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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[–] jaykrown@lemmy.world 1 points 33 minutes ago

This is all you need to know.

[–] NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world 0 points 37 minutes ago (1 children)

Government subsidized gas is not an issue. But that's not what's going on. Trump is pocketing the money, cutting the gas with something else, selling stolen gas, or using tax payer funds for it (the last of which is whatever), but whatever he is doing isn't being done out of the goodness of his heart.

[–] Bakkoda@lemmy.world 1 points 5 minutes ago

And making people drive all over looking for it. So you get "E85" (I can guarantee it'll be closer to the 50% ethanol than the 80% side), long lines, more traffic and a bad reputation for the gas stations where people buy bad gas.

[–] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 16 points 5 hours ago

He paid a bunch of existing gas stations to change their name and lower their prices. He will make up the difference by subsidizing the gas stations using tax payer money. I guarantee you this will not be noticed by the majority.

[–] green_goglin@thelemmy.club 4 points 3 hours ago

Willing to wager these gasoline inventories are getting diluted well beyond our normal summer blend thresholds.

[–] zqps@sh.itjust.works 9 points 6 hours ago

"Out of Trump's pocket" LMAO whatever they're on, I'd like to have some.

[–] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 9 points 7 hours ago
[–] MrNesser@lemmy.world 6 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Confused where he has got this chearp fuel from - is he selling the reseve?

[–] Escape13@slrpnk.net 2 points 3 hours ago

Venezuela maybe?

[–] BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world 5 points 6 hours ago

Couldn't you say that all US gas stations are suspiciously cheap? This is just a little more straightforward, but it is a pretty subsidized industry. Unless I'm thinking about that wrong.

Honestly, how do most countries gas stations work, do they purchase fuel from the government?

[–] zhkent@lemmy.today 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

It's not a thing. Trumpbjust made it up. Source: MrGlobal, on YouTube and substack.

[–] zhkent@lemmy.today 3 points 2 hours ago

Was wrong! My guy Mr Global just posted. He thinks this is marketing budget being used to subsidies the price. Trump announced a freedom fuel thing July 4 that was fake. Now someone grabbed the name I guess.

[–] daychilde@lemmy.world 11 points 12 hours ago (4 children)

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.

While Trump has jumped on the promotion, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's in on it somehow, it really sounds to me like some MAGA asshat who's trying to take advantage for publicity.

I'd really like to know who's paying for it, though, and why. Maybe it's just an introductory price to convince people they'll sell it for less, but I don't see how that'll get long-term customers.

Either way, the wild claims with nothing to back them up (i.e. OP's title) really annoy me. There's so much to be angry at. Fabricating lies is not needed. Or certainly saying things that are not known to be true - even the article doesn't say Trump is doing this, just the submitted title.

[–] cannedtuna@lemmy.world 5 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 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.

[–] RidderSport@feddit.org 1 points 6 hours ago

Is it possible Trump or MAGA or someone affiliated is trying to make the entire fuel station system go belly up in Pennsilvania so that they can have the monopoly?

[–] hansolo@lemmy.today 5 points 11 hours ago

Likely both. The fuel has to come from somewhere. An established refinery or distributor has to be involved. You can't just sell gas from a lemonade pitcher, stations are highly regulated as well.

My guess would be some donor and some oil industry VP of Bafoonery came up with a plan to force prices lower in a couple states with important seats coming up in the midterms. Just for the good vibes. The lower price forces everyone else to drop to at-cost sales. And the legal top cover you get Miller, T-Shiz, and Bessent.

[–] Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 10 hours ago

I'm fairly sure the business was traced back to a corporation that Trump dealt with in previous instances.

[–] CubitOom@infosec.pub 46 points 16 hours ago

The Gang Solves the Gas Crisis

[–] KnitWit@lemmy.world 22 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

It’s going to turn out that he is waiving the federal gas tax for some buddies and a cut.

[–] daychilde@lemmy.world 2 points 12 hours ago

This is not plausible.

The only two things I've seen that are plausible:

  • Loss leader - they're using this to make a splash and prices will rise later
  • Some political group is subsidizing for political purposes
[–] mbp@slrpnk.net 5 points 12 hours ago

Targeting Pennsylvania metros and other swing states near you!

[–] JollyG@lemmy.world 240 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (9 children)

Come join the anticommunist Republican party. They've got:

  1. Price controls
  2. Closed markets
  3. State-owned industry

Edit adding a 4th

  1. The living-or-dead status of party members as closely guarded state secrets
[–] Fedizen@lemmy.world 32 points 20 hours ago (1 children)
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[–] danc4498@lemmy.world 63 points 22 hours ago (20 children)

All my libertarian friends hate it, but somehow keep voting for it.

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[–] ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 66 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

He's draining our reserves. God we're fucked.

[–] Malyca@lemmy.zip 6 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

I think we all know by now collapse is inevitable

[–] ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 hours ago

Just trying to figure out where to move my 401k at this point. It's completely out of tech now though.

[–] Mycatiskai@lemmy.ca 6 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

This is the glut of Venezuelan oil that Trump is stealing from their country and probably selling to his buddies in the refinery business for cheap.

[–] daychilde@lemmy.world 7 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

This really doesn't make sense if you have even the little knowledge I have of how the petroleum pipeline works (and I know very little). Oil is refined in refineries and gets sent out in bulk. At the more local level, it's all the same gas - companies put in additives that can be per-brand, but the gas going to one gas station is the same basic gas going to another.

Perhaps there's a financial thing going on where they put cheap oil in and so sign contracts for a lower price on the other end or something, but it's not going to be that same oil.

So when I see assertions like this that get popular support and agreement, I find it bothersome. I'd rather know the truth than make random accusations. The truth is bad enough without bringing fiction in.

[–] allen@rail.chat 72 points 22 hours ago

@cannedtuna Let me get this straight...

City-run grocery stores selling at-cost: Communist Bread Lines

Gas stations with government-controlled gas prices: Freedom Fuel Network

[–] anarchy79@lemmy.world 10 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

I gotta say, I thought the economy was way more fragile and would have no chance to withstand this concerted effort to bring it down. I mean it will 💯 go down in biblical flames, I'm just amazed it took so long!

I think the people who are trying to make it happen are surprised to. Doesn't matter to them because they will end up owning the planet anyway, but still!

[–] impairedimperator@lemmy.zip 4 points 14 hours ago

You gotta remember that since the invention of the 401(k), the US economy has been propped up by the life savings of...well, pretty much everybody, at this point. Lots of institutional money, legally required to be invested in certain places, gives a lot of cushion for slashing and burning.

For now.

[–] maam@feddit.uk 3 points 13 hours ago

Bro MAGA is copying Russia again!

[–] masterofn001@lemmy.ca 56 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

When the (Venezuelan) oil is stolen and the wars are paid for by the taxpayers, everything is profit.

[–] TribblesBestFriend@startrek.website 35 points 23 hours ago (7 children)

Forgot about this oil reserve, I was thinking he’s laundering Russian oil

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[–] blazeknave@lemmy.world 10 points 17 hours ago

My first thought at first headline was "now I'm outright paying for these motherfuckers' gas too?"

[–] Clutter@sh.itjust.works 16 points 19 hours ago

They will use up everything they can. And when they lose blame everything on Democrats.

If they win, they don't care about people complaining.

[–] BigMacHole@thelemmy.club 39 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

This is ILLEGAL to Undercut the Competition!

-Free Market Republicans!

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[–] fizzle@quokk.au 9 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Ok here's my supposition:

The summary is: wealthy donor(s) are covering the loss so Trump doesn't lose the midterms.

The longer version is: most fuel consumed in the US is produced domestically. There no "shortage" because of the Iran situation, but prices increase because there's no alternative putting downward pressure on prices.

Suppose some domestic producer decided that the cost to them of trump being impeached is greater than the profit foregone by selling fuel at less than market rates.

Or, suppose Trump said to local producers, if you keep me in office we will keep this Iran thing going indefinitely, so process are down when he needs them to be but can go back up after an election.

No matter how you slice it, seems like a recipe for hyper wealth concentration.

[–] hcf@sh.itjust.works 12 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

US is a net exporter of refined fuels (what you put in your car), but the US doesn't produce the heavy crude that its refineries are all set up to convert into that fuel.

It's like saying you produce more cakes than you consume. That doesn't really mean shit when you run out of sugar, bomb the supermarket, mine the roads between you and the supermarket, and burn all the bridges between you and your neighbors. Can't exactly "borrow a cup of sugar" your way out of this one.

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