US president warns of ‘big problems’ if retailers don’t lower prices, slams illegal gouging.
Published June 30, 2026
US President Donald Trump has ordered gasoline retailers to immediately lower prices, warning of “big problems” if they don’t.
“Gasoline retailers should immediately lower prices,” President Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social on Monday.
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“There will be no (sic) counting. This is completely illegal,” Trump posted.
“If retailers don’t do this, we’re in big trouble! Start targeting around $2.50 a gallon,” he wrote.
“Retailers must react quickly to this statement and do what they know is right: Lower prices for our great American people!”
President Trump took particular aim at California, urging the state to lower its gas tax as well.
“Soon our taxes will be higher than the goods themselves. America won’t put up with that, and neither will Californians who are being abused by these ridiculous taxes and their own government,” Trump wrote.
California Governor Gavin Newsom (Democratic) has been one of Trump’s fiercest critics during his second term as president, including his push to promote fossil fuels.
California is also doubling its use of renewable energy and hopes to have a carbon-neutral power grid within 20 years.
But with gasoline prices soaring since the U.S.-Israel war against Iran, the Trump administration has pushed to expand domestic fuel production and invoked emergency powers to restart an oil pipeline in California that was shut down after a major spill in 2015.
Separately, President Trump announced last week that he was ordering an investigation into major oil companies over soaring gasoline prices.
“Big oil companies are not lowering prices fast enough to match the sharp decline in oil prices,” he wrote in a June 24 post on Truth Social.
“Those prices are falling like a rock! In other words, customers are being ‘gouged’. I have directed the Department of Justice (DOJ) to immediately launch an investigation,” he posted.
President Trump’s calls to lower gas prices in the United States come as he faces criticism over the start of the war against Iran and its impact on the cost of living for millions of Americans, and as November’s midterm elections approach.
The president has repeatedly said fuel prices would be “like a rock” after the conflict with Iran ends, but economists dispute his claims and predict the long-term economic impact of the conflict.
