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President Donald Trump endorsed the new chain on Truth Social on July 1. The first station opened in Dresher, Pennsylvania, with regular fuel advertised at $3.47 per gallon.
ABC NewsPresident Donald Trump promoted the Freedom Fuel Network on Truth Social on July 1, calling the Northeast retailer a "VERY smart" operator that would return gas prices to record lows. The White House posted on X days later to mark the opening of the first station in Dresher, Pennsylvania, and released a video of patrons waving cash outside a store decorated with American flags and a golden eagle logo.
The network was registered in Delaware on June 23 with documents signed by Randy Brown and Yoni Gontownik.
Brown is a senior special teams coach with the Baltimore Ravens and former mayor of Evesham Township, New Jersey. Gontownik is a former investment director at Mercuria. Fourteen of the 25 stations are controlled by companies linked to Shamikh and Syed Kazmi, and Shamikh Kazmi leases eight stations from Blue Owl Capital.
A federal judge in New Jersey ordered the Kazmi brothers in February to pay more than $600,000 to a fuel supplier after finding they unlawfully took over 230,000 gallons in August 2021. Syed Kazmi also faces a $380,000 judgment from a 7-Eleven suit over unsanitary conditions and missing inventory at a prior franchise.
Blue Owl Capital owns about a third of the Freedom Fuel properties and leases the stores to independent contractors.
The chain launched last month and advertised regular gasoline at $3.47 per gallon. A Bensalem, Pennsylvania, station sold fuel for $3.82 per gallon on Thursday, 27 cents below a nearby Sunoco. Jeff Lenard of the National Association of Convenience Stores said the price likely reflected a short-term loss.
Trump previously held up to $25 million in Blue Owl stock but has sold almost all of it, according to his most recent financial disclosure. The White House stated that the administration is not involved in the company and has provided no funding. The Freedom Fuel Network credited Trump's endorsement for its growth on its website.
dailywire.comPresident Trump issued the statement Monday after the US completed its tenth consecutive night of strikes on Iran. The remarks followed Iranian attacks that killed at least two American service members in Jordan.
abcnews.go.comTwo American service members died in attacks tied to the renewed conflict with Iran. Seventeen U.S. troops have been killed and more than 430 wounded since the war began, the Pentagon said.
abcnews.go.comAn Israeli airstrike on Tuesday killed Firas Al-Masri, his wife Salsabeel and their four children in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City. The strike set the family home ablaze, and medics confirmed the deaths.