- Mar 11, 2015
- 101,756
- 112,041
- 3,645
So Trump made a deal with the Saudis and Russia to raise gas prices in 2020. He did this to please his biggiest oil megadonor. And Biden got blamed for it.
As Donald Trump patches up the ever-growing hole in his finances resulting from his ongoing legal escapades with fossil fuel money, it looks as if a late-game gamble the former president made during his last year in office may be finally paying off.
That gamble may have also set up Joe Biden to deal with the effects of higher gas prices just as he was taking office a year later.
Enter Harold Hamm, a supporter of Trump’s from 2016 who backed the president for re-election that year. Hamm, an oil tycoon, led the charge in pushing Trump to respond to this international trade war. Plunging oil prices were on track to devastate the energy economy of Texas — which is a major oil-producing hub, but could not compete with OPEC and Russia’s lower prices. Hamm warned Trump at the time that a collapse of the Lone Star State’s fossil fuel economy would certainly lead to his electoral defeat, as he reasoned that Texas would turn blue for the first time in decades.
It seemed like a far-fetched outcome, but one possibility was much more likely: Hamm’s contributions to the Republican Party, and money from others like him, would dry up alongside Texas’s oil wells. That was a far more worrying prospect. Hamm was described by one energy sector executive as capable of raising $1bn for a candidate and their respective side of the aisle in an election cycle, drawing from his deep connections through the industry.
So Trump attempted avert that outcome. The manner he did so was simple: by convincing OPEC and Russia to cease their price cut fight with a massive shared production cut, one that stabilized prices and dropped production by 9.7m barrels per day. The deal was finally inked in April of that year — but only after Trump reportedtly threatened to end a military partnership with Saudi Arabia over its government’s balking.
www.independent.co.uk
climatepower.us
How Trump set the Biden administration up for an economic disaster with a bargain made in 2020
When Biden took office in 2021, he faced the prospect of responding to a number of Trump’s decisions made during his chaotic final year in office — including one important one made about oilAs Donald Trump patches up the ever-growing hole in his finances resulting from his ongoing legal escapades with fossil fuel money, it looks as if a late-game gamble the former president made during his last year in office may be finally paying off.
That gamble may have also set up Joe Biden to deal with the effects of higher gas prices just as he was taking office a year later.
Enter Harold Hamm, a supporter of Trump’s from 2016 who backed the president for re-election that year. Hamm, an oil tycoon, led the charge in pushing Trump to respond to this international trade war. Plunging oil prices were on track to devastate the energy economy of Texas — which is a major oil-producing hub, but could not compete with OPEC and Russia’s lower prices. Hamm warned Trump at the time that a collapse of the Lone Star State’s fossil fuel economy would certainly lead to his electoral defeat, as he reasoned that Texas would turn blue for the first time in decades.
It seemed like a far-fetched outcome, but one possibility was much more likely: Hamm’s contributions to the Republican Party, and money from others like him, would dry up alongside Texas’s oil wells. That was a far more worrying prospect. Hamm was described by one energy sector executive as capable of raising $1bn for a candidate and their respective side of the aisle in an election cycle, drawing from his deep connections through the industry.
So Trump attempted avert that outcome. The manner he did so was simple: by convincing OPEC and Russia to cease their price cut fight with a massive shared production cut, one that stabilized prices and dropped production by 9.7m barrels per day. The deal was finally inked in April of that year — but only after Trump reportedtly threatened to end a military partnership with Saudi Arabia over its government’s balking.
How Trump set Biden up for an economic disaster
When Biden took office in 2021, he faced the prospect of responding to a number of Trump’s decisions made during his chaotic final year in office — including one important one made about oil
www.independent.co.uk
Trump Cut a Deal that Raised Oil Prices for Americans
- FACT: In 2020, Trump cut a deal with Vladimir Putin, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and OPEC+ to increase oil prices so that he could bail out his most important Big Oil megadonor, Harold Hamm.
- FACT: Donald Trump is bought and paid for by Big Oil. Trump asked Big Oil CEOs for $1 billion and promised to deliver their day one wishlist so that he can win a second term while they rake in huge profits.
- FACT: USA Today’s editorial board wrote of the deal that Trump’s “attempt to help oil companies will cost American workers and fuel-reliant businesses at the gas pump.”
- FACT: Trump has repeatedly boasted about raising oil prices on camera at multiple events.
- FACT: The FTC is calling for a criminal investigation over allegations that a (now former) Big Oil CEO colluded with Saudi-led oil cartel OPEC to artificially reduce output and inflate gas prices “at the expense of U.S. households and businesses,” costing Americans an estimated $500 per car.
FACT CHECK: Trump Cut a Deal that Raised Oil Prices for Americans | Climate Power
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote to save Americans $38 billion on energy costs and held Big Oil accountable for price gouging, while Trump cut a deal with foreign governments to artificially raise gas prices to help out his most important Big Oil megadonor.
climatepower.us
