US President Donald Trump has ordered gasoline retailers to immediately lower prices, warning of 'big problems' if they fail to comply. In a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday, Trump wrote: 'Gasoline Retailers must get their Prices down, IMMEDIATELY. There will be no gauging [sic], which is totally illegal.'
Trump set a target of around $2.50 per gallon, adding: 'If Retailers don’t do this, big problems lie ahead! ... The Retailers must quickly react to this statement, and do what they know is right — DROP YOUR PRICE FOR OUR GREAT AMERICAN PEOPLE!'
The president specifically targeted California, urging the state to reduce its gasoline taxes. '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,' Trump wrote. California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has been a vocal critic of Trump's second-term policies, including his push for fossil fuels. The state is also pursuing renewable energy and aims for a carbon-neutral grid within 20 years.
However, with gasoline prices surging since the US-Israel war on Iran, the Trump administration is pushing for increased domestic fuel production. It has invoked emergency powers to restart an oil pipeline in California that was shut down after a major spill in 2015.
Separately, Trump claimed last week that he had ordered an investigation into major oil companies over high gasoline prices. 'The big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for Oil,' he wrote on June 24. 'Those prices are dropping like a rock! In other words, customers are being “gouged”. I have instructed the DOJ [Department of Justice] to immediately start looking into this.'
Trump's demand for lower gasoline prices comes as he faces criticism for launching the war on Iran and its impact on millions of Americans, and as November's mid-term elections approach. The president has repeatedly claimed that fuel prices would 'come down like a rock' after the conflict with Iran ends, but economists dispute these assertions and predict longer-term economic repercussions due to the conflict.
Source: www.aljazeera.com