President Donald Trump has been badmouthing former President Joe Biden over gas prices during his term. Trump’s solution for bringing gas prices down was revealed at a speech at the recent World Economic Forum.
Last Thursday, Trump told Davos that he would ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to lower the price of oil. “You got to bring it down, which, frankly, I’m surprised they didn’t do it before the election,” Trump confidently said. Additionally, Trump claimed that if OPEC had lowered their oil prices earlier, it would’ve ended the Russia-Ukraine war. This statement implies that OPEC’s reduced oil output makes Russian oil competitive, despite the latter facing embargos.
Social media users who were growing frustrated with the high price of oil made vicious remarks against the president. One X user wrote, “This clown is the most pathetic person that I’ve ever seen in my life.” They highlighted Trump’s hypocrisy for criticizing Biden over gas prices. Biden attempted to negotiate increased oil production from OPEC, but the plan failed and drove inflation upward. Regardless, it’s too soon to criticize Trump’s effort to negotiate with OPEC.
No tariff threats detected
Recently, President Trump encouraged “drill, baby, drill” more oil domestically during his inaugural speech. This doesn’t guarantee Trump lower gas prices in the short term, since domestic producers are not ready to drill excessively, as the president suggests. This may be why Trump is not willing to leverage economic threats against OPEC. Keeping the prices of oil will be a daunting task for Trump, and diplomatic outreach may be his best bet.
Nevertheless, Trump has taken the opportunity to flatter Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) for floating a $600 billion investment in the United States. Trump even bragged about closing the investment up to a trillion. Whether or not Trump is able to negotiate further investment from Saudi Arabia or lower oil prices remains to be seen.
Published: Jan 27, 2025 12:50 am