As President Donald Trump‘s Presidential Envoy for Special Missions, Richard Grenell‘s first assignment this year was to oversee the administration’s response to the 2025 California wildfires.
Grenell, who considered a run for California governor in the 2021 recall election, when Californians ultimately voted not to recall Governor Gavin Newsom, told California that strings would be attached to any federal wildfire aid, a statement that reflected Trump’s own talk of “conditions” attaching to aid.
Grenell also floated the idea of shutting down the California Coastal Commission, a state agency which he called “a disaster” and an unelected group of people who are “crazy woke left.”
On Saturday, Grenell again took aim at Newsom on social media. He wrote: “@GavinNewsom’s 65 cent gas tax in California starts Tuesday July 1.”
The Governor’s press office responded to Grenell’s claim: “UTTERLY FALSE,” and “FACT: there is no 65 cent gas tax starting next week. The gas tax is increasing by 1.6 cents — which was approved by the legislature in 2017 and California voters in 2018, before Governor Newsom took office.” (Newsom took office in January 2019.)
FACT: there is no 65 cent gas tax starting next week.
The gas tax is increasing by 1.6 cents — which was approved by the legislature in 2017 and California voters in 2018, before Governor Newsom took office. https://t.co/YdtBmwB8rH
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) June 28, 2025
To refute Grenell’s claims and others like it swirling around on social media, Governor Newsom’s office distributed a press release to clarify: “There are two separate changes to fuel prices expected on or around July 1 – a legislatively mandated and voter-approved gas tax increase of 1.6 cents and updated fuel standards that could, according to experts, translate to 5 to 8 cents.”
The press release also debunked a claim that gas prices could top $8 a gallon by next year.
According to Newsom’s office (which is responsible for the bolded text): “That number – widely reported in the media – comes from an unscientific analysis whose author has close ties with the oil industry and has been on the payroll of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The author fails to provide evidence to support his main claim and only relies on vague references to models with no details on what those models are based on. Other experts, such as these Stanford economists, say gas price increases based on recent refinery announcements are likely to be negligible.”
The author of the $8 a gallon post is Michael Mische, a consultant and Professor at USC’s Marshall School of Business. One of the Stanford economists who argues against Mische’s claim is Ryan Cunnings, Chief of Staff for the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR).
Note: One of Trump’s key campaign promises was to bring down the cost of goods, including gasoline. Any price increase can be expected to be politicized by both sides.