White House Promoted 'Freedom Fuel' Stations Quietly Kill Cheap Gas

For some Americans, the brief illusion of relief at the pump has gone almost as quickly as it arrived.

Geopolitical volatility with Iran has resumed, and fuel prices are marching aggressively upward again. AAA’s national fuel tracker shows regular unleaded sitting around the $4.11 per gallon mark this morning. With it, the White House’s viral energy stunt has abruptly come to an end.

The 25 "Freedom Fuel" stations across Pennsylvania and New Jersey—which made national headlines when the Trump administration heavily promoted them on social media—have quietly stopped offering gasoline at their heavily discounted rate of $3.47 per gallon.

When the White House released slick videos showing people praising the cheap fuel, the administration painted the network as patriots answering the president's call to ease inflation by slashing profit margins for the people. The $3.47 price tag was an overt nod to the 47th president, Donald Trump.

Prices at the Freedom Fuel stations have immediately snapped back to match reality, falling in step with the regional average, which currently sits around $4.20 a gallon.

At the time, economic experts had already warned that the cut-rate price was too good to last. It wasn't clear who was behind the stunt, with many accusing the president himself of being behind the discounted fuel and accusing the administration of overt communism in the process. A deranged claim no matter where you find yourself on the political spectrum.

Freedom Fuels Network LLC was incorporated in Delaware just a week before its public debut. We now know the signatories on the paperwork include Randy Brown—a senior special teams coach for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens and the former Republican mayor of Evesham Township, New Jersey—and a former multinational commodities trader, Yoni Gontownik. Both guys have deep ties to prominent GOP fundraising circles.