President Trump on Wednesday announced that he has instructed the Department of Justice to investigate American oil companies after gas prices failed to decline more drastically in the week following the signing of the Iran memorandum of understanding, which reopened the Strait of Hormuz and restored the free flow of oil. The president took aim at oil companies for allegedly "gouging" consumers, arguing that they were effectively ripping off American drivers by not passing lower crude oil costs on to the public.
"The big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for Oil," the president wrote on Truth Social. "Those prices are dropping like a rock! In other words, customers are being 'gouged.' I have instructed the DOJ to immediately start looking into this. Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I’m seeing! President DJT."
🚨 WOW! President Trump announces DOJ investigation into oil companies GOUGING customers for gas
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 24, 2026
“The big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for Oil.”
“Those prices are dropping like a rock! In other… pic.twitter.com/lnnf9QxDAk
Unfortunately, the situation is not that simple, and it is one conservatives should be careful about mischaracterizing as socialists within the Democratic Party continue to gain influence.
Persistently high gas prices have more to do with the depleted inventories of oil companies following the Iran conflict than with any coordinated effort by oil companies to "gouge" consumers.
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Rebuilding supply takes time. Companies must increase production, refine additional crude, and restore inventories to normal operating levels. In the meantime, higher prices are not simply a mechanism for making oil executives wealthier; they also serve to balance supply and demand while inventories recover. If prices were slashed immediately without sufficient supply flowing into the system, Americans might enjoy cheaper gas for all of five minutes, only to face shortages once available inventories were exhausted.
In other words, declining prices will take time.
It remains unclear what a DOJ investigation would actually yield for the Trump administration, or whether the move is largely performative.
In the meantime, conservatives should be careful not to lend credibility to arguments they have long opposed, particularly as the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) continue to gain influence within American politics following a major socialist upset in New York. If these arguments begin gaining traction among Republicans, the result could be a bipartisan embrace of the idea that "greedy" corporations are to blame for every price increase, while ignoring the far more complex economic realities at play.
High prices are not, by themselves, proof of corporate greed. Misdiagnosing this problem risks lending credence to those who believe greater government control is always the answer to economic issues. And that is something conservatives go to great lengths to avoid.
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