Tipsheet

President Trump Is Demanding Lower Gas Prices

Dmitri Bolt
Dmitri Bolt  |  June 30, 2026 9:45 AM

Conservatives cannot fall for the same lies socialists do.

In a scathing post on Truth Social, President Trump tore into gas retailers for their gas prices lagging behind the sharp drop in oil prices following the signing of the Iran Memorandum of Understanding just weeks ago, which opened up the Strait of Hormuz. 

"Gasoline Retailers must get their Prices down, IMMEDIATELY!" the president wrote on Truth Social. "They’re too high considering that Oil is now at $68 a Barrel, and heading south. The Retailers must quickly react to this statement, and do what they know is right — DROP YOUR PRICE FOR OUR GREAT AMERICAN PEOPLE! There will be no gouging, which is totally illegal. If Retailers don’t do this, big problems lie ahead! Start targeting around the $2.50 a Gallon number."

"And California should stop charging such heavy Taxes on their Gasoline," Trump added. "Soon the Tax will be higher than the Product itself, and the United States will not stand for it, nor will the People of California, who are being abused by these ridiculous Taxes, and by their own Government. President DONALD J. TRUMP."

The lag doesn’t lie with businesses, nor does it lie with the president or the war in Iran. It comes down to simple supply, demand, and time: oil has to reach the United States, be refined into gasoline, and then be distributed nationwide. 

You can also see proof of a lack of price gouging in the profit margins of gas retailers.

Before the Iran war, retailers were making about $0.30 to $0.40 per gallon in profit. During the peak of the war, margins briefly rose to around $0.50, with some areas, primarily in California, seeing profits above $1.00, though those figures now appear to be back in the $0.30 to $0.50 range. And when margins went up, that wasn’t the fault of gas retailers. It was the simple fact that supply dwindled faster than demand. In other words, if the conflict had dragged on, profit margins would have likely fallen back to their typical levels as supply and demand reached equilibrium.

Context also matters. Let's not forget that California, a region that saw higher profit margins, has a state government that takes in more profit per gallon than gas retailers do, so don’t let retailer margins alone drive the outrage. And most gas-station profit comes from convenience-store sales, not the fuel itself. If retailers were chasing easy price gouging, fuel would be a terrible place to do it: it’s too visible, too regulated, and too thin-margin to conceal abuse for long.

As the United States recovers from its brief bump in gasoline prices, it’s worth remembering that we should not make the same arguments socialists do, especially as they continue to gain ground within the Democratic Party. Corporations are not out to get consumers, and these price shifts take time. 

The market is doing what it does best right now: adjusting, and no amount of government intervention, or even a DOJ investigation, is going to change that.

Gas and oil prices are still coming down, and that credit does belong to President Trump. At their peak, oil reached around $126 a barrel, and the average gas price across the U.S. hit $4.56 a gallon. As of Monday, those prices are down significantly, with oil in the low $70 range and the national average gas price at $3.86. The Trump administration’s plan is working. 

In the meantime, we should be careful not to attack the free market in ways that play well into the hands of socialists.