Biden blamed Big Oil when his energy policies sent prices to $5 a gallon.
Now Trump's Treasury Secretary is warning corner gas stations to drop prices the same speed they raised them.
And Bessent named what happens to anyone who doesn't – the president will call them out by name.
What Bessent Actually Said
Scott Bessent put it plainly at a CNBC forum Wednesday morning.
"We'll be looking at the Treasury to keep the retail gas stations honest," he said. "You did this on the way up, you better be doing this on the way down."
Then came the warning every gas station owner in America needs to hear: "I'm sure the president will call out anybody who's a bad actor."
When the reporter asked if that was a threat, Bessent answered with one of the better lines of his tenure.
"I'm sure everyone involved will be a good actor."
https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/2044472960006619245?s=20
Gas prices hit $4.14 a gallon nationally this week, up from $2.98 on February 28th when Operation Epic Fury began.
The Iran conflict shut down the Strait of Hormuz – the chokepoint carrying nearly a fifth of the world's daily oil supply – and that shock sent crude surging past $100 a barrel.
The EIA now forecasts retail gasoline will average more than $3.70 a gallon for the remainder of 2026.
The Difference Between Trump and Biden
Biden pulled this same playbook in 2022.
Prices hit $5 a gallon because Biden's own policies strangled domestic production – no new federal leases, a war on fossil fuels, inflation from his spending spree.
Then Biden turned around and blamed Big Oil for "price gouging," demanding the FTC investigate the companies he'd been kneecapping.
"Do not – let me repeat, do not – use this as an excuse to raise gasoline prices or gouge the American people," Biden warned oil executives in 2022.
Prices didn't drop below $3 a gallon until Trump walked back into the White House.
What's different now is the cause.
Trump's gas price spike came from a military operation aimed at stripping Iran of its nuclear capability – not from abandoning domestic energy production.
The U.S. is a net oil exporter.
American rigs are pumping.
The price spike is a global market reaction to a global supply shock – and gas station operators who used that panic to pad their margins are exactly who Bessent is talking about.
The LED Sign Problem Gas Stations Cannot Hide From
Heritage Foundation economists have long warned that price controls on gasoline backfire – the 1970s caps produced rationing, fuel shortages, and lines around the block.
Bessent isn't calling for price controls.
He's calling for market honesty.
Crude prices rose fast, and gas stations raised prices fast – sometimes within minutes, flipping their digital LED signs before the tanker trucks even left the terminal.
Now crude is stabilizing.
If those same stations don't lower prices at the same speed they raised them, they're not responding to market forces – they're pocketing the difference.
https://twitter.com/theblaze/status/2044471008552243558?s=20
The Strait of Hormuz has not fully reopened, and Bessent was straight about the timeline – somewhere between June and September before Americans see gas with a three in front of it.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright already walked back the administration's earlier optimism this week, calling $3 gas by summer "an aggressive timeframe now."
Gulf finance ministers told Bessent their countries can restart pumping within one week of the strait reopening.
Trump said Wednesday the war is nearing its end.
That means crude prices are coming down.
And when they do, every gas station in America will have the Treasury Department and the president of the United States watching their LED signs in real time – waiting to see who moves fast and who pockets the difference.
Trump didn't start this war to make gas station owners rich.
Sources:
- Scott Bessent, CNBC Invest in America Forum, April 15, 2026.
- "Bessent Warns Gas Stations That Treasury Dept Will Keep Them 'Honest' After Spike in Prices," Fox Business, April 15, 2026.
- "Bessent 'Optimistic' Gas Prices Will Fall to $3 a Gallon by Midsummer," Washington Examiner, April 15, 2026.
- "Scott Bessent Predicts Americans Will Still Be Paying Biden-Era Gas Prices in Summer Thanks to Iran War," The Daily Caller, April 15, 2026.
- "Hormuz Closure and Related Production Outages Are Key Drivers in EIA's Latest Forecast," U.S. Energy Information Administration, April 7, 2026.
- "Gasoline Price Gouging Laws Will Not Benefit Consumers," The Heritage Foundation.
