Trump directed the Justice Department to investigate oil companies for alleged gas-price gouging

Shortly after midnight on June 24, 2026, President Trump wrote on Truth Social that "big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for Oil," and declared, "I have instructed the DOJ to immediately start looking into this." He accused the companies of "gouging" consumers, tying his complaint to falling crude prices following a de-escalation of the U.S.-Iran conflict and the reopening of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump named no specific companies and offered no evidence of coordination or unlawful conduct. The American Petroleum Institute responded that retail gasoline prices do not fall in lockstep with crude prices, particularly during supply disruptions, and analysts noted that federal probes going back decades have generally failed to find anti-competitive behavior in retail fuel markets outside isolated local cases. A Justice Department spokesperson said fuel prices are "a national security issue" that "impacts the wallet of every American" and affirmed a commitment to affordability, but announced no formal investigation.

The episode reflects a pattern of the president publicly directing the Justice Department to investigate disfavored parties. By ordering an investigation of an entire industry through a social-media post — without a referral, predicate, or identified subject — the directive positions federal law-enforcement power as responsive to political messaging rather than to evidence, pressuring the department to act on presidential demand.