Trump threatens oil companies with DOJ unless they cut gas prices

Trump threatens oil companies with the Department of Justice unless they lower the price of gasoline

In a move that has left even his own voters baffled, Donald Trump has issued a direct warning to oil companies: if they don't cut the price of gasoline "pretty soon," the Department of Justice will come after them. The statement, made without any hedging, was immediately compared to Hugo Chávez's expropriations in Venezuela. The same Trump who promised to deregulate the sector and shrink the state is now threatening private companies with the government's enforcement arm.

The irony is lost on no one. Those who chanted "free market" now see their leader demanding low prices by decree. In economic circles, the parallel with Chávez is no small matter: the late Venezuelan president also used the state apparatus to set prices and go after oil companies. The difference is that Chávez nationalized; so far, Trump is only threatening with prosecutors. But the message is the same: the market cannot set the price it wants.

The pressure over gasoline stems from Trump's broken promise to bring down inflation "from minute one." With prices at the pump still high, his base's patience is wearing thin. Resorting to the government cudgel is an admission that his energy policy has not worked as promised. Some analysts see here the true face of Trumpism: a populism that embraces interventionism when it suits it, exactly like its "socialist" rivals.

Among his supporters, the reaction is ambivalent. Some applaud the hard line against the oil companies —"enough with the excuses," they say— while others recall that they voted against socialism, not in favor of it. The spectacle of the U.S. and China swapping political roles is undeniably ironic. As one comment points out, they resemble each other more than they would like to admit. In the end, perhaps the only certainty is that the price of gasoline doesn't fall by decree, but by supply and demand. But in the Trump era, certainties are wobbling.