Trump did not share any further details of the probe or which companies will be investigated.
Gas prices have been falling: A month ago, a gallon of regular gas cost $4.52, while diesel cost $5.62 (it has since dropped to just below $5 a gallon). Gas prices haven’t dropped at the same pace as oil; the month-on-month drop for regular gas is approximately 13%.
However, planned talks between the U.S. and Iran have already been abruptly interrupted in the past—only on Friday, they came to a halt following violence between Israel and Hezbollah.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also been talking about the affordability challenges U.S. consumers face. This isn’t a surprise—after all, it’s one of the key motivations many people had for voting for President Trump.
As Paul Donovan at UBS noted to clients this morning: “Trump’s political challenge is that gasoline prices remain above the pre-war $3 per U.S. gallon, which U.S. consumers are inclined to remember as the ‘fair’ price.”
“For years, the question that seemed to consume both our political and commercial class was: Where is the lowest cost? That question still matters, but it is no longer sufficient,” he explained. “We must also ask: Can this supply chain survive a crisis? … Does it depend on a country that could use economic leverage against us?”
Supply chain resilience doesn’t mean being entirely domestic, Bessent added, which would be “unrealistic and unnecessary.” It does, however, force policymakers to know where vulnerabilities lie to avoid a crisis. He explained: “It requires diversifying away from dangerous concentrations. And that we build enough capacity at home to ensure that the American people are never at the mercy of a foreign chokepoint abroad.”
