Trump says he ordered DOJ to probe gas price ‘gouging’

President Trump said early Wednesday morning that he has directed the Justice Department (DOJ) to “immediately” open an investigation into alleged gas price gouging at the pump amid economic strains resulting from the Iran war.

“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,’” he continued. “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!”

The president’s approval rating has taken a hit amid the conflict as the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a major trading channel, resulted in global fuel shortages. These strains have hiked up domestic gas prices, sending average costs over $4 a gallon at the end of March.

On Wednesday morning, the average price of regular gas in the U.S. was sitting just below $4 a gallon, down from $4.50 a month ago, according to AAA.

A new Associated Press-NORC survey released last week found that 59 percent of U.S. adults believe that the U.S. military action in the region has “gone too far.”

The president’s approval rating on his administration’s economic policies has also dropped during the war, slumping to 30 percent in an April AP-NORC poll. Americans’ views of the U.S. economy have also skewed more negative during this conflict.

The president and White House officials have repeatedly said that these economic strains are only temporary and worth the long-term effort to ensure Iran doesn’t procure a nuclear weapon. Trump dismissed the Labor Department’s finding of increased consumer prices as a “fake inflation report” and claimed “the numbers were great.”

The Hill has reached out to the DOJ for comment.