The men behind the chain of gas stations that President Donald Trump celebrated for selling $3.47-a-gallon fuel include an NFL kicking coach, a Republican fundraiser, and two New Jersey brothers with a history of legal trouble. The Freedom Fuel Network, a chain of star-spangled convenience stores in the Philadelphia area, launched last month and quickly won the president’s praise on social media.
Records show the venture is run by a collection of businessmen with little in common beyond their connection to the project. Exactly how the stations got Trump’s attention is not clear, and none of the four men agreed to comment or could be reached.
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Trump posted about the network on Truth Social on July 1, just before the July 4 holiday, calling it a “VERY smart Retailer” stepping up for consumers. The White House followed with a post on X heralding the opening of the first station and a video showing patrons waving cash and thanking the president.
That station, in Dresher, Pennsylvania, is owned by a subsidiary of Blue Owl Capital, an investment firm. Trump has owned up to $25 million worth of Blue Owl stock, though his most recent financial disclosure says he sold almost all of that stake. The administration denied Trump had any personal connection to the venture but acknowledged talking with people who set up the network.
Who owns the Freedom Fuel stations
Blue Owl owns about a third of the 25 Freedom Fuel properties, but the firm says it leases the stores to independent contractors and is not involved in their operations. Fourteen of those locations are controlled by companies linked to Shamikh and Syed Kazmi, two brothers who have been hit with civil judgments for fraud and other misconduct, according to records.
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Shamikh Kazmi is leasing eight of those stations from Blue Owl, state records show. Reporters tied the brothers to six other Freedom Fuel locations through records that show they listed those addresses for other ventures or supplied fuel there.
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said no one in the administration who was in conversations with the network had spoken or worked with Syed Kazmi.
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That suggests discussions involved Shamikh Kazmi. The Kazmis have marketed themselves as petroleum distributors with 75 years of experience, but public records show a long string of lawsuits from companies the Kazmis had dealings with.
Legal troubles trail the brothers
Legal filings detail a series of judgments against the Kazmis, who failed to comply with a court order and have been