What We Don’t Know
It is unclear what company is behind Freedom Fuel Network. De Haan also told Quartz multiple gas stations from the network are under “vastly different” names in GasBuddy’s database.
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Chief Critic
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., accused the gas stations of being run by the government in a Wednesday post. “Government-subsidized grocery stores = Communism. Government run gas stations = Freedom. Got it.”
Tangent
A website spoofing the Freedom Fuel Network features jabs at the Freedom Fuel Network including, “You cannot beat our prices, because you cannot find our pumps,” and an FAQ section that asks, “Why would a President announce a company that doesn’t exist?”
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Key Background
Trump has repeatedly vowed gas prices will drop lower than they were before the U.S. and Israel launched a military operation against Iran, which largely contributed to a surge in prices that brought the national average for a gallon of gas to $4.56 in May. The surge in gas prices marked the highest cost for petroleum in the U.S. since 2022, when average prices for a gallon of gas in the U.S. reached an all-time high of more than $5 per gallon. The national average has since fallen to about $3.78, but De Haan warned Wednesday that Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries and the end of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire could lead to a rise in gas prices nationally next week.
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