Trump breaks with Big Oil, demands Exxon and Chevron cut prices as $4 gas and midterms collide

Trump turns on oil allies

Donald Trump, a president who built his political identity on “drill, baby, drill,” opened a new front on Monday, telling reporters at the White House that ExxonMobil and Chevron are making “too much money” from the conflict with Iran. “I don’t like it,” he said. “Chevron, too much money. ExxonMobil, too much money. They’re going to give some of that back to the public and they better cut the retail price, the consumer price.”

When you see a company that made 12 times what it made the year before, it should give some of that back to the public, and it had better lower the selling price.

The broadside is a sharp departure from Trump’s traditionally close relationship with the industry. The president had already taken aim at Chevron chief Mike Wirth on Truth Social on Monday morning, over Wirth’s appearance the previous day on Fox News. The criticism lands as the five largest western oil companies earned $68.5 billion in the first half of 2026, almost double the figure for the same period in 2025.

Profits surge on war premium

The numbers behind the anger are stark. ExxonMobil reported a second-quarter net profit of $14.5 billion, while Chevron posted $12.07 billion, against $2.49 billion a year earlier. Together the two companies made more than $26 billion between them. Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest exporter, recorded €28 billion in net profit, nearly 50% higher than the same quarter last year.

The surge follows the closure of the Strait of Hormuz after US and Israeli forces attacked Iran on 28 February. Brent crude, which had been trading below $70 a barrel for a year, averaged $99 over the course of the conflict. Refining bottlenecks have kept pump prices elevated even when crude eased.

Pump pain and midterm peril

For American drivers the consequences are immediate. The average price of gasoline sits around $4.10 a gallon, a rise of more than 30% since the start of the war. In Washington on Tuesday, motorists described the squeeze. “I used to pay $60. Now it’s about $100. I can’t afford to fill up, so I just put in enough to get there and back,” one woman said. Another driver blamed the president directly: “It’s because of Donald Trump. He attacked where the oil is. It’s entirely his fault.”

With midterm elections three months away, the political arithmetic is unforgiving. Trump campaigned on lowering the cost of living, and voters who feel that promise has been broken may punish Republicans at the ballot box. The party already faces a serious risk of losing the House, and possibly the Senate, despite a disorganised Democratic opposition.

Industry pushes back

Oil executives reject the charge that they are profiteering. Exxon’s chief executive attributed high prices to a shortage of refining capacity and warned that bills would remain elevated. The industry has been among the most reliable of Trump’s donors: an Open Secrets analysis found that Big Oil spent $249 million during the 2024 election cycle. A windfall tax, of the kind imposed in Britain after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is politically unthinkable in the United States, leaving the White House with few levers beyond public pressure.

What comes next

Trump insisted that prices would fall sharply once the Iran conflict ends. “When we’re finished with Iran, you’ll see oil prices drop dramatically,” he said. Until then, the president who started the war is demanding that the companies that profit from it share the windfall with voters, a balancing act that will be tested at the pump every day between now and November.