Trump Orders Big Oil to Cut Gas Prices Amid Crude Slump
US President Donald Trump has issued another warning to oil executives to lower retail gas prices. In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said 'Get your consumer (retail!) Oil Prices DOWN, NOW!' The comments follow an interview with Fox Business by Chevron Corp. CEO Mike Wirth, in which he discussed the company's strong recent performance.
Trump credited his administration's policies for Chevron's return to Venezuela, calling it a success. However, he then shifted focus to retail gas prices, claiming they have not fallen fast enough alongside crude oil. This is part of a monthslong campaign by Trump, who has set a $2.50-a-gallon target and threatened a Department of Justice price-gouging probe against companies such as Chevron, ExxonMobil Corp., Shell Plc, and BP Plc.
Oil prices dropped sharply on Monday, with West Texas Intermediate crude falling 8% to below $80 a barrel, while Brent crude fell around 5%. This decline followed Trump's weekend announcement that he was calling off a planned strike on Iran and restarting talks aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Weaker manufacturing data from China and the US, as well as OPEC+ plans to raise production quotas in September, added further downward pressure on crude.
Despite this, equity markets moved in the opposite direction, with the S&P 500 rising 1.18% and the Nasdaq 100 gaining 1.79%. Lower energy costs eased inflation concerns and pushed Treasury yields down, with the 10-year yield falling about 5 basis points to 4.68%. For Big Oil, the setup remains awkward as cheaper crude improves margins for refiners in the short term, but Trump's public demands for lower retail prices put executives in a bind between shareholder returns and political optics ahead of the midterms.