Trump urges OPEC countries to lower oil prices together, hoping to end the Russia-Ukraine war
- Vishala Sri-Pathma, Oliver Smith
- BBC reporter
Trump told executives of multinational corporations via video at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday (January 23) that he was "surprised" that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) had failed to lower oil prices before the election.
“The current oil prices are high enough that this war will continue,” he said, referring to the Russia-Ukraine war and suggesting that high oil prices help maintain financial support for Moscow’s conflict.
He added: “You have to get oil prices down so that you can end that war.”
Trump's comments on oil prices came after he spoke by phone on Wednesday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
According to Saudi state media, bin Salman pledged to invest up to $600 billion in the United States over the next four years, but that figure was not mentioned in the White House statement following the call.
Despite the friendly exchanges, Trump said he would ask "this wonderful crown prince" to increase the investment to about $1 trillion.
Global crude oil prices fell 1% following Trump's comments.
David Oxley, chief climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics, said the comments were in line with Trump's desire to lower gasoline prices: "This is a clear sign of his desire to use energy as a lever to counter Russia to end the war in Ukraine." However, he said, "lower oil prices certainly will not incentivize US oil producers to 'pump more', especially in high-cost Alaska."
“Of course, Saudi Arabia will not necessarily follow Trump’s calls to expand oil production and lower global oil prices.”
The US president's appearance via video at the World Economic Forum marked his first address to a global audience since taking office earlier this week, and he used the platform to insist that global companies make their products in the United States or face steep tariffs on goods entering the US market.
After the speeches, some executives left the hall with indifferent faces, but others with happy expressions.
“It was a very powerful speech,” one representative said.
"I like it, I think it's really good," said another representative from the United States. "A lot of what Trump declassified makes sense and is common sense. He just wants fair trade!"
However, one senior Swiss official seemed a little frustrated. "It's nothing new, but it's clear what he wants to do," he said. "Am I happy? No, I'm not! I think none of this is good for the world."
Trump also said he would demand an immediate cut in interest rates, which he said led to deeper deficits and created what he described as an economic disaster under his predecessor, Joe Biden.
"This all stems from this economic mess, caused by the failed policies of the previous government," he said.
"Over the past four years, our government has run up a wasteful $8 trillion deficit and imposed nation-destroying energy restrictions, crippling regulations, and unprecedented hidden taxes."
Trump also mentioned "good, clean coal" to power the data centers needed for artificial intelligence. "We need to double American energy production to get the growth of artificial intelligence to the scale we want," he said, adding that emergency decrees would be used to speed up the construction of new power plants.
"Nothing can destroy coal - not weather, not bombs, not anything else," Trump stressed.
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