{"id":1877,"date":"2026-08-07T04:20:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T04:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1877"},"modified":"2026-08-07T04:20:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T04:20:18","slug":"trump-is-asking-the-private-sector-to-save-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1877","title":{"rendered":"Trump Is Asking the Private Sector to Save Him"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This is an edition of The<\/i> Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. <\/i>Sign up for it here.<\/i><\/small><\/p>\n

Read more Icarus in the Faculty Lounge<\/a><\/p>\n

At this year\u2019s annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, Donald Trump told a room full of the world\u2019s most prominent CEOs about a routine that he performs when he meets a successful businessperson:<\/p>\n

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I say, \u201cCongratulations!\u201d<\/p>\n

They say, \u201cOn what?\u201d<\/p>\n

I said, \u201cYou\u2019ve doubled your net worth since I\u2019ve been president, right?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

This is how Trump has long pitched himself\u2014as the savior of American commerce. One of his central promises to voters in 2024 was that he would encourage private investment in the United States, boosting the stock market and ushering in a \u201cgolden age\u201d of economic activity. Everyone, he vowed, would be making money.<\/p>\n

But the president now seems less pro-business than he once did. On Monday, in response to a question about the gargantuan profits being posted by U.S. oil companies, Trump told reporters that ExxonMobil and Chevron are \u201cmaking too much money based on a shortage.\u201d Energy companies adjust their prices as global markets move; when Trump took the country to war against Iran, in February, the world\u2019s oil supply was abruptly pinched, and prices shot up. Chevron and ExxonMobil announced that they\u2019d earned $12.1 billion and $14.5 billion, respectively, last quarter\u2014many billions more than they\u2019d made during the same period last year. \u201cThey ought to give some of that back to the public, and they better cut the retail price, the consumer price,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

This statement echoes the president\u2019s previous accusation of price gouging in the industry. Back in June, after the U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding, Trump claimed that companies were keeping gas prices from falling as quickly as oil prices were. There are legitimate economic reasons that gas prices and oil prices aren\u2019t always perfectly synced, and Big Oil doesn\u2019t unilaterally set retail gas prices at American pumps (fewer than 5 percent of U.S. gas stations are owned directly by major oil companies, according to the American Petroleum Institute). The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission subsequently called for states to investigate possible retail-price manipulation. To shift some of the responsibility for high gas prices, the president is now scolding an industry he once championed\u2014but it won\u2019t change the reality that most Americans are unhappy with the economy, and that Trump is largely to blame.<\/p>\n

Oil interests reportedly spent more than $75 million to get Trump reelected, and the administration has consistently supported the industry over the past two years. \u201cDrill, baby, drill\u201d has been a mantra for his administration since day one. The White House recently revoked protections for endangered species, clearing the way for companies to drill in critical wildlife habitats. The secretary of the interior, Doug Burgum, has pushed to increase offshore drilling and drilling on public lands. Trump\u2019s suggestion that Big Oil return some of its money \u201cto the public\u201d represents, by his own admission, a hard pivot. \u201cI should be the last one to say it, because I\u2019m a big free-enterprise guy\u2014nobody bigger,\u201d he said on Monday. (ExxonMobil declined to comment for this story, Chevron didn\u2019t respond to my request, and the White House told me that \u201cPresident Trump\u2019s priority has always been and continues to be lowering gas prices for American families.\u201d)<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has made a point of celebrating businesses that have cut costs for consumers in recent months. In July, Trump applauded a new chain of gas stations called the Freedom Fuel Network for selling gas at a discount across the mid-Atlantic. On Truth Social, the president wrote that this \u201cVERY smart Retailer\u201d was \u201cstepping up\u201d on account of its patriotism, and that others should follow its example. Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, wrote on X yesterday that a co-owner of 14 Piggly Wiggly supermarkets (who has been invited to the Oval Office in the past) was \u201canswering Trump\u2019s call\u201d by \u201cboldly stepping up to lower costs for families.\u201d She praised Walmart for implementing similar price-cutting measures, and wrote a few days ago that another grocer, Meijer, was also \u201canswering the call\u201d by lowering prices on more than 1,000 items. But it\u2019s unclear whether these companies\u2019 discounts were actually responses to the president, as Rollins has suggested.<\/p>\n

Trump and his party have every reason to be worried about high prices. All kinds of consumer goods have become more expensive since the start of the Iran war, and Americans are now broadly worried about the cost of living, just as they were before Trump took office. People\u2019s dissatisfaction with the president\u2019s handling of the economy is reflected in his abysmal approval ratings, which pose a problem for Republicans in the midterms. Trump\u2019s strategy has so far been to avoid taking responsibility for any Iran-driven inflation and to insist that, actually, the U.S. is experiencing an economic boom. He\u2019s right that some indicators have lately been positive: The stock market continues to set record highs, and inflation did cool in June after three straight months of acceleration\u2014although it\u2019s still higher than it was before the start of the war.<\/p>\n

Read more Why Is The Odyssey Rated R?<\/a><\/p>\n

With his comments on Big Oil, the president seems to be acknowledging that high prices are indeed a problem for many Americans. He also seems to expect that private companies will bail him out during a moment of political weakness. This administration has created the conditions\u2014both domestically and abroad\u2014for consumer goods to become more expensive, and for the cost of oil to jump. No piecemeal discount can undo what Trump himself has already done.<\/p>\n

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