Donald Trump on Monday demanded that petrol stations across the United States cut prices 'immediately,' ordering retailers in a Truth Social post to drive the cost of gasoline down towards $2.50 a gallon and warning that 'big problems' awaited those who did not comply.
The political pressure over the cost of fuel, an issue that has dogged Trump throughout a period of volatile oil markets and tensions in the Middle East. Oil prices, which spiked earlier this year after US and Israeli strikes on Iran and subsequent retaliation by Tehran, have since fallen back to around $68 a barrel as diplomacy resumed and a ceasefire was extended. Trump now argues that motorists are not seeing the benefit of that decline when they pull up at the pump.
