President Donald Trump is telling gasoline retailers to do the right thing and lower their prices for Americans.
In a post on his Truth Social Monday, the president wrote, “Gasoline Retailers must get their Prices down, IMMEDIATELY! 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. 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
Last week, Trump highlighted a 60-cent fall in gas prices following the end of the Iran war. The conflict resulted in the Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately one-fifth of the world’s oil travels, being closed. However, the strait has since been reopened, according to Breitbart News.
“The average price of gasoline nationwide is down 60 cents a gallon, just from a short while ago… We had to make this detour, we had to go to Iran. You can’t let them blow up the Middle East, and then us, if that’s possible,” he said.
Breitbart News’s John Carney wrote on Thursday that the United States economy was resilient throughout the oil crisis:
When the price of oil started climbing after Iran succeeded in halting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, there was good reason to worry that soaring gasoline prices would become a serious economic drag. Far more than creating risk of persistent inflation, higher gasoline prices risked siphoning demand from other parts of the economy. In the worst-case scenario, falling sales would trigger layoffs and raise unemployment, setting off a negative economic spiral.
…
The data, however, suggest that the American economy powered through the Iran oil shock. Nominal spending climbed 0.7 percent in May after rising 0.4 percent in April. Real spending, which had been flat in April, rose 0.3 percent. Americans adjusted to higher gasoline prices not by pulling back spending elsewhere but by increasing their purchases. [Emphasis original.]
In early June, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said gas prices would continue to fall across the nation because “we’re producing and exporting more oil than we ever have,” Breitbart News reported.
A few days later, the outlet reported the national average price of a gallon of gasoline dropped under $4 on June 18, citing AAA.
“The peace deal between the U.S. and Iran has sent oil prices plunging, dragging down gasoline prices,” the article said, noting that “California has the highest state average price in the U.S., at $5.64 a gallon.”
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