President Donald Trump is always eager to take credit for achievements—but not to actually do the whole achieving thing in the first place. That part is for suckers and losers, of course.
So it’s no surprise that his “solution” to high gas prices is to do some behind-the-scenes fiddling to make it look like gas prices are coming down without them actually coming down. And it’s all in a flailing attempt to solve a problem that is entirely of his own making, thanks to his disastrously stupid war in Iran.
A pump at the Freedom Fuel station in Dresher, Pennsylvania.AP
In his latest genius move, Trump is pushing the “Freedom Fuel Network,” which consists of 25 gas stations that are somehow selling gas for mad cheap.
Yes, 25 whole stations nationwide. Really moving the needle there, sir. Masterful gambit.
He’s even been having the official White House social media accounts hype the project, complete with oh-so-grateful consumers praising Trump, because this is what our government does now.
The price? $3.47. Sigh.
But it’s not really “cheaper” in the way anyone actually understands that word.
“The stations lowering prices via the Freedom Fuel Network in [Pennsylvania], [New Jersey], etc. are simply being subsidized—the stations are losing money—which is being paid for by someone or some entity. The stations are likely losing 20-50c/gal,” industry analyst Patrick de Haan explained.
Subsidizing gas prices isn’t illegal or new. T-Mobile recently did a promotion in California where it took over several Shell stations to sell $1.99/gallon fuel, picking up the difference in cost and slapping pink branding everywhere.
It seems pretty likely that this is what inspired Trump to do the same, seeing as the “Freedom Fuel Network” registration didn’t exist until about three weeks after the T-Mobile takeover. Oh, and it was also registered by Corporation Trust Company, which the Trump family often uses to register their private enterprises.
Related | Gas prices climb as Trump says ceasefire with Iran is ‘OVER’
But here’s the official explanation: “A White House spokesperson said the Freedom Fuel Network was a private company and not a government program, adding that the company was not purchasing gasoline at a discount and that the administration has not provided funding. The spokesperson said the business was simply making gas more affordable for drivers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey but did not elaborate.”
Also according to the administration, “Freedom Fuel is a patriotic company doing a good thing for drivers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey by lowering their gas prices.”
A man fills his van with fuel at a gas station on March 25 in Brentwood, Tennessee.AP
But that doesn’t actually make sense.
Gas stations have some of the thinnest profit margins out there, ranging from 15 to 40 cents per gallon or even lower for independent stations.
So if you can do grade school math, you can see that lowering the price of gas by, say, 50 cents a gallon is not actually a sustainable business model. It’s also nowhere near what T-Mobile ate to bring a gallon all the way down to $1.99.
Actual experts say that there’s no real way a retailer can survive selling gas at 50 cents below market rate—especially when they had “never heard of the Freedom Fuel Network until the White House announced its existence.”
Indeed, estimates show that each of these 25 stations could lose about $250,000 per month, which isn’t really going to work out in the long term.
So basically a secret company, which just happens to be registered by the Trump family’s preferred corporation, is subsidizing gas prices out of the goodness of its heart, and surely there’s no quid pro quo bribe situation happening, right?
Everything that Trump does, he does on the cheap—and he does it poorly. Freedom Fuel is going to go the way of the Reflecting Pool, mark my words.
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