The Trump Administration is promoting a new, privately owned “network” of gas stations that are selling fuel at prices notably below national and regional averages.
“The FIRST Freedom Fuel Network gas station has LANDED in Philadelphia, lowering the price at the pump to $3.47 for our 47th President,” the White House announced on X on Tuesday. “President Trump is leading the charge to lower gas prices this summer – putting more money in your pocket.”
By comparison, the average regular gas price as of Thursday was $3.84 per gallon nationwide and $3.99 per gallon in Pennsylvania, according to AAA.
President Donald Trump first announced the opening of the gas stations in a Truth Social post last week, in which he said a “VERY smart Retailer, located throughout the Northeast” was behind them and was opening up the stations “because they love the U.S.A.”
So far, the “Freedom Fuel Network” has launched 25 stations, adorned with decals of the American flag and advertising cheap gas. Twenty are located in Pennsylvania and another five in New Jersey, according to the network’s website.
The Freedom Fuel Network is a private company, a White House official confirms to TIME, and owns all 25 locations.
“The Administration is not involved in the company, nor has the Administration given the company any funding,” a White House official tells TIME. “There is no other entity or person subsidizing the lower gasoline costs.”
Few other details have been made public about the initiative, including about who’s behind the venture and how the business is operating behind the lower prices.
“The President has called for companies to lower their prices at the pump; this company responded to the President’s call for action,” the White House official says. “They are simply reducing their margin to make prices at the pump more affordable for drivers in Philadelphia and New Jersey. This retailer is taking the lead, others should follow.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the first location, opened on Tuesday, was converted from a previous Sunoco station in Dresher, Pennsylvania. Patrick De Hann, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, a tech company that helps people find cheaper gas, told the outlet that the pricing model of Freedom Fuel could not be profitable.
“Stations selling at this price, it’s not sustainable,” De Haan said. “Generally, when losses happen, somebody’s got to pay for it.”
Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts accused the Trump Administration of running the gas stations and suggested that such involvement in the initiative would be hypocritical, referencing the Administration’s critiques of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s proposal for public grocery stores.
“Government-subsidized grocery stores = Communism. Government run gas stations = Freedom. Got it,” the congressman wrote on X in response to the White House’s Tuesday announcement.
Earlier in his second term, Trump assured Americans that gas prices would “soon” drop below $2 per gallon.
The President’s war with Iran, however, has caused prices to surge in recent months. Amid the spike, he has repeatedly promised that the increase is temporary and prices will drop again before long, and sparked controversy in May when he dismissed the rising costs as “peanuts.”
Last month, the President accused oil companies of price gouging and called for a Department of Justice investigation. “The big oil companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for oil,” he said. “Those prices are dropping like a rock! In other words, customers are being ‘gouged.’”
The post What to Know About the Trump-Backed Freedom Fuel Network Gas Stations appeared first on TIME.
