Trump takes his inflation battle to gas retailers after his plot against the Fed runs aground—sets target for $2.50 a gallon

President Trump is searching for a new target in his battle against the affordability crisis, and it seems he’s found one in gasoline retailers. The price of gas increased 40.5% on a 12-month basis ending May 2026, with fuel oil also moving up 58.9%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The increases came after the global oil supply was choked by the U.S. and Israel’s conflict with Iran—threatening supply routes out of the Middle East. With the conflict now seeming to be drawing toward a conclusion, oil prices have been coming down. Gas prices, however, have remained elevated.“Gasoline retailers must get their prices down, IMMEDIATELY!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social in the early hours of this morning. “They’re too high considering that oil is now at $68 a barrel, and heading south. The retailers must quickly react to this statement, and do what they know is right — DROP YOUR PRICE FOR OUR GREAT AMERICAN PEOPLE!” Trump has attempted to shift market prices through the sheer force of his rage before. Previously, the U.S. Federal Reserve was the target of his ire. The U.S. inflation rate now sits at 4.2%, according to the BLS, well above the Fed’s target of 2%. Trump claimed that the Fed, under previous chairman Jerome Powell, was keeping the base rate far higher than it needed to be—blocking consumers from borrowing more cheaply and buying homes as a result. Trump went to extraordinary efforts to pressure the Fed into lowering, from launching criminal probes into Powell and Governor Lisa Cook, to outright insulting the chair’s intelligence. Powell has since left the role. Trump’s nominee for his successor, Kevin Warsh, also did not lower rates in his first meeting chairing the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) earlier this month. It seems on this front, Trump’s attempt to blame high interest rates for curbing the economy has reached a dead end for now. Enter the gas retailers. “G