President Donald Trump said he would ask Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries to “reduce the cost of oil” and doubled down on his threat of tariffs.
In a speech to leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, the US president said he was “surprised” that OPEC did not lower the price of oil before the elections.
“Right now the price is high enough for this war to continue,” he said, referring to the war between Russia and Ukraine and suggesting that the rising price of oil was helping to keep the financing of the conflict in Moscow.
“You have to lower the price of oil, that will end this war. You could end this war,” he added.
The president’s comments on the price of oil came after his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday. According to Saudi state media, Bin Salman has pledged to invest up to $600 billion in the United States over the next four years, but this figure was not mentioned in the White House statement. after the call.
Despite the cordial exchange, Trump said he would ask “the crown prince, who is a fantastic guy, to round it up to about $1 trillion.”
The price of crude oil fell 1% following Trump’s comments.
According to David Oxley, chief climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics, these comments are consistent with Trump’s desire to lower gasoline prices.
“(It’s) his clear intention to use energy as leverage against Russia to end the war in Ukraine. That said, falling oil prices certainly won’t incentivize U.S. oil producers to ” “Drill, baby, drill” – especially in Alaska, where costs are high.”
“Of course, Saudi Arabia would not be guaranteed to meet President Trump’s demand to increase oil production and lower global oil prices.”
The US president’s video appearance at the World Economic Forum marked his first speech to an international audience since his inauguration earlier this week.
He used the platform to insist that companies around the world manufacture their products in the United States or face high tariffs on imported products entering the U.S. market.
The president also said he would demand an immediate cut in interest rates, which he said had led to deeper deficits and what he described as economic calamity during his predecessor’s tenure. President Joe Biden.
“It starts with confronting the economic chaos caused by the failed policies of the last administration,” he said.
“Over the past four years, our government has racked up $8 trillion in wasteful deficit spending and imposed nation-destroying energy restrictions, crippling regulations, and hidden taxes like never before.”
Trump also talked about “good, clean coal” to power the data centers needed for artificial intelligence. “We need double the energy we have now in the United States, for AI to be as big as we want it to be,” he said, adding that he would use emergency executive orders to accelerate the construction of new power plants.
“Nothing can destroy coal, not the climate, not a bomb, nothing,” Trump said.
