US President Donald Trump instructed gasoline retailers to immediately lower prices and warned of 'big problems' otherwise.
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday, Trump said, 'Gasoline retailers must lower their prices IMMEDIATELY.' The president wrote, 'If retailers do not do this, big problems are coming. Start targeting around $2.50 per gallon.'
Trump also specifically targeted California, calling on the state to lower its gasoline taxes. 'Soon the tax will be higher than the product itself, and the US will not allow it, just as the people of California, who are being abused by these ridiculous taxes and their own government, will not allow it,' he said.
Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom is known as one of Trump's harshest critics in his second term. California also emphasizes renewable energy and aims to have a carbon-neutral electricity grid within 20 years.
However, as gasoline prices have risen since the US-Israel war on Iran, the Trump administration is encouraging more domestic fuel production and has invoked emergency powers to restart a California oil pipeline that was shut down due to a major leak in 2015.
Last week, Trump also announced he launched an investigation into major oil companies over high gasoline prices. In a Truth Social post on June 24, he said, 'Big Oil companies are not lowering the pump prices in proportion to the sharply falling prices they pay for oil. These prices are dropping like a rock. In other words, customers are being ripped off. I instructed the Department of Justice to begin investigating this matter immediately.'
Trump's demand for low gasoline prices comes at a time when he faces criticism over his war on Iran and its impact on costs for millions of Americans, and as the midterm elections in November approach. The president has repeatedly said that fuel prices will 'fall like a rock' after the conflict with Iran ends, but economists dispute Trump's claims, predicting longer-term economic repercussions due to the conflict.
