Will gas prices give Trump and Republicans a political boost?

As Americans hit the road for the Memorial Day holiday weekend, they're getting good news at the gas pumps.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that when adjusted for inflation, the average U.S. retail gasoline prices going into Memorial Day weekend are 14% lower than last year, in large part because of falling crude oil prices.

As of Friday, AAA reported that the national average for regular gasoline stood at $3.20 per gallon.

The falling prices at the pump could be good political news for Trump and Republicans aiming to defend their Senate and House majorities in next year's midterm elections.

"Gas prices fell for the third month in a row," the White House spotlighted last week, as it argued, "Workers See Relief in President Trump's Economy."

That wasn't the case when Trump was inaugurated in January, when most polls indicated his approval ratings were above water.

Trump's blockbuster tariff announcement in early April sparked a trade war with some of the nation's top trading partners and triggered a massive sell-off in the financial markets and increased concerns about a recession.

But the markets have rebounded, thanks in part to a truce between the U.S. and China in their tariff standoff as Trump tapped the brakes on his controversial tariff implementation.

Republican strategist Jesse Hunt told Fox News Digital that the current prices at the pump are "a positive development" and that "seeing gas prices where they are is a testament to the energy policy the administration wants to pursue, and it's going to result in more money being kept in people's pockets."

But Daron Shaw, a politics professor and chair at the University of Texas who is the Republican partner on the Fox News poll, noted that "with the exception of gas prices, there hasn't been much of a reduction in prices."

"Prices haven't come down, and it's not clear that people will say the absence of inflation is an economic victory. They still feel that an appreciable portion of their money is going to pay for basic things," Shaw added. "What Trump is realizing is that prices have to come down for him to be able to declare success."

Hunt, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential and statewide campaigns, said that Republicans "still have to figure out a way to ease some of the strain on family budgets through everyday goods like groceries. They were able to get eggs under control, which was an issue that threatened them early on in the second administration."

But pointing to Trump's sweeping tax and spending cuts package, which narrowly passed the House on Thursday, Hunt said "there is a lot of hope and optimism" that the measure, if passed into law, "will help spur additional investment" and "will provide the sort of growth that you need across the economy."

Fox Business' Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.