President Trump on Wednesday credited Saudi Arabia for bringing down oil prices, while standing by the country’s regime after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“Oil prices getting lower. Great! Like a big Tax Cut for America and the World. Enjoy! $54, was just $82. Thank you to Saudi Arabia, but let’s go lower!” Trump said in a Twitter post.
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The tweet came after a White House statement Tuesday asserting the importance of the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia despite the Khashoggi killing. Critics blasted Trump for a strictly transactional foreign policy approach, without regard to human rights and American traditions.
[Opinion: Trump’s mealy-mouthed statement on the Jamal Khashoggi murder is actually prudent]
In the Tuesday statement, Trump indicated that Saudi Arabia was critical to oil prices falling for the last six weeks, after breaching $85 in October.
“After the United States, Saudi Arabia is the largest oil producing nation in the world,” Trump said. “They have worked closely with us and have been very responsive to my requests to keeping oil prices at reasonable levels – so important for the world.”
“If you want to see oil prices go to $150 a barrel,” Trump later told reporters, “all you have to do is break up our relationship with Saudi Arabia.”
Trump had pressured Saudi Arabia in the lead-up to the midterm elections to to keep production high — so gasoline prices did not spike — before his oil sanctions kicked in on Iran, which is also a major producer of crude.
Saudi Arabia and Russia, the top two oil producers outside the U.S., began boosting output a few months ago, partially in response to Trump,
But other factors contributed to the oil price drop.
The Trump administration granted temporary exemptions to some of Iran’s biggest customers, allowing them to continue importing Iranian oil, which has also helped ease prices, along with prolific output from U.S. shale producers. In addition, analysts have said the oil price fall can be partially attributed to fears of sluggish global economic growth due to Trump’s trade wars.
The Saudis and Russia are now looking to cut production to increase prices and balance their budgets, and could make a formal decision next month when the oil cartel OPEC meets in Vienna. Trump appears to be trying to influence Saudi Arabia to prevent that outcome.
