Freedom Fuel, the MAGA gas station chain promoted by Trump, faces growing number of complaints and fraud allegations

“Oh, no, man. Give me a break,” Rileik Quick laments in disappointment when he learns that the gas station where he’s filling up — part of the Freedom Fuel chain — is aligned with MAGA, the ultra-conservative movement that propelled Donald Trump to the White House.Quick is 40, delivers packages for Amazon and is at a service station in Darby, a historic neighborhood about five miles southwest of downtown Philadelphia.“Wait, how do you know that?” he asks after composing himself. He’s wearing a blue Amazon vest and holding a small air compressor to check tire pressure.“Look, here it is” — the reporter shows him on a phone.It’s a White House post on X from July 7 that includes a promotional video for this chain of stations and President Trump.FREEDOM FUEL HAS ARRIVED. ⛽️🇺🇸The FIRST Freedom Fuel Network gas station has LANDED in Philadelphia, lowering the price at the pump to $3.47 for our 47th President.President Trump is leading the charge to lower gas prices this summer - putting more money in your pocket. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/lcrCuioQv5— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 7, 2026 “Oh, shit. Jay, look what this says. They’re Republican. These stations are Republican,” he says, turning to a coworker parked at another pump while shaking his head.“I’m not coming back,” he vows before driving off.About 30 Freedom Fuel stations appeared last summer in suburbs of Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Detroit. The company that owns them, Freedom Fuel Network, bought a small network of stations and decked them out in MAGA-style branding, with panels showing the American flag alongside a bald eagle in an aggressive pose. The signs look improvised and reveal the white-and-green logos of the previous brand.They didn’t take long to become famous thanks to Trump. The White House seized on the fuel crisis to promote them. The stations offered a symbolic price of $3.47 a gallon, a nod to Trump (the 47th president of the United States) — half a dollar cheaper than other stations. At the time, the main gasoline grade used by American cars traded at $3.97 a gallon, nearly 40% higher than at the start of the year, according to data compiled by the American Automobile Association (AAA).“I am pleased to announce that a VERY smart Retailer, located throughout the Northeast, is stepping up,” the Republican president said on Truth Social shortly before July 4, referring to Freedom Fuel Network.The cost of gasoline and diesel has become a sore point for Trump’s Republican Party heading into the midterm elections on Tuesday. Since the summer, fuel prices have risen further, stoking frustration among American households over the president’s economic stewardship. Trump used the 250th anniversary Independence Day festivities to publicize Freedom Fuel and its nationalist, MAGA-tinged network of stations.Three months after that announcement, EL PAÍS visited four of the controversial company’s 30 gas stations, located along a 7.5-mile stretch west of Philadelphia in working-class, low-income suburbs whose regular customers are workers from the surrounding area and residents of the predominantly Black neighborhood, who are unaware of the origin and significance of these gas stations.“I don’t care, I need to fill up; I go wherever it’s cheaper”The stations no longer sell fuel at $3.47. Prices have risen to just over $4: $3.83 if you also buy a car wash. Two of the stations looked rundown and there was a group of people loitering in the areas behind them. Another was closed for maintenance. At a fourth, on Island Avenue — the southernmost one — cars kept pulling in to fill tanks. It was offering the cheapest fuel in the area, where other stations — Conoco, Exxon, Quality Gas, Lukoil, and Sunoco — had prices above $4.19.Karol, 69, who is traveling with her sick sister, is annoyed that the pricing isn’t explained better. “I came to this station because it’s the cheapest, but now I see that if I don’t get the car washed the price goes up,” she says while wrestling with the pump hoses.Karol, retired, says she doesn’t know the origin of this network of stations. “I don’t care, it’s a gas station and I need to fill up. I go wherever it’s cheaper. With what I get from Social Security I need every cent,” she says, though she grimaces when she finds out the company has Trump’s backing.Behind this station is Randy Brown, a former Baltimore Ravens kicking coach and a former Republican mayor of Evesham Township, a New Jersey town of about 45,000 people. Earlier this year Brown went to the White House to pitch a plan to reopen a refinery in Saint Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, but he found little enthusiasm from the Trump administration.One of Brown’s partners in the project was Shamikh Kazmi, a New Jersey fuel operator with a questionable business record. People who know Brown say he’s someone who needs constant approval and note that he proudly wears his NFL championship ring.Although they left the White House disappointed, they pressed again months later when they saw the Republican president calling on major oil companies to lower fuel prices after the Strait of Hormuz was blocked amid the war with Iran. The two partners, Brown and Kazmi, registered Freedom Fuel Network LLC in Delaware — a state known for financial opacity and permissive rules — in late June. Two weeks later, after contacting some White House connections, they got the administration to post a video showing customers pleased with low prices and thanking Trump for the initiative.“Freedom Fuel Network is a privately owned and proudly patriotic company — along with its convenience store operators, haulers, sign companies, and operational partners — that answered President Trump’s call to action to lower prices at the pump,” the firm says on its website. “We didn’t hesitate; we took decisive action and lowered our prices to make filling up more affordable for hardworking families across the greater Philadelphia area,” it adds.“This gas is garbage. It’s 20% ethanol,” says Omar Baker, a real estate advisor who drives for Uber on the side. “They put them in Black neighborhoods because they’re cheaper and they think we won’t complain,” he says as he drives. Baker says that if neighborhood residents knew Trump supported those stations they would stop using them.The company began receiving complaints from suppliers and vendors. Suspicions about Kazmi — who had folded his small chain of stations into the new group — kept growing, while rivals wondered how they could offer gasoline at half a dollar cheaper with oil prices above $100 a barrel.Kazmi’s stations had accumulated fines in New Jersey for safety and environmental violations; another had failed an inspection in Philadelphia; and yet another in Pennsylvania was caught up in a trademark dispute involving BP, according to a Politico investigation into the case.“My name is James Bond, I’m the original,” says an 81-year-old customer. “The real one,” the blue-eyed man in sunglasses and a cap insists. “Yes, I knew Trump promoted this station. It’s good for those in power to do things to lower gas prices.” When asked about high prices, he replies slowly: “They’re this high because of the war with Iran; maybe we need a change. I don’t know if politicians do things thinking about the people.”The scandal erupted around Freedom Fuel in late September when Mansfield Oil sued Kazmi’s brother’s company, alleging it had stolen $4 million worth of fuel and sold it at rock-bottom prices to Freedom Fuel stations — which would explain how the network offered much lower prices. The company declined to comment.Josephine, a woman in her thirties from the neighborhood, goes to the station on Baltimore Pike next to Fernwood Cemetery. “It’s my favorite gas station because it’s the cheapest,” she says as she fills the tank of her blue Nissan. “The price hike affects me a lot because I have to spend much more, of course,” she adds as she nods. As she leaves, she shouts from her car window: “Thanks for letting me know this station is Republican. I won’t come back.”Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition