President Donald Trump turned up the heat on the energy sector Wednesday, publicly demanding that major oil companies immediately slash prices at the pump to match the sharp decline in global crude markets.
The global energy landscape had spiked drastically during the recent military conflict with Iran. However, crude prices have been on a steep downward trajectory ever since the United States and Iran announced a landmark framework agreement to end the hostilities.
Taking to Truth Social to air his grievances, the President accused the industry of pocketing the savings rather than passing them along to American drivers.
“The big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for Oil,” Trump posted. “Those prices are dropping like a rock! In other words, customers are being ‘gouged.’”
🚨 THE US JUST ORDERED A DOJ PROBE INTO BIG OIL. READ THAT AGAIN:
Trump announced this at 12:12 AM — not through a press secretary, not through a policy memo. A midnight public statement ordering the Department of Justice to open an investigation.
Do you understand what that… pic.twitter.com/7zs8DCMER4
— 🇺🇸 Edward T. Winslow (@EdwardTWinz) June 24, 2026
“I have instructed the DOJ to immediately start looking into this,” Trump posted, escalating the dispute into a potential federal matter. “Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I’m seeing!”
The data underscores the President’s frustration. According to NBC News, U.S. crude closed at $73.21 on Tuesday—marking a steep decline of more than 36 percent since oil prices reached their peak in April.
Yet, the relief for everyday drivers has been far more muted. Data from AAA placed the national average for a gallon of gasoline at $3.93, representing a modest drop of just 13 percent over the same period and highlighting the stark disconnect between Wall Street trading floors and local gas stations.
As usual Gasoline lags.
Oil companies are quick to jam up the prices at the pump when a supply shock hits. And are very slow to bring prices back down as the shock dissipates.
President Trump is right to point this fact out. pic.twitter.com/F0qW2uz1W9
— James E. Thorne (@DrJStrategy) June 24, 2026
Speaking to a crowd at a Pennsylvania campaign rally on Tuesday, Trump framed the sliding energy market as the catalyst for broader economic relief, predicting that tumbling oil prices would soon trigger a downward trend for consumer costs across the board.
“The stock market hit a new high today again, and oil, for the first time in months, hit — think of it, $70 a barrel,” Trump told the audience, according to a report by The Hill. “That equates to a very low price. That oil is going to come charging down, and with oil comes everything else.”
Addressing the economic strain voters have felt at the pump, the President repositioned the recent price spikes not as a policy failure, but as a necessary geopolitical sacrifice required to neutralize Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
“Remember this: we had to make this detour,” Trump said, defending his administration’s foreign policy calculus. “We had to go to Iran. Can’t let them blow up the Middle East, and then us, if that’s possible.”