t skip bills. I mean, sometimes, if we need to, we’ll skip a bill, but we’ll just go right back to it. But usually the allotment comes from our grocery bills.

anna foley

And does it change how you eat?

andrew

Yeah.

anna foley

Can you give me an example?

andrew

We’ve been going to those food banks every now and then, which help out. I like those. A lot of local churches do help out, so that’s pretty nice. I have three kids. So I make sure that they eat first. So usually we’ll get all their food first.

And then my wife and I will be like, OK, we have this much left, let’s get us some dinner. So like, there’s been nights where her and I don’t eat, and we’ll just let them eat. But we’re cool with that because as long as our kids eat, we’re fine.

michael barbaro

That’s a really meaningful sacrifice.

andrew

I mean, they come first. So I mean, we’re fine. We can handle it. But I think I give it a month before all this levels off, maybe.

michael barbaro

You hope?

andrew

I hope.

michael barbaro

Yeah.

andrew

One can hope. We just need to pull out and just not be there. And just let the Strait open up. It’s not our war.

michael barbaro

It’s not our war, you said?

andrew

It’s not our war.

michael barbaro

Well, thank you for spending time with us. And thank you for your service. I appreciate it.

anna foley

Thank you.

michael barbaro: Andrew is literally skipping meals because of this war. But we also met somebody whose financial pain is just as immediate, but who sees the war and Trump’s rationale for it in a totally different light.

michael barbaro

We’re hanging out with Cam to talk about gas prices. He let us spend the day with him. What’s your name?

william

William.

michael barbaro

And what do you do for work?

william

I own a trucking company.

michael barbaro

Whoa. So you — this is important. So you’re involved in the trucking business at a time when gas is $4 a gallon. And Diesel’s $5 a gallon.

william

In some states, we’re paying $6 and $7.

michael barbaro

So a lot of money’s coming out of your pocket?

william

Well, you’re pumping 250 gallons every time you fill up.

michael barbaro

Yeah.

william

So do the math. It’s costing anywhere between $1,200 to $1,600 for a tank of fuel now.

michael barbaro

Wow.

william

And then the rates have not gone up.

michael barbaro

So you’d be a strong candidate for being very upset about this war.

william

I would be, yeah. But I think that it’s worth it. I’m a Trumpster, but let me tell you, I have some issues with him at the moment. But I still support what we’re doing in Iran because I’ve been watching it all my life. I’m 70-years-old.

So I support it, but for the people of Iran. If I were going to endorse the war, it would be simply to free the Iranian people from this ridiculous regime. What happens after that? Who knows.

Did they have a nuclear weapon? Why wouldn’t they? So I don’t know what drove his decision to do this, but I feel like it was very serious.

michael barbaro

So you have faith that if the president has determined that the United States should be involved in a war against Iran, that he knows something, and he’s made this decision wisely?

william

I truly believe that. Yes. He is not one to just go out and — I don’t think — to just start this up to hide the Epstein files or whatever. So that’s all I know. That’s all I can tell you.

michael barbaro

So if the war is justified, is the gas price increase a small price to pay? Or does it feel like a big price to pay?

william

I don’t think it’s a big price to pay. I do worry about the commercial end of it if there’s no assistance, if there’s no way to — I mean, a lot of these smaller trucking companies, people don’t understand how many have gone out of business from the rate wars. Now, the ones that survived that —

michael barbaro

Have to pay the gas prices.

william

Right. It’ll kick them right over the edge. So I am concerned about that. Hopefully it won’t last that long. I think the war over there is going to last longer than four weeks.

michael barbaro

But you can afford these gas prices?

william

Yeah, I can afford it. Yeah. I don’t like it, but I can afford it.

[LAUGHS]

michael barbaro

Thank you for your time.

william

Yes, sir. Thank you. Good luck to you guys.

michael barbaro: So despite these higher prices, William is standing by the president, for now. But there’s a whole group of people for whom the promise of lower prices, including lower gas prices, was their primary reason for voting for Trump. So now every trip to the gas pump feels like a betrayal.

michael barbaro: We’re talking about gas prices.
shaun: Unbelievable, especially when we thought we were about to get those lower gas prices. I was happy for a couple of weeks when I was $2. Like, ha! Now it’s hard.

michael barbaro: Including a woman who goes by Shaun and is a licensed Medicare agent.

shaun

I make $26 an hour. Now you tell me, why should it be hard for me to put gas in the car?

michael barbaro

So you just put $6 in?

shaun

$6.

michael barbaro

Why so little? I mean, it was expensive. That was an expensive gallon and change.

shaun

It’s hard right now. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Like, on top of grocery, on top of rent. Because I mean, I pay $2,000 to live every month.

Now we’re talking about gas. I have to ride to work. OK? I have grandchildren. I have two elderly parents that live in my home. One of them who has Stage 5 kidney disease. OK? And I just took him to dialysis. So even with incomes, it’s going like this.

michael barbaro

You’re down the drain?

shaun

Down the drain.

anna foley

You said you were excited for $2 gas.

shaun

Oh, my god, I was like, we are here!

anna foley

And was that something you heard from the president and his campaigns? Was that where you heard that from?

shaun

Trump said that we were going to have lower gas. That was one of the things that he promised. And unfortunately, I voted for him. As a Black woman, I voted for this man thinking that our economy is going to be amazing under him.

michael barbaro

Yeah. And?

shaun

And now I wish that never did that.

michael barbaro

Are you mad that he started this war and raised —

shaun

Yeah. Because to me, now, it’s not even about people no more. It’s about money. I know we are in America and we think we’re safe, but we’re casualties of war. We have to start speaking out against what’s going on over there, because we will be them if we don’t stand up for them.

michael barbaro

You’re upset?

shaun

I’m upset.

michael barbaro

I mean, you’re crying.

shaun

I’m upset.

michael barbaro

Do you feel like you were kind of hoodwinked?

shaun

Yes, I was hoodwinked. This man talked about, we were going to be great again. And I did see that in my eyes. We were not the America that we used to be. So, OK, we have this man coming through, and he’s bold and he’s powerful. He pumped me up off of, “I’m a good man.” But then he really was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

I got everything I want. I got your vote, and now I’m just going to tear it down. It’s all about me, and my money, and my big rich friends. So I’m upset. I made the wrong vote. And I need everybody to understand what we’re going through.

Like, stop. We are not on the beach anymore. Take your shades off. The tsunami hit, and it was called “President Trump.” We got to get up.

I’m a proud American. Very, very proud American. And right today, I’m a sad American. I’m not real proud.

[SOBS]

I’m not real proud of us. I’m not.

michael barbaro

Well —

anna foley

Thank you for sharing. Take care.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

michael barbaro

So I think we’re wrapping up, Cam, our reporting at the gas station. And I wonder if you can forecast a little bit into the next week and whether you think you’re going to have to keep raising prices? What it would take for you to lower them?

cameron joudi

I don’t see lowering happening anytime soon. Usually when it’s quick to rise like this, it’s slower to lower. I don’t think it’s going to take a week for me to have to raise it, honestly, above $3.99. As I was driving into work today, I passed by a gas station charging $4.05 for credit card purchases on gasoline.

michael barbaro

Regular.

cameron joudi

Regular. And it was an independent as well, same as mine. Probably over the weekend, I’ll probably have to go above $4. And as far as going well beyond $4, I could see it capping around $4.59. That’s my estimated price cap, I believe.

michael barbaro

How do you come up with that number?

cameron joudi

That’s probably the highest that I remember ever putting my gas prices at. I hope it doesn’t get to $4.59. I hope it doesn’t go above $4.09. But as unpredictable as everything is and what’s going on, you just never know.

michael barbaro

Well, thank you again —

cameron joudi

Thank you guys.

michael barbaro

— for all the time you’ve given us.

cameron joudi

Absolutely. I appreciate you all coming out here and talking to me about this.

michael barbaro

Until next time.

cameron joudi

Yes, sir.

michael barbaro

We’ll be right back.

Here’s what else you need to know today.

archived recording (donald trump): They now have the chance, that is, Iran, to permanently abandon their nuclear ambitions and to chart a new path forward. We’ll see if they want to do it.

michael barbaro: On Thursday, President Trump sought to ratchet up pressure on Iran to enter into diplomatic negotiations to end the war.

archived recording (donald trump): If they don’t, we’re their worst nightmare. In the meantime, we’ll just keep blowing them away, unimpeded, unstopped.

michael barbaro

Trump’s latest threat came as Israel claimed it had killed a key Iranian Naval commander who had led Iran’s effort to close the Strait of Hormuz, and as Israel expanded its ground operations in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, the crisis at America’s airports could soon come to an end after the Senate voted early Friday morning to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, which has been shut down for weeks. The bill, which now heads to the House, would fund every major DHS operation, including airport security, except for immigration enforcement.

Today’s episode was produced by Anna Foley and Caitlin O’Keefe. It was edited by Devon Taylor. Contains music by Dan Powell, Diane Wong, Elisheba Ittoop, Marion Lozano, and Chelsea Daniel. Our theme music is by Wonderly. This episode was engineered by Alyssa Moxley.

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Michael Barbaro. See you on Sunday.

The DailySubscribe:

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Since the start of the war in Iran, the average price of gas in the United States has climbed by nearly a dollar.

transcript

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transcript

The View of the War From a Florida Gas Station

Since the start of the war in Iran, the average price of gas in the United States has climbed by nearly a dollar.

2026-03-27T06:00:16-04:00

[CITY NOISES]

speaker 1: Can I get a number 4, please?
cameron joudi: Yeah. That’s it, brother? There you go, brother.
michael barbaro: Can you just explain what it is you’re about to do?
cameron joudi: I’m going to raise the gas price. [MUSIC PLAYING]

michael barbaro: From “The New York Times,” I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.”

cameron joudi: So we got to go into the fuel manager menu and fuel price configuration. All right. I’m going to go from $4.49 on my premium to $4.69.

michael barbaro: For the past four weeks, gas stations across the United States have become a kind of microcosm of the war’s domestic impact. It’s there, at thousands of pumps and cash registers, that a test of wills is playing out in real time.

cameron joudi: I just got to download the fuel prices to my pumps and that’s that, the price increased.

michael barbaro: Between gas station managers deciding day after day just how much to charge for a gallon of gas, and already cash-strapped consumers deciding just how much pain they’re willing to endure.

michael barbaro: I mean, does any part of you just feel really bad that you have to do that?
cameron joudi: Yeah, yeah. I feel bad. I mean, it’s a necessity. I have to. But, yeah, I feel bad. That kind of hurts.

michael barbaro

Today, the view of this war from a neighborhood gas station in Jacksonville, Florida. It’s Friday, March 27th.

[ENGINE HUMMING]

archived recording (anna foley)

OK, I think this is it.

archived recording (michael barbaro)

Yeah, here we go.

[HORN HONKS]

archived recording (anna foley)

Yo, I’m getting there.

archived recording (michael barbaro)

Hey, Florida.

archived recording (anna foley)

Florida drivers.

michael barbaro: Last week, “Daily” producer Anna Foley and I headed to suburban Jacksonville to talk to a gas station manager named Cam Joudi.

michael barbaro: Hey, guys.
cameron joudi: What’s going on? Welcome here.
anna foley: Hi.
michael barbaro: Michael.
cameron joudi: Cameron.
michael barbaro: Cameron, nice to meet you.
cameron joudi: Nice to meet you guys.

michael barbaro: Now, why this station and this manager?

anna foley: We can come on back?

michael barbaro: Because Cam runs a quickly vanishing business in this country, an independently-owned gas station.

michael barbaro

You got some serious Little Debbie —

cameron joudi

Serious Little Debbie stuff, of course. Yeah, right there, right in front, staring at me across the way all day. Whispering my name.

Honey Buns —

michael barbaro: Meaning that Cam, and Cam alone, sets the price.

michael barbaro: I’ve never been in the guts of the cashier’s —
cameron joudi: Is it all you ever dreamed it would be?
michael barbaro: — the cashier’s wing of the store.

michael barbaro: We met him on a Tuesday, when regular unleaded gas at his station cost $3.79 a gallon, about 40 percent higher than before the war started. Cam was manning the cash register of the station’s convenience store. And it’s inside this store, on a residential street across from an elementary school, where you really see how intimately he’s woven himself into this community.

cameron joudi: What’s up, Rick? Mr. Lee. Hey, Louis.
louis: How are you?
cameron joudi: Yeah, you’re good, brother.
michael barbaro: Are you on a first name basis with a lot of your customers?
cameron joudi: I am. Yeah. Yeah. After eight years, almost nine years, this July, it’ll be nine years, I got a lot of regulars that come in here.

michael barbaro: Cam took over the business about a decade ago from his father, who started buying convenience stores after he immigrated to the US from Syria by way of Guatemala.

cameron joudi: This gas station, in particular, he bought right around the time my sister was born, I believe. Seems to be a trend. He has a kid, he has a gas station. He has a kid, he has a gas station. I don’t know.

michael barbaro: And Cam grew up watching his father really become the unofficial mayor of this neighborhood.

cameron joudi: He always goes back to the show, “Everybody Loves Raymond.” That’s his name, Raymond. So even growing up as a kid, we couldn’t go out to eat without running into somebody that he knew from one of the stores. A waiter, somebody in the back cooking our food in the kitchen, somebody waiting in line for their coffee, he knows everybody.

michael barbaro: And it went beyond just knowing everybody. His father’s customers were treated as an extension of the Joudi family.

cameron joudi: I didn’t know the extent of my dad’s impact on some of these customers until I started working here, when some of them would come in here and tell me, your dad, my power was off, and he loaned me the money I needed to get the electricity back on. And stuff like that. It’s like, Dad, did you really do that? He’s like, of course, I did. They’ve been coming to my store for 10, 15 years.

michael barbaro: So for Cam, this was really the only way he knew to run a business.

cameron joudi

michael barbaro: And just to give you an example, when Cam catches local students shoplifting, which happens with some frequency, he never calls the police. He tells somebody else.

cameron joudi: I know their PE coach. He comes in here every day. So I tell him, I show him a picture of the kid on my camera, and he makes them run laps or push-ups.
michael barbaro: Get out of here.
cameron joudi: Swear to God. Yes.
michael barbaro: That’s local justice.
cameron joudi: I love it. [MUSIC PLAYING]

michael barbaro: So when the war broke out a few weeks ago —

cameron joudi: Right before the war, I remember we were sitting at $2.79 for a long time.

michael barbaro: — and Cam realized he was going to have to raise gas prices —

cameron joudi: So from $2.79 to $2.99 to $3.09.

michael barbaro: — over and over —

cameron joudi: We went up almost $0.20 in 48 hours.

michael barbaro: — and over again.

cameron joudi: I went, gosh, it’s been almost every day.

michael barbaro: He wasn’t repeatedly raising gas prices on strangers. He was raising prices on people he really cares about. People who he knows are already stretched very thin.

cameron joudi: I hope they understand that I’m not pricing my gas to make a quick buck. I’m pricing my gas how I need to price it in order to stay afloat.

michael barbaro: And just to explain how this works, this is actually not making Cam more money.

cameron joudi: My distributor of fuel is charging me per gallon. And then I have to account for if they’re going to charge me to get it to the gas station. So —
michael barbaro: Trucking fees.
cameron joudi: — trucking fees to the store itself. And then we also have to account for the different fees that are associated with the customer purchasing gas, the credit card companies and debit card companies.

michael barbaro: For Cam, the margins on gas are actually pretty slim.

cameron joudi: I mean, there’s really such a small amount of profit to be made per gallon for a business like mine. I mean, I’m talking maybe $0.10 to $0.15 per gallon max for my store.

michael barbaro: His pumps hold about 8,000 gallons, which usually lasts a couple of weeks. And so $0.10 of profit on that is about $800, which is a surprisingly small amount of profit for a gas station to make on gas.

michael barbaro

How did you think about this question of how much you could increase the price at the pump, knowing your customer? How did you balance all that?

cameron joudi

michael barbaro

Selling gas.

cameron joudi

[MUSIC PLAYING]

I would love for this to be over next week and I go back to $2.79 a gallon. That’d be awesome. I hope beyond hope that it is temporary and it does not last long. But yeah, I do worry about the —

the longevity of these high prices. It would be a strain on a lot of people, myself included.

michael barbaro: But despite his best intentions, as we wrapped up our conversation and Cam’s day came to an end, he checks in on prices around town. Most of his rivals were at $3.99 a gallon for regular. He had been holding steady at $3.79. He looks out at the pumps —

cameron joudi: I don’t like to do it when customers are pumping gas.

michael barbaro: — and he makes the call to raise the prices.

cameron joudi: So I’m going to raise it from $3.79 to $3.99.
michael barbaro: That’s a big jump.
cameron joudi: It is a big jump. Yeah.
michael barbaro: So if I go outside right now, even on that big sign?
cameron joudi: The big sign is happening right now too. And it’s almost instant. Yep. Boom.

michael barbaro: We’ll be right back.

michael barbaro: Good morning, Cam.
cameron joudi: Good morning. It’s cold.
michael barbaro: It’s cold for Florida.
cameron joudi: Yes, it is. That’s right.

michael barbaro: The next morning, just before 7:00 AM, Anna and I returned to the gas station to watch Cam open it up for the day.

cameron joudi: Just gotta turn the lights on. Turn the gas pumps on. And we’re open for business.
anna foley: Those were the pumps?
cameron joudi: The pumps, yeah.

michael barbaro: We wanted to understand just how much this relentless increase in gas prices, including Cam’s most recent hike, were hurting his customers.

michael barbaro: So this is $3.99 day. Do you think that people are going to notice the $0.20 increase today?
cameron joudi: Definitely. Oh, yeah. $3.79 to $3.99, it’s a big jump. And yeah, we’ll definitely get some people in here that are, we were just — we were $0.20 cheaper yesterday. What happened, Cam?

michael barbaro: Over at the pumps —

michael barbaro: If you want to talk about gas prices.
speaker 2: You want me to start cussing now, huh?

michael barbaro

— people did not hold back.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

speaker 2: It’s out of hand. Out of hand.
speaker 3: Oh, my god. It’s awful. It’s just going to affect so many people. I mean, it’s really so sad because people already struggling, and this was just so unnecessary.
speaker 4: It’s like, you’re paying double now than what you was paying a couple of weeks ago.
speaker 5: People that are on fixed incomes, they have a tough time with these gas prices.
speaker 6: See? $100. $98.80.
michael barbaro: That’s a very expensive amount of gas.
speaker 6: It’s never been this bad, man.

michael barbaro: Most people didn’t stick around for a very long conversation. They got back in their car. They told us they had to go to work. But among those who really talked to us, what became clear was just how minutely they could describe gas prices’ impact on their finances, and how these far higher prices have become a kind of referendum, a referendum on the war in Iran, on President Trump himself, and really on the entire promise of America.

michael barbaro: We’re talking to people about gas prices. If you have thoughts.
andrew: Oh, [CHUCKLES]: I’ve seen them $2-something. Now they’re at $4. So, yeah.

michael barbaro: We met a guy named Andrew who like many people in Jacksonville is a veteran. The region is a major military hub.

andrew

I mean, I just got out of the military about a year ago. So now, I’m on a fixed income type stuff. So seeing the gas prices go up really hinders that a little bit.

michael barbaro

Were you in Iraq or Afghanistan?

andrew

Jordan, Afghanistan area. And yeah, once I saw that they cut off the Strait, I was like, there go the gas prices.

michael barbaro

When you fill your car, what is the actual cost now?

andrew

$50, it’s usually like $30.

michael barbaro

So where has that come from in that pie chart of your life?

andrew

anna foley

And does it change how you eat?

andrew

Yeah.

anna foley

Can you give me an example?

andrew

michael barbaro

That’s a really meaningful sacrifice.

andrew

I mean, they come first. So I mean, we’re fine. We can handle it. But I think I give it a month before all this levels off, maybe.

michael barbaro

You hope?

andrew

I hope.

michael barbaro

Yeah.

andrew

One can hope. We just need to pull out and just not be there. And just let the Strait open up. It’s not our war.

michael barbaro

It’s not our war, you said?

andrew

It’s not our war.

michael barbaro

Well, thank you for spending time with us. And thank you for your service. I appreciate it.

anna foley

Thank you.

michael barbaro: Andrew is literally skipping meals because of this war. But we also met somebody whose financial pain is just as immediate, but who sees the war and Trump’s rationale for it in a totally different light.

michael barbaro

We’re hanging out with Cam to talk about gas prices. He let us spend the day with him. What’s your name?

william

William.

michael barbaro

And what do you do for work?

william

I own a trucking company.

michael barbaro

Whoa. So you — this is important. So you’re involved in the trucking business at a time when gas is $4 a gallon. And Diesel’s $5 a gallon.

william

In some states, we’re paying $6 and $7.

michael barbaro

So a lot of money’s coming out of your pocket?

william

Well, you’re pumping 250 gallons every time you fill up.

michael barbaro

Yeah.

william

So do the math. It’s costing anywhere between $1,200 to $1,600 for a tank of fuel now.

michael barbaro

Wow.

william

And then the rates have not gone up.

michael barbaro

So you’d be a strong candidate for being very upset about this war.

william

So I support it, but for the people of Iran. If I were going to endorse the war, it would be simply to free the Iranian people from this ridiculous regime. What happens after that? Who knows.

Did they have a nuclear weapon? Why wouldn’t they? So I don’t know what drove his decision to do this, but I feel like it was very serious.

michael barbaro

So you have faith that if the president has determined that the United States should be involved in a war against Iran, that he knows something, and he’s made this decision wisely?

william

I truly believe that. Yes. He is not one to just go out and — I don’t think — to just start this up to hide the Epstein files or whatever. So that’s all I know. That’s all I can tell you.

michael barbaro

So if the war is justified, is the gas price increase a small price to pay? Or does it feel like a big price to pay?

william

michael barbaro

Have to pay the gas prices.

william

Right. It’ll kick them right over the edge. So I am concerned about that. Hopefully it won’t last that long. I think the war over there is going to last longer than four weeks.

michael barbaro

But you can afford these gas prices?

william

Yeah, I can afford it. Yeah. I don’t like it, but I can afford it.

[LAUGHS]

michael barbaro

Thank you for your time.

william

Yes, sir. Thank you. Good luck to you guys.

michael barbaro: So despite these higher prices, William is standing by the president, for now. But there’s a whole group of people for whom the promise of lower prices, including lower gas prices, was their primary reason for voting for Trump. So now every trip to the gas pump feels like a betrayal.

michael barbaro: We’re talking about gas prices.
shaun: Unbelievable, especially when we thought we were about to get those lower gas prices. I was happy for a couple of weeks when I was $2. Like, ha! Now it’s hard.

michael barbaro: Including a woman who goes by Shaun and is a licensed Medicare agent.

shaun

I make $26 an hour. Now you tell me, why should it be hard for me to put gas in the car?

michael barbaro

So you just put $6 in?

shaun

$6.

michael barbaro

Why so little? I mean, it was expensive. That was an expensive gallon and change.

shaun

It’s hard right now. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Like, on top of grocery, on top of rent. Because I mean, I pay $2,000 to live every month.

michael barbaro

You’re down the drain?

shaun

Down the drain.

anna foley

You said you were excited for $2 gas.

shaun

Oh, my god, I was like, we are here!

anna foley

And was that something you heard from the president and his campaigns? Was that where you heard that from?

shaun

michael barbaro

Yeah. And?

shaun

And now I wish that never did that.

michael barbaro

Are you mad that he started this war and raised —

shaun

michael barbaro

You’re upset?

shaun

I’m upset.

michael barbaro

I mean, you’re crying.

shaun

I’m upset.

michael barbaro

Do you feel like you were kind of hoodwinked?

shaun

Like, stop. We are not on the beach anymore. Take your shades off. The tsunami hit, and it was called “President Trump.” We got to get up.

I’m a proud American. Very, very proud American. And right today, I’m a sad American. I’m not real proud.

[SOBS]

I’m not real proud of us. I’m not.

michael barbaro

Well —

anna foley

Thank you for sharing. Take care.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

michael barbaro

cameron joudi

michael barbaro

Regular.

cameron joudi

michael barbaro

How do you come up with that number?

cameron joudi

michael barbaro

Well, thank you again —

cameron joudi

Thank you guys.

michael barbaro

— for all the time you’ve given us.

cameron joudi

Absolutely. I appreciate you all coming out here and talking to me about this.

michael barbaro

Until next time.

cameron joudi

Yes, sir.

michael barbaro

We’ll be right back.

Here’s what else you need to know today.

archived recording (donald trump): They now have the chance, that is, Iran, to permanently abandon their nuclear ambitions and to chart a new path forward. We’ll see if they want to do it.

michael barbaro: On Thursday, President Trump sought to ratchet up pressure on Iran to enter into diplomatic negotiations to end the war.

archived recording (donald trump): If they don’t, we’re their worst nightmare. In the meantime, we’ll just keep blowing them away, unimpeded, unstopped.

michael barbaro

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Michael Barbaro. See you on Sunday.

More episodes ofThe Daily

March 27, 2026 • 26:26The View of the War From a Florida Gas Station

March 26, 2026 • 30:02The Airport Meltdown

March 25, 2026 • 24:39Are Higher Energy Prices Here to Stay?

March 24, 2026 • 33:06How China Made Itself Tariff-Proof

March 23, 2026 • 30:42The Republican Identity Crisis Over the Iran War

March 22, 2026 • 41:16Injections, Bone Hammering and the Pursuit of Peak Male Beauty

March 20, 2026 • 36:29Trump Wants to Change How We Vote. Will He Succeed?

March 19, 2026 • 38:34Who Is Winning the War in Iran?

March 18, 2026 • 40:23Inside the Government’s Crackdown on TV

March 17, 2026 • 35:20Chosen by War: The Rise of Iran’s New Supreme Leader

March 16, 2026 • 25:58A War Within the War: Israel’s Bombardment of Lebanon

March 15, 2026 • 40:33To Save His Life, Our Food Critic Reset His Appetite

See All Episodes ofThe Daily

March 27, 2026

Hosted by Michael Barbaro

Produced by Anna Foley and Caitlin O’Keefe

Edited by Devon Taylor

Contains music by Dan PowellDiane WongElisheba IttoopMarion Lozano and Chelsea Daniel

Engineered by Alyssa Moxley

For the past four weeks, soaring gas prices across the United States have become a symbol of the domestic impact of the war in Iran.

Cameron Joudi, who owns and manages a gas station in Jacksonville, Fla., discusses how the war is reaching him at home.

On Today’s Episode

Cameron Joudi, the owner of a gas station.

Image Cameron Joudi manages an independent gas station in suburban Jacksonville, Fla.Credit…Dustin Miller for The New York Times

Background Reading

A state-by-state look at the increases in gas prices and how they could affect you.

Gas prices rose more than 30 percent in some states.

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