President Trump says he does not care about high fuel prices
By Maya Ellison · Reporting from Detroit ·
Donald Trump celebrated massive oil industry windfalls during the Iran war, ignoring the burden on drivers and small businesses in a display of corporate capture.
Donald Trump is not just indifferent to the pain at the pump. He is celebrating it. At a rally in Georgia, he boasted that US oil companies are making hundreds of billions of dollars. He did not mince words. "I don't give a damn, I'm going to say it — we're making a freaking fortune," he said. This is the raw face of corporate capture. The president is not a shield for the people. He is a cheerleader for the billionaires.
The bill for a freaking fortune
The money is not magic. It is a transfer of wealth from the working class to the boardroom. Business Insider reports that a sample of US producers and refiners grew revenues by about $140 billion year over year. That growth comes from "surging crude prices tied to ongoing Strait of Hormuz disruptions."
While the C-suite toasts, the rest of us pay. AAA reported the average price of regular gas is $4.29 a gallon. In February, before the attacks on Iran, it was $2.98.
Trump expects the headlines to call him out. He knows people are suffering. But to him, the suffering of a commuter in Flint or a driver in Georgia is just the cost of doing business for his friends in Texas and Louisiana.
The pain is not just for drivers. AAA reported diesel prices were $6.35 on Sunday, up from $3.75 before the conflict began.
This is a regressive tax on the real economy. Tracee Tobler of Tobler Construction says higher fuel costs cut into her bottom line. She has to pass those costs to her customers. When the oil giants rake in windfalls, small businesses like hers are the ones who bleed.
A weak deal for a strong Kremlin
Trump claims he is fixing the problem. He negotiated a deal with Vladimir Putin to import Russian diesel. WINK News reports the first tanker carried about 300,000 barrels.
This move is a political stunt, not a policy. It provides a crucial economic lifeline to the Kremlin while the invasion of Ukraine continues. It is a surrender dressed up as a solution.
Energy experts told the AP that this shipment is only about 7% of the 4 million barrels the U.S. consumes daily. It is unlikely to lower diesel prices.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the agreement "a weak decision by strong partners." He is right. The administration is trading global stability for a headline that does nothing for the American worker.
The G7 tried a different path. They announced a coordinated release of 100 million barrels of oil and fuel products. But S&P Global reported this was just the remaining part of an old commitment. It was not new supply.
The playbook of the crisis
Trump’s supporters will argue that the war is a necessity. They will say the priority is stopping Iran from having nuclear weapons. They will point to the U.S. Navy's blockade as a way to keep oil moving. This is the strongest case for the war: national security.
But national security does not require corporate profiteering. The historical pattern predicts that these windfalls will not be used to lower prices. Instead, they will be used to buy political power. We saw this after the 2010 Citizens United ruling. Corporate super PACs flooded elections to protect their subsidies.
This is the same mechanism as the Financial Crisis of 2008. In both cases, concentrated corporate windfalls come from systemic risk and crisis-driven volatility. The vulnerable pay the price through lost assets and higher costs. The pattern is clear. The house always wins because the house writes the rules.
My father was a UAW shop steward. He taught me that when the company makes a record profit, the workers should see it. Trump's vision is the opposite. He sees a "freaking fortune" for the few and considers the struggle of the many a fair trade.
Trump's indifference is a choice. He knows the cost. He sees the $6.35 diesel and the $4.29 gas, and he chooses the oil executives over the people. Justice requires a windfall profit tax on these wartime gains. That money belongs to the families who paid for it at the pump. Until we break the link between corporate profit and national crisis, the working class will always be the collateral damage.
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WTI crude oil price. Source: Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED).