{"id":695,"date":"2026-07-01T16:14:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T16:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=695"},"modified":"2026-07-01T16:14:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T16:14:02","slug":"trump-scapegoats-gas-companies-for-price-hikes-caused-by-his-iran-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=695","title":{"rendered":"Trump Scapegoats Gas Companies for Price Hikes Caused by His Iran War"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

On Monday, President Donald Trump renewed his threats to the oil and gas industry, <\/span>telling<\/span> gasoline retailers they “must get their Prices down, IMMEDIATELY!” to around $2.50 per gallon. The president first threatened the “big Oil Companies” last Wednesday, when he <\/span>ordered<\/span> the Justice Department to investigate whether they were engaged in price gouging.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more How Statistics Become Propaganda<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s unclear how the president arrived at his asking price. When he first railed against higher prices last week, he <\/span>estimated<\/span> that gas prices should be “$2.25 right now at the pump,” an unrealistic expectation based on the market data. (The <\/span>average price<\/span> for regular unleaded gasoline is $3.85 per gallon, according to AAA, and the last time the average price of gas hovered around $2.25 per gallon was <\/span>.) Still, if the president is looking for someone to blame for higher gas prices, he should direct his ire at himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Trump reentered office, the average price of gasoline stood at <\/span>, while the average per-barrel price of crude oil was <\/span>$75.44.\u00a0Through the first year of the president’s second term, the average price of gas nationwide remained relatively stable between $3.20 and $3.60 per gallon, falling to a low of $3.19 per gallon in January, <\/span> data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, toward the end of February and leading into March, gas prices increased by 0.55 cents, a 16 percent jump <\/span>sparked by the president’s illegal war in Iran<\/span>. With the Strait of Hormuz\u2014which transports 20 percent of the world’s petroleum supply\u2014closed, crude oil prices continued to rise. After the average price of gas in the U.S.<\/span> reached $4 per gallon<\/span> in late March, crude prices peaked at an average of $112 per barrel in April, <\/span>according to<\/span> Business Insider<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Those prices eventually <\/span>dropped<\/span> following the announcement of a ceasefire that same month. Crude oil is currently hovering around $69 per barrel, close to the $67.02 per barrel average a day before the war began. All told, the war has cost Americans an extra $447 in higher energy costs per household, <\/span>according<\/span> to Moody’s.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Considering gasoline retailers\u2014<\/span>the subjects<\/span> of the president’s discontent\u2014are price takers, not makers, the president’s <\/span>demand<\/span> that the price at the pump decrease “commensurate with” the price of crude oil seems unreasonable. Most gas stations, even those with nationally recognized brands, are independently owned, mom-and-pop operations. If they aren’t obligated to buy fuel from their brand supplier, they buy from the global fuel market. And even when petroleum prices spike, gas stations <\/span>make most of their money from snacks and food<\/span>, not fuel sales, meaning they don’t profit from the supposed price gouging Trump is accusing them of.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Thin-Skinned Government Agents Threaten Yet Another Critic<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s not the first time a president has accused the oil and gas industry of price gouging. As far back as <\/span>Bill Clinton<\/span>,\u00a0presidents have used their expansive regulatory powers to investigate oil companies whenever prices were politically inconvenient. George W. Bush did it <\/span>in 2006<\/span>, Barack Obama <\/span>in 2011<\/span>, and Joe Biden <\/span>in 2021<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In each case, federal regulators were unable to find any evidence of industry-wide price fixing. Regardless, lawmakers insist corrupt business practices are afoot. Last June, Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D\u2013Ill.) introduced the <\/span>Price Gouging Prevention Act of 2025<\/span>, which would grant the federal government authority to regulate and criminalize price gouging. The bill has so far stalled in committee.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an emailed response to a question about the status of a potential Justice Department investigation, a department spokesperson told <\/span>Reason<\/span><\/i> that gas prices are a “national security issue” affecting “every American,” and that the department is committed to “ensuring affordability in this nation.”<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s easy to cast the oil and gas industry as greedy capitalists profiting from scarcity during a war. Yet, they’re simply reacting to foreign policy decisions by the Trump administration that have negatively affected the global supply chain.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Democrats\u2019 First \u2018Project 2029\u2019 Proposal: More Government Control Over Social Media<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Trump is threatening gas companies and retailers over prices his own Iran policy helped create, while demanding that prices drop to a level the market hasn’t seen since 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iran"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump Scapegoats Gas Companies for Price Hikes Caused by His Iran War - Pioneer Relocation News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=695\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump Scapegoats Gas Companies for Price Hikes Caused by His Iran War - 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