On Monday, President Donald Trump renewed his threats to the oil and gas industry, telling gasoline retailers they "must get their Prices down, IMMEDIATELY!" to around $2.50 per gallon. The president first threatened the "big Oil Companies" last Wednesday, when he ordered the Justice Department to investigate whether they were engaged in price gouging.
It's unclear how the president arrived at his asking price. When he first railed against higher prices last week, he estimated that gas prices should be "$2.25 right now at the pump," an unrealistic expectation based on the market data. (The average price for regular unleaded gasoline is $3.85 per gallon, according to AAA, and the last time the average price of gas hovered around $2.25 per gallon was May 2020.) Still, if the president is looking for someone to blame for higher gas prices, he should direct his ire at himself.
