this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2026
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“When losses happen, somebody’s got to pay for it.”

Called Freedom Fuel Network, the enterprise encompasses dozens of gas stations throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey, USA Today reported, although it isn’t exactly clear which locations are open for business. Plastered in American flag decals and “Freedom Fuel” branding, the gas stations seem to be selling unleaded gasoline for the fixed-price of $3.47 per gallon, about 32 cents cheaper than the current average price in the US.

According to GasBuddy, nearby prices range from $3.85 to as much as $4.49 — no doubt reflecting the slower drip of oil from the president’s costly war on Iran, which burst back into active fighting this week.

As head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy Patrick De Haan told the Philadelphia Inquirer, the current price of crude oil means there’s no way Freedom Fuel’s $3.47 price point can turn a profit.

“Stations selling at this price, it’s not sustainable,” De Haan explained. “Generally, when losses happen, somebody’s got to pay for it.”

De Haan raises an obvious question: who is paying for it? If the stations are losing money on every gallon, somebody has to make up the difference somewhere — whether out of Trump’s pocket, that of a friendly donor, or the taxpayer’s. And if it’s a private company taking the hit, how long until they stop subsidizing Pennsylvania drivers?

Already, the stunt seems to be distorting local markets. As of Wednesday, a nearby Sam’s Club in Dresher dropped its price to match the $3.47 figure — surely good news for anybody buying gas in South Eastern Pennsylvania, but as always, the devil is in the details.

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[–] cannedtuna@lemmy.world 7 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

I keep seeing claims that Trump is doing this, but I have not seen anyone make any actual assertions of an evidence to that effect.

You can always tell when someone doesn’t read the article, sees the headline, and jumps straight into the comments because it’s literally right there in both the article and the short version.

USA Today reported:

At the beginning of the article referenced:

The White House launched 25 Freedom Fuel gas stations, all selling fuel at $3.47 a gallon.

The White House announced the initiative on July 7 on X with a video of customers thanking President Donald Trump for lowering gas prices. The gas stations are located in the greater Philadelphia area, the White House told USA TODAY in an email on Tuesday, July 7.

I mean, did Trump come up with this idea? Very unlikely. I mean we all know how he operates at this point. Someone approaches him with an idea or product, and all Trump does is slap his name on it, ie: Trump Steaks, Trump Mobile, etc. and then he collects the royalties or kickbacks or whatever.

Either way, the wild claims with nothing to back them up

Again, you clearly didn’t read the article

i.e. OP's title

Not my title, the community rules state:

  1. Post titles should be the same as the article used as the source. Posts which titles don't match the source may be removed.

even the article doesn't say Trump is doing this, just the submitted title.

It’s in the actual article, not the TL;DR version for brevity because people don’t read full articles.

In a July 1st post on Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, the president praised a “VERY smart Retailer” for “stepping up,” and “lowering gas prices at 25 ‘FREEDOM FUEL’ Stations across the Greater Philadelphia Area.”

“This Retailer is taking the lead, and others should follow,” Trump lauded. “They are doing this because they love the USA.”

What, do you expect him to run it personally or something? It’s directly posted on the whitehouse.gov site. While everyone out here is using him to make money, if it’s on the .gov website it doesn’t really matter who came up with the idea, he stamped it, and had it put up on a government official site. If you want a list of where these actually are, they’re available on the Freedom Fuel website. Feel free to go drive out to them.