Trump Says Chevron, Exxon Make ‘Too Much Money’ From High Oil Prices, Urges Cuts to Gas Prices

Trump said the two oil giants should give some of their profits ‘back to the public’ and ‘cut the retail price.’

Gasoline pumps at a gas station near the highway in Encinitas, Calif., on April 30, 2026. Mike Blake/Reuters

President Donald Trump said on Aug. 3 that oil giants Chevron and ExxonMobil were making “too much money” from high oil prices and urged them to lower gasoline prices amid the war in Iran.

“I don’t like it. They’re making too much money based on a shortage,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office when asked about the companies’ second-quarter earnings.

Chevron posted record second-quarter adjusted earnings of $12 billion on July 31, its highest quarterly profit in six years, while ExxonMobil reported adjusted earnings of $14.7 billion.

“Chevron, too much money. ExxonMobil, too much money,” Trump said. “When you look at one company where they made 12 times what they made the year before. They’re going to give some of that back to the public, and they better cut the retail price, the consumer price.”

The companies did not respond to requests for comment by publication time.

Gas prices remain above levels seen before the conflict with Iran erupted in February. The national average price for regular gasoline was $2.98 on Feb. 28, the day when the United States and Israel launched military operations against Iran, triggering the war.

The national average price for regular gasoline rose to $4.08 per gallon on Aug. 4, from $3.81 a month ago, according to AAA.

AAA said on July 30 that crude oil prices have remained in the $80 per barrel range due to instability along the Strait of Hormuz, the vital global oil and gas shipping route. Shipping through the waterway has been disrupted by the war in Iran, driving up oil prices around the world.

In an Aug. 3 post on Truth Social, Trump said Chevron CEO and chairman Mike Wirth had not credited the government’s role in the oil industry during his recent interview with Fox News.

“The only thing he conveniently forgot to mention is that, without the genius, foresight, strength, and stability, of the TRUMP Administration, the Oil Industry, and our Country itself, would be DEAD,” he said of Wirth’s remarks during the interview.

“As an example, they threw Mike and Chevron out of Venezuela, but now they’re back, far bigger and stronger than ever before, expecting to make a fortune! That goes for other Oil Companies as well.”

Earlier this year, the U.S. government eased sanctions on Venezuela and issued a general license allowing U.S. citizens to conduct specific oil and gas-related transactions with Caracas following the capture of then-Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a Jan. 3 military operation to face criminal charges in the United States.

Chevron is the only major U.S. oil company that stayed in Venezuela after nationalizations two decades ago, while ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips departed the country.