In a series of tweets on Wednesday, President Donald Trump blamed fuel prices and refinery closures for a surge in fuel tankers heading to the U.S. market.
He accused the oil companies of manipulating the prices and said the result was that he was spending more money than ever before to protect U.M.B.S., his energy company.
Fuel prices spiked by about $1 per gallon, to about $2.50 on Wednesday.
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said Wednesday that fuel prices rose by an average of $2 per gallon in the past 24 hours, and it predicted a price spike in 2018 and 2019.
“We’re spending more than ever to protect our people from fuel shortages, fuel price hikes and fuel theft, because our government is paying the price,” Trump said.
“My administration is working overtime to reduce gasoline prices.
The price of gasoline is going down, so that’s good, and the price of fuel is going up.
That’s why I’m putting up with the price hikes, and I’m paying more and more.
I’m going to get the price down as fast as I can.”
Trump has long complained that fuel price spikes are a major cause of the soaring cost of gasoline and other goods, and that the industry is artificially manipulating fuel prices.
“It’s so easy for the pump to go up.
It’s so hard to stay under,” Trump tweeted last month.
“You have to be crazy to put up with it.
People are getting killed because it’s too easy to get fuel.”
