Trump is mimicking the socialist Mamdani 😱

Trump is touting fishy "Freedom Fuel" gas stations that are just as problematic as Mamdani's city-run grocery stores.

Trumpers howled with derision when New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a self-identified Democratic socialist, announced plans to open city-owned grocery stores that would forgo profits to sell food at lower prices. Trump himself is now bashing liberal Democrats like Mamdani as “godless communists” who are “the most serious threat to our country since its existence.”

Yet Trump seems to have warmed to Mamdani’s idea of government-backed retail outlets. He’s now bragging about “Freedom Fuel” filling stations selling gas in the Philadelphia area for $3.47 per gallon, about 50 cents cheaper than the city average. The 47 represents Trump, since he’s now the 47th president.

A “Freedom Fuel” gas station featured in a White House video

The Trump White House says there are about 25 of these Trump-backed discount stations, mostly in southern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Trump says a “very smart retailer” is running the operation, but won’t identify who it is. The White House says there’s no taxpayer money involved.

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So maybe Trump can say this isn’t Mamdani-like at all, because it’s a private businessperson offering discounts, not the government. Except the retailer in this case is getting huge government benefits: A White House endorsement and priceless free promotion.

The White House published an 80-second video on its X account and other social-media feeds on July 7, promoting the Freedom Fuel stations. People who appear to be real drivers filling their tanks tell the camera how much they’re saving on gas, and thank Trump personally.

The video nabbed 5.4 million views on X as of July 9. The whole odd scheme has also generated news locally and nationally—more free publicity. The Trump stations might not be run by the government, but they’re getting a huge government handout in the form of a presidential plug and all the follow-up media attention Trump always generates.

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At $3.47 per gallon, the Freedom stations are probably losing money on gas. The typical markup at filling stations is around 35 cents per gallon, and the average retail price in Philadelphia is $3.97, according to the AAA motor club. The wholesale price has to be considerably higher than what Freedom Fuel is charging.

So what’s the angle? There’s probably a businessperson who owns a bunch of independent gas stations and is a Trump supporter. These aren’t new gas stations, but existing ones that appear to have rebranded during the last few weeks.

If you’re thinking that Big Oil has a hand in this—probably not. Energy companies such as Exxon and Sunoco typically don’t own gas stations. They contract with independent owners on branding deals often locked in for years. So stations suddenly under the Freedom Fuels banner probably weren’t in contracts with big energy companies, else they’d be risking contract breaches with corporate giants.

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Patrick De Haan of GasBuddy noted on social media that somebody registered the entity “Freedom Fuel Network” as a business in Delaware on June 23. Official records don’t say who owns it, which is often the case.

So it could be a Trump-friendly business that’s willing to take a loss to lend the president a hand. But there’s probably a lot more to it. A good guess is that a Trump-friendly businessperson has made some tit-for-tat deal with Trump—selling cheap gas now, and letting Trump take credit for it, in exchange for some payback to be named later. That’s how Trumpworld operates.

It could also be a secretive political-action committee that is somehow funding the cheap gas, using money from wealthy donors. The rules governing political spending are notoriously porous, and the Supreme Court just made the holes bigger. So a PAC funded by “dark money” could be subsidizing the promotion, covering any losses for the station owner(s) and maybe even paying an additional service fee to make it a profitable gig for the owner.

Everybody wins?

Well, drivers saving money on gas probably don’t mind. But all the other gas stations that aren’t in on the scheme are getting screwed. They’re losing business to a competitor subsidized either directly or indirectly by the president of the United States. Trump might say, well, they should lower their prices, too, because it would be good for consumers. But businesses go bust when politicians interfere in ways that force them to sell their product at a loss.

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Mamdani is using government power in a different way, but it’s just as problematic as the Freedom Fuel ploy. Mamdani wants one city-owned grocery store for each of the city’s five boroughs, with New York owning the real estate and covering major costs. Private businesses would operate the stores, but they’d be required to offer sizable discounts on a basket of staples, such as meat, cereal and dairy products.

These stores would start with a huge cost advantage over private-sector businesses that have to pay rent and cover their own expenses, which is why grocers and bodegas are warning they could go out of business if Mamdani Foods undercuts their prices. Quality and selection are also likely to decline if a subsidized operation becomes a powerhouse calling the shots in certain neighborhoods, or in the entire market.

In each case, a politician is distorting the free market for political advantage. Mamdani wants credit for cheaper food prices, and doesn’t mind harming businesses he thinks charge too much. Trump wants credit for cheaper gas prices, and has lent a government endorsement to a shady operator underpricing the market.

The real threat to the country comes from the whole political spectrum.

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