Posted on 06/24/2026 11:58:00 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
President Donald Trump has accused America's biggest oil companies of ripping off drivers at the gas pump - ordering the Justice Department to investigate after crude prices plunged but retail prices did not fall as quickly as he wanted.
In a furious post sent after midnight on Wednesday, Trump said oil companies were failing to pass on the full benefit of sharply cheaper crude to ordinary Americans.
'The big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for Oil,' Trump wrote on Truth Social.
'Those prices are dropping like a rock! In other words, customers are being 'gouged.'
Trump said he had instructed the Department of Justice to act.
'I have instructed the DOJ to immediately start looking into this,' he wrote. 'Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I'm seeing!'
The president's late-night broadside came as drivers were already beginning to see relief after weeks of painful prices.
The national average price of gasoline fell for a sixth consecutive week, dropping 14.1 cents per gallon over the past week to $3.85 on Monday, according to GasBuddy.
That represents a decline of roughly 15 percent from the peak reached in May.
Prices were $5.49 per gallon at gas stations in Los Angeles earlier this week.
Prices have fallen in most states, with particularly sharp drops in parts of the West and Midwest.
GasBuddy data showed average prices fell by 25 cents a gallon in Colorado over the past week, 22 cents in Arizona and 21 cents in Ohio.
The average national price also slipped below $4 per gallon last week for the first time since March, after the US and Iran announced a memorandum of understanding...
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.com ...
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“Prices are sticky on the downside.”
Econ 101 parable.
TRUTH.
The SECOND you hear that oil prices are rising, the price increases at the pump but it takes WEEKS for the price to decrease once the price has dropped.
Instead he is pandering to the stupid people and reinforcing stereotypes and propaganda put out by leftists.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4385242/posts
An article about this was posted earlier...Not Daily Mail however...
Oh the prices will go bust after July 4th...they just need to keep them high for about 10 more days!/sarc
There is generally a two week delay in major prices shifts. That the typical supply contract for retail gas suppliers. There WAS delay on the way up, and there will be delay on the way down... but prices around me are already well below $4
He sounds like Biden and Obummer.
Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...
“Prices are sticky on the downside.”
Econ 101 parable.
**********
Investigate. For along time, gasoline prices have not been set by the free market. They have mirrored oil prices — on the upside and downside; but I wouldn’t put it past leftist oil executives to make a political exception for Trump.
he knows better than this. the oil at your local station was bought at higher prices and Owner Joe isn’t going to take a bath - gradually the $70 oil of today will be had at lower gas prices. they’re already down 25%+. this is a cheap pander. he’s beginning to get on my nerves as he seems not so savvy in what he is doing these days...
I don’t think you will fine many oil executives are leftists.
Diesel prices have dropped over $1.00 per gallon in my area
west texas intermediate has gone from 111.00/barrel in march to 70.00/barrel today ... there’s DEFINITELY price gouging going on!!!
Not when the price of oil goes up. Price hikes at the pump happen by the day for that event.
Trump is not pandering, he is stating the general truth about pump prices and most other types of retail prices. Elevator up and the long way down the stairs down if prices ever go down. The retailer wins a bonus on both sides of the change. I only see some of the larger chains following oil prices with pump prices. Not sure why but they usually do. PR?
For pump prices to follow oil they need to be down about another 60 cents on the national average.
He’s playing this for main street. However, it’s simple economics.
When gas stations see a rise in oil prices, they immediately raise their prices. Why? It will cost more to restock.
When oil prices fall, prices come down more slowly. Why? First, because they paid higher prices for what is currently in the tanks and would like to recoup that cost. Second, due to competition. Try as they might to sell for a higher price, their competitors will try to undercut to get more business. They will settle at a new, stable price eventually.
Just economics.
Refining margins though Trump’s War have been some of the highest in history. Oil companies will not give thet up easily.
Trump is pretty right about this. Just eyeballing, prices are about 60 cents away from parity to before the war. They went up like a rocket but are not falling so quickly. That my FRiend is greed if not gouging in my humble opinion.
Dimocrats have stopped drilling and refining for fifty years and now people wonder why it is high.
“ There is generally a two week delay in major prices shifts.”
Gouge us on gas, groceries, pharmaceutical, insurance, taxes.
We get gouged on everything. Don’t just single out gas.
You know, if the fraud that takes place in this country on a daily basis was stopped there wouldn’t be any need to tax the people.
From what I understand, the price at the pump jumps immediately when the price of oil increases to reflect the increased cost to replace gasoline inventories. However, the price at the pump falls slowly as the price of oil falls because the gasoline inventories were purchased at a higher price.
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