Retailers May Be Slow to Pass Through Falling Crude Costs

President Trump posted on Truth Social in the early hours of June 30 demanding that gasoline retailers lower prices immediately. He stated that retailers must get their prices down and warned that failure to do so would bring big problems ahead. The president said gas stations should charge no more than $2.50 per gallon.

He cited the current price of oil at $68 per barrel, which he stated was heading lower. @unusual_whales reported the national average price of regular gasoline at $3.85 per gallon on June 30, down from $4.36 one month earlier but up from $3.19 one year earlier. Gasoline prices rose 40.5 percent on a 12-month basis through May 2026, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Fuel oil prices rose 58.9 percent over the same period. The U.S. inflation rate was 4.2 percent as of the latest reported figure. The demand followed a June 29 Supreme Court ruling that President Trump lacked authority to remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook without due process.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that Cook was entitled to notice and some opportunity to respond prior to her termination. The 5-4 decision upheld the central bank’s independence. Kevin Warsh, the current Chair of the Federal Reserve, did not lower interest rates in his first meeting chairing the Federal Open Market Committee earlier this month.