President Donald Trump on Monday intensified his pressure campaign against gasoline retailers, demanding they immediately cut prices at the pump after crude oil prices fell sharply.  “Gasoline Retailers must get their Prices down, IMMEDIATELY!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “They’re too high considering that Oil is now at $68 a Barrel, and heading south.” “There will be no gauging [sic], which is totally illegal,” Trump added. “If Retailers don’t do this, big problems lie ahead! Start targeting around the $2.50 a Gallon number.” Trump also singled out California, where gas averages $5.45 a gallon, blaming the state’s high gasoline taxes for keeping prices elevated.  “California should stop charging such heavy Taxes on their Gasoline,” he said. “Soon the Tax will be higher than the Product itself, and the United States will not stand for it, nor will the People of California, who are being abused by these ridiculous Taxes, and by their own Government.” Earlier this month, Trump announced he had directed the Department of Justice to investigate whether major energy companies were unlawfully keeping gasoline prices artificially high despite falling oil costs. Speaking from the Oval Office last week, he specifically named ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, and BP while arguing Americans should already be seeing significantly cheaper gasoline. “The gasoline, or the oil prices, have come down so much, and we are not seeing anything at the pump by comparison to what it should be,” Trump said. “We should be, in my opinion, at $2.25 right now at the pump.” Oil prices surged earlier this year after fighting between the United States, Israel, and Iran disrupted energy markets and shut down the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes. Brent crude briefly climbed above $100 per barrel during the conflict before retreating as ceasefire negotiations eased fears of prolonged supply disruptions. Crude now trades near $68 per barrel, but gasoline prices have declined more slowly. According to AAA, the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline remains around $3.86, well below the recent peak of roughly $4.50 but still considerably higher than where Trump believes prices should be. Industry representatives argue that retail gasoline prices naturally lag behind movements in crude oil because refiners, distributors, and retailers work through existing inventories purchased at higher prices. “Gasoline prices don’t move in lockstep with crude oil,” American Petroleum Institute spokeswoman Bethany Williams said after Trump’s earlier demand for a Justice Department investigation. She added that supply chains, refinery operations, and inventory levels continue to be affected by the recent Middle East conflict. Chevron Chief Financial Officer Eimear Bonner similarly told CNBC last week that lower crude prices typically take time to work their way through the fuel supply chain before consumers see meaningful savings at the pump. Trump, however, has remained unconvinced, arguing Americans should already be seeing dramatic relief. 

Mexican authorities are searching for a mysterious vigilante dubbed the “Batman of Lagos de Moreno” after several suspected motorcycle thieves were found bound to lampposts. Jalisco State Security Secretary Juan Pablo Hernández said police discovered five men duct-taped to lampposts, the Sun reported. Some were gagged or showed signs of being beaten. Several had pink signs placed above their heads detailing their alleged crimes, while others had mustaches, cat ears, or the word “ratero,” Spanish for “thief,” scribbled on them in marker. In some cases, stolen motorcycles were left beside them. “In Jalisco, after the lack of help from the authorities, an anonymous hero started hunting down motorcycle thieves,” Mexican reporter Luis Cardenas said in his viral post. “So far, he’s already taken down five in ten days, and they call him the ‘Batman of Lagos de Moreno’.” 

Inmates overpowered correctional officers and seized control of a North Carolina jail Monday morning, holding two guards hostage for hours before state and federal law enforcement retook the facility in a dramatic operation that underscored growing concerns about security and staffing. The incident began around 5 a.m. at the Bertie-Martin Regional Detention Center in Windsor, where 88 incarcerated people and just three correctional officers were inside the 90-bed facility when inmates assaulted staff and took control of portions of the jail. According to Bertie County Sheriff Tyrone Ruffin, one correctional officer escaped while two others were taken hostage. Local deputies responded within minutes but were unable to enter the locked facility, forcing authorities to establish a perimeter as tactical teams and negotiators from dozens of local, state, and federal agencies converged on the jail. Negotiations eventually secured the release of the two hostage correctional officers and most of the inmates before tactical teams entered the building. By approximately 2 p.m., agents from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and the FBI had regained full control of the facility. Ruffin said in a press conference the incident ended with “minimal injuries,” and authorities confirmed all correctional officers and inmates were accounted for. The injured guards received medical treatment, while inmates were transferred to secure detention facilities elsewhere in the state. The sheriff cautioned that investigators are only beginning to determine exactly how the takeover unfolded. “Now that the incident has concluded, the investigation into what occurred and how it happened is just beginning,” Ruffin said during the press conference. He added that investigators from both the SBI and the FBI will conduct interviews in the coming days and promised the public continued updates as the investigation progresses. One question likely to receive significant scrutiny is staffing. At the time of the takeover, three correctional officers were supervising 88 inmates, including detainees facing charges ranging from low-level offenses to murder. Ruffin declined to speculate on whether the staffing level complied with jail policy, noting that the Bertie-Martin Regional Detention Center operates independently of both the Bertie County and Martin County Sheriff’s Offices under a regional jail board. “I’m not for sure about the officer-to-inmate ratio, and so I’m not sure if that is a common ratio or not,” Ruffin said. “Again, we will get those answers in the coming days and relate it to the public.” Authorities have not yet said what sparked the uprising or whether investigators believe inmates planned the takeover in advance. The operation drew assistance from the FBI, the SBI, State Highway Patrol, the Department of Adult Correction, Alcohol Law Enforcement, multiple SWAT teams, bomb squad personnel, and sheriff’s offices across eastern North Carolina. North Carolina Democratic Gov. Josh Stein called for those responsible to be “held accountable for this horrifying action” while urging a review of jail security. “We also must do everything in our power to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” Stein said.  The Bertie-Martin Regional Detention Center remains closed while investigators assess the damage inside the facility and continue what officials say could be a days-long investigation.

Country music’s biggest stars packed Nashville’s Nissan Stadium on Saturday night to celebrate Alan Jackson as he performed the final concert of his legendary career. The 67-year-old singer-songwriter put on his last set alongside George Strait, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Jon Pardi, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Riley Green, Cody Johnson, Lee Ann Womack, and other artists who gathered to honor Jackson. The event was filmed for an NBC concert special celebrating Jackson ahead of his retirement.  Jackson performed many of his well-known hits, including singles “Gone Country,” “Livin’ on Love,” “Summertime Blues” and “Midnight in Montgomery.” He also played “Little Bitty,” “Country Boy,” “Good Time,” and his post-9/11 anthem, “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning).” Fireworks lit up the sky during “Chattahoochee,” according to the Associated Press. Jackson addressed the crowd, saying the experience was “overwhelming” before joking that he wouldn’t spend much time on “last show stuff” because he’s “not dead.” Jackson announced last year that he would retire from touring, telling fans during a concert in Milwaukee that it would be his “last roadshow.”  “It’s been a long, sweet ride; it started 40 years ago this September. My wife and I drove to Nashville with an old U-Haul trailer and chased this dream,” Jackson said. “It’s been a crazy ride. I lived the American Dream, for sure. So blessed. Thank you all so much for all your support of my music and attending my shows.”  The announcement came four years after Jackson revealed that he had been diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a neurological disorder. “I’ve been reluctant to talk about this publicly and to my fans, but it’s been a while, and it’s starting to affect my performance onstage a little bit where I don’t feel comfortable,” Jackson said in 2021. “I just wanted the fans and the public to know if they’ve come to see me in the last few years or if they come to see me in the future if I play anymore, what’s going on. I don’t want them to think I’m drunk onstage because I’m having problems with mobility and balance.” While Jackson said the condition is not fatal, he acknowledged it would eventually make performing more difficult. “This is not a condition that I would be complaining about typically, but it is going to affect me performance-wise onstage, and I don’t know how much I’ll continue to tour,” Jackson said at the time. Jackson is known for blending traditional honky-tonk with mainstream country, creating a signature sound. With more than 60 million albums sold, 35 number-one hits, and numerous awards, including Grammys and CMA honors, he’s one of country music’s most enduring and respected artists.

You’re paying more for groceries, gas, and everything else. Politicians blame tariffs and supply chains. Another real culprit is hiding in plain sight: California’s unelected Air Resources Board (CARB), which is writing energy policy for the entire country and sending us the bill for its climate fantasy. You never voted for CARB. Your senators didn’t. No one in your state did. Yet federal waivers let this rogue agency impose extreme emissions rules that exceed federal law, jack up costs for every business serving the national market, and have no real-world effect on the climate. CARB’s rules drive up trucking, shipping, and freight costs in California, and those costs hit every American because California ports move nearly 40% of all U.S. imports. That is not a regional impact. That is a national tax levied without representation. Congress and the Trump administration took important steps in response last year. In June 2025, the Congressional Review Act (CRA) was used to revoke three major Biden-era CARB waivers covering electric vehicle mandates for passenger cars, heavy-duty trucks, and engine emissions. That was the right call. The bipartisan support it received proved that people across the political spectrum are fed up with California making expensive decisions that the rest of the country has to live with and pay for. But California refused to accept defeat. Gov. Gavin Newsom immediately signed an executive order directing agencies to circumvent Congress. CARB kept enforcing the voided rules anyway. The Department of Justice had to sue the state in August 2025 to force compliance. This isn’t a state defending its rights. It’s a state defying democracy by attempting to impose its ideology on the rest of us by any means necessary. Active waivers are still doing real damage. The At-Berth Regulation, operating under a waiver granted by the Biden administration to CARB in 2023, requires cargo ships docked at California ports to shut down their diesel engines and either plug into the state’s grid or pay fines of nearly $50,000 per day. CARB has collected tens of millions of dollars in penalties since 2025. Shipping companies do not absorb that cost. They build it into freight rates. Freight rates flow into wholesale prices. Wholesale prices hit you at checkout. CARB put the price tag at $2.23 billion by 2032. They called that figure reasonable. It is not reasonable when the people paying for it never get a vote. The same scam runs with drayage truck rules, forcing zero-emission vehicles on an impossible timeline. The technology and infrastructure aren’t ready. The costs simply roll through the supply chain to every American. Californians can choose this path. The rest of us never did. California has every right to its own policies. It has no right to export the costs to families in Ohio, Georgia, Texas, and Wisconsin. Right now, they get to feel virtuous about their climate agenda while spreading the bill to people who had no say in writing it. That is not environmentalism. That is cost-shifting dressed up as moral leadership. On June 12, 2026, the EPA transmitted four additional CARB waivers to Congress for action under the Congressional Review Act. These cover strict vehicle emissions, greenhouse gas standards, and small off-road engines. This latest move confirms the administration is systematically reviewing California’s overreach and that the legal path for ending At-Berth shipping and drayage trucking waivers is wide open. There is a straightforward solution. The At-Berth shipping and drayage trucking waivers should be the next ones submitted to Congress under the CRA. The administration has implicitly confirmed that these waivers are eligible for review. The precedent is set. The legal authority is established. What is needed now is the political will to use it. Midterms are coming. Lawmakers who want to campaign on lowering costs now have a clear, concrete chance. One state should not dictate national energy and shipping costs while sticking the rest of America with the bill. Call your representatives today. Demand they end CARB’s power to run national policy from Sacramento. The tools are in place. The only question left is whether Congress will use them. *** Frank Lasee is the president of Truth in Energy and Climate.