Rep. Adam Kinzinger
A fuel supplier says nearly $4 million worth of gasoline was taken from its reserves and never paid for. Some of it allegedly ended up at “Freedom Fuel” stations that Donald Trump was advertising as a cheaper alternative at the same time when his conflict in Iran has sent oil prices soaring.
If Trump cheating out a promise sounds familiar, it should. I had to fight those same unscrupulous instincts when Trump carried them into the White House and turned them against our democracy.
Trump has spent decades facing accusations that he shortchanged contractors and suppliers who worked on his buildings. He’s never embarrassed by it. In a 2015 interview, he told Reuters that he sometimes refused to pay a contractor’s final bill in full and forced the company to negotiate. “Sometimes I renegotiate,” he said, estimating that he did so with 10 or 15 percent of his contractors. “I know when I’m being overcharged,” Trump said in the interview. “Other people don’t and they’re suckers.”
Fast forward to Trump’s time in politics that overlapped with mine and I can recall years in a Republican Party that presented this history as evidence of Trump’s business genius. Colleagues called him tough and praised his ability to make deals, as if coming out ahead proved that he understood money better than ordinary politicians. Much less was said about the people on the other side of those deals and how he was able to come out ahead to begin with. Just like how much less was said in the GOP about his disregard for institutions and the rule of law.
The alleged Freedom Fuel theft has brought back some of Trump’s old tricks to the White House. The new network began selling gasoline for $3.47 a gallon around Philadelphia in July, with the price chosen to honor him as the 47th president. Trump called the retailer “VERY smart” and said it was lowering prices because its owners “love the U.S.A.” The White House posted a video of customers thanking him at the pump.
Of course, Trump views “smart” as the way to get around the rules or leave someone shortchanged. Much like he has defied Congress on military action. Much like he has promised “tariff refund checks” yet returned money only to corporations instead of consumers. And much like how he denied the outcome of an election when it didn’t go his way, “renegotiating” with results as solid as brick.
After I read more about the launch of “Freedom Fuel” stations, the math started to not add up to me. ABC News found little public information about the newly formed network, while industry data indicated that the stations needed to charge at least $3.64 per gallon just to break even. The White House insisted that the owners were merely accepting smaller margins and that nobody else was subsidizing the discount.
A lawsuit now offers another possible explanation.
Mansfield Oil alleges that KRSM Inc. obtained more than one million gallons of gasoline worth nearly $4 million and did not pay for it. Mansfield’s lawyer said that some of the fuel went to at least 10 Freedom Fuel locations in the greater Philadelphia region.
KRSM denies the allegation and says the case is a dispute over incorrect invoices. I don’t know about you, but a few incorrect invoices don’t appear to be a likely culprit for a seven-figure siphon of gas at the pump.
Reporters quickly discovered that the ownership group responsible for procurement was murky and that the advertised price appeared unsustainable. On the other hand, Trump saw the number 47, heard that he deserved the credit, got giddy, and started promoting the company.
I don’t blame anyone who filled a tank at the lower price. Families feel every increase at the pump, especially after Trump’s war with Iran has spiked inflation across virtually all categories of consumer goods. But gasoline doesn’t become cheaper because a president demands it. If a station sells below cost, somebody absorbs the loss. Mansfield says it was left holding nearly $4 million in unpaid inventory. And for someone who calls every Democrat a communist, Trump controlling the price and flow of goods doesn’t seem so capitalist to me.
A business can’t pay its workers with an IOU. When a customer with deep pockets disputes a bill, the contractor may have to borrow money to make payroll while the lawyers argue. Trump understood that imbalance and used it, just like he did for decades in New York and Atlantic City.
The Republican Party I joined claimed to believe that contracts mattered. If someone supplied the materials or finished the job, the bill was supposed to be paid. We didn’t call it shrewd when the more powerful party used its money and lawyers to squeeze the other side after the work was done. Trump persuaded much of the party to abandon that basic standard and instead treat getting away with something as proof of strength.
Whether KRSM owes Mansfield nearly $4 million is now up to the courts. But the pattern is the same one that Trump has followed for decades: he shows up for the ribbon-cutting, takes credit for successes, and leaves someone else holding the bill or cries foul if he doesn’t get his way. Contractors in the ‘90s know it. Mansfield Oil knows it now. What’s changed is that a party that once called this shady now calls it strength, and a man who never had to answer for stiffing a supplier is the same one who never had to answer for an election he lost. Getting away with it isn’t proof he’s smart. It’s proof of how much he’s been allowed to get away with.
