Iran

Trump Scapegoats Gas Companies for Price Hikes Caused by His Iran War

The president 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.

Tosin Akintola | 7.1.2026 10:00 AM

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(Illustration: Andreblais/Dreamstime/Aaron Schwartz-Pool via CNP/CNP/Polaris/Newscom)

On Monday, President Donald Trump renewed his threats to the oil and gas industry, telling 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 ordered the Justice Department to investigate whether they were engaged in price gouging. 

It's unclear how the president arrived at his asking price. When he first railed against higher prices last week, he estimated that gas prices should be "$2.25 right now at the pump," an unrealistic expectation based on the market data. (The average price for regular unleaded gasoline is $3.85 per gallon, according to AAA, and the last time the average price of gas hovered around........

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