President Donald Trump ripped into the U.S. oil sector on Wednesday, accusing oil majors of keeping gasoline prices high and prolonging the pain at the pump as he sought to bring his four-month war against Iran to a close.
In a post to Truth Social early Wednesday, Trump said consumers were being “gouged” and he ordered the Justice Department to investigate big oil companies for not bringing gasoline prices down fast enough.
“The big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for Oil,” Trump wrote. “Those prices are dropping like a rock!”
The post is the latest sign that high costs across the economy — and for fuel in particular — are a key concern for the White House ahead of the November midterm elections that could see Republicans lose control of Congress. Inflation rose to 4.2 percent in May, with energy prices accounting for much of the month-over-month increase.
