Trump told Big Oil to drop gas prices – and they did it in five days.
Biden drained the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and gas still hit four dollars and fifty cents.
Now Trump wants your help making sure every station in America got the message.
What Happened When Trump Rattled Big Oil's Cage
Trump's Truth Social warning last Tuesday was direct.
"The big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for Oil," he wrote.
He didn't stop there.
"I have instructed the DOJ to immediately start looking into this," he added – and told companies that "gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster."
https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2071743178466566271?s=20
The market moved.
GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan reported that prices dropped in 46 states over the past week, with diesel falling in 49.
The national average – which had spiked to $4.55 at its peak in May when Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz – now sits at $3.86 according to AAA.
By GasBuddy's calculation, prices are down 55.6 cents from a month ago.
Trump celebrated on Truth Social Monday morning with characteristic restraint: "GAS PRICES COMING DOWN, FAST! REPORT ANY ABUSES AT RETAIL LEVEL!!!"
The Iran War, the Strait, and Why Prices Spiked in the First Place
Here's the context Democrats and their media allies won't give you.
When the U.S. and Israel launched military operations against Iran's nuclear program on February 28, Tehran responded by closing the Strait of Hormuz – the narrow waterway through which roughly 20% of the world's oil supply flows.
The result was crude oil spiking above $100 per barrel for the first time since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Gas prices jumped nearly 54% from $2.96 in late February to a peak of $4.55 in May.
Then Trump got a deal done.
https://twitter.com/WesternJournalX/status/2071664298653544870?s=20
The U.S. and Iran signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding – opening the Strait, starting 60-day final-stage peace talks, and beginning the denuclearization process Trump had promised.
Oil fell back toward $69 per barrel.
"Since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, we saw an uptick in ships crossing the Strait, with stranded ships suddenly becoming available and providing a wave of new supply," said UBS commodities analyst Giovanni Staunovo.
The problem was that Big Oil wasn't passing the savings along fast enough – what economists call the "rockets and feathers" effect, where prices rise like a rocket but fall like a feather.
Trump wasn't having it.
What Biden Did Versus What Trump Did
Here's what the mainstream media won't tell you side by side.
When Biden faced high gas prices after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, he did two things: blamed "Putin's price hike," and drained the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to its lowest level in 40 years.
When Trump faced high gas prices after the Iran war, he ended the war, secured a deal reopening the world's most critical oil chokepoint, and then ordered a DOJ investigation into companies pocketing the savings.
Some in the media want to compare the two moves.
They're not the same.
Biden ordered a probe and gas stayed high.
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2071743489659040092?s=20
Trump ordered a probe while simultaneously ending the war that caused the spike.
There's no comparison.
The July 4 Warning You Need to Hear
The good news doesn't come without a warning, and De Haan was honest about it.
"The fragile nature of the U.S.-Iran situation means the outlook could shift quickly," he said.
A handful of price-cycling states could see temporary jumps ahead of the July 4 holiday.
The Strait of Hormuz is still not fully back to normal – Staunovo noted that ships moving into the Gulf are a necessary step for Middle East production to fully recover, a process he says could take longer than the ceasefire agreement suggests.
Trump himself acknowledged this, noting West Texas Intermediate crude sat at "$69, and heading down" – but "heading down" is doing real work in that sentence.
It held through fresh U.S.-Iran exchanges last week.
But Trump's warning to report price gouging "at retail level" wasn't just a victory lap.
It was a signal to every gas station owner in America: the president is watching, the DOJ is watching, and the days of pocketing the spread between falling crude and sticky pump prices are over.
Sources:
- Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy petroleum analysis, June 29, 2026.
- Tom Howell Jr., "Trump pressures gasoline companies to more quickly ease the pain at the pump," The Washington Times, June 24, 2026.
- Donald Trump, Truth Social posts, June 24 and June 29, 2026.
- AAA, National Average Gasoline Price Data, June 29, 2026.
