Is This the Sketchy Reason Why Pro-Trump Freedom Fuel Is So Cheap?

A new lawsuit suggests a very Trumpian answer to this business mystery.

The question has baffled industry experts for months now: How has the Freedom Fuel Network, a pro-Trump private chain of gas stations, been able to sell fuel at decidedly lower rates than its competitors? The answer may lie in a new lawsuit against the company.

Oil supplier Mansfield Oil Company sued a company that provided gas to Freedom Fuel, KRSM Inc., for acquiring over 1.1 million gallons of fuel worth about $4 million without paying for it, according to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania on August 19.

According to the lawsuit, KRSM hadn’t paid for the fuel as of August 17, despite getting the fuel from Mansfield between May 21 and July 7, and Mansfield sending updated invoices on July 17. The two companies had agreed that KRSM had to pay for fuel within 10 days of receiving it, but according to the lawsuit, Mansfield’s bank said on July 28 that KRSM had “refused” draft requests for payment.

KRSM sold “a portion” of the fuel it acquired to Freedom Fuel stations, the lawsuit states. Last month, President Trump touted the gas station chain, which has 25 stations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, for prices under the national average. Freedom Fuel stations “are doing their part to answer the President’s call to lower prices at the pump,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said last month.

Mansfield alleges in the lawsuit that KRSM sold discounted fuel to Freedom Fuel and was able to “garner such publicity” because it “never paid” for it. The White House has said the stations, which have since expanded to 29 stations, are private businesses that don’t receive any federal funding.

When the White House was praising Freedom Fuel last month for its below-market prices, it wasn’t clear how it was able to afford it or who was behind the chain. Politico found that least seven of the stations are owned by affiliates of Blue Owl, a New York–based asset manager whose stock Trump has bought and sold, and which he still has significant holdings in.

Pentagon Erupts Over Report on Classified Warnings Against Iran War

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s top advisers have warned against extending the Iran war.

The Pentagon is scrambling to contain a leak from within the military’s top brass. Defense officials were left fuming after top military leaders spoke with The Washington Post Sunday, revealing they had advised Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that a long-term engagement in Iran could have disastrous effects for American defense systems around the world—including at home.

The warnings appeared in the August 14 edition of the Secretary of Defense Orders Book, a classified internal document outlining the availability and readiness of U.S. forces stationed around the world, as understood by the heads of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as the four-star officers overseeing global operations.

Shortly after the article’s publication, Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell falsely claimed on social media that the publication of the report was not only wrong but also illegal.

“Publishing highly........

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