WP EXCLUSIVE What Trump promised oil CEOs as he asked them to steer $1 billion to his campaign

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Washington Post

WP EXCLUSIVE
What Trump promised oil CEOs as he asked them to steer $1 billion to his campaign

Donald Trump has pledged to scrap President Biden’s policies on electric vehicles and wind energy, as well as other initiatives opposed by the fossil fuel industry.

By Josh Dawsey and Maxine Joselow
May 9, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

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As Donald Trump sat with some of the country’s top oil executives at his Mar-a-Lago Club last month, one executive complained about how they continued to face burdensome environmental regulations despite spending $400 million to lobby the Biden administration in the last year.

Trump’s response stunned several of the executives in the room overlooking the ocean: You all are wealthy enough, he said, that you should raise $1 billion to return me to the White House. At the dinner, he vowed to immediately reverse dozens of President Biden’s environmental rules and policies and stop new ones from being enacted, according to people with knowledge of the meeting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private conversation.

Giving $1 billion would be a “deal,” Trump said, because of the taxation and regulation they would avoid thanks to him, according to the people. ... Trump’s remarkably blunt and transactional pitch reveals how the former president is targeting the oil industry to finance his reelection bid. At the same time, he has turned to the industry to help shape his environmental agenda for a second term, including the rollbacks of some of Biden’s signature achievements on clean energy and electric vehicles.

{snip}

Trump vowed at the dinner to immediately end the Biden administration’s freeze on permits for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports — a top priority for the executives, according to three people present. “You’ll get it on the first day,” Trump said, according to the recollection of an attendee. ... The roughly two dozen executives invited included Mike Sabel, the CEO and founder of Venture Global, and Jack Fusco, the CEO of Cheniere Energy, whose proposed projects would directly benefit from lifting the pause on new LNG exports. Other attendees came from companies including Chevron, Continental Resources, Exxon and Occidental Petroleum, according to an attendance list obtained by The Post.

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John Muyskens contributed to this report.

By Josh Dawsey
Josh Dawsey is a political enterprise and investigations reporter for The Washington Post. He joined the paper in 2017 and previously covered the White House. Before that, he covered the White House for Politico, and New York City Hall and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for the Wall Street Journal. Twitter https://twitter.com/jdawsey1

By Maxine Joselow
Maxine Joselow is a staff writer who covers climate change and the environment. Twitter https://twitter.com/maxinejoselow

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/09/trump-oil-industry-campaign-money/

[Hope22]

1. Retaliatory president syndrome

This is how TSF kills this country. We are effectively a country of no laws when a president can remove policy that protects the environment, economy and health of the citizens in return for huge personal financial payouts. It is impossible to plan for the future when laws change at the whims of greedy politicians.

[gab13by13]

2. Yet the MSM will call them "conservatives."

[Hope22]

6. So frustrating...

One day you can put eggs in the freezer the next it’s illegal to access them. One day a doctor is bound by an oath the next they can be jailed for upholding it. This is no way to live. The media gets fat on continual chaos.

[jaxexpat]

22. But without the media how else would we be reminded the Stormy Daniels is a porn star every time her name comes up?

Literally every time she's mentioned. It reminds me how B. Clinton was titled, "the failed president", from January 1993 moments after his oath of office to January 1997, when he was returned to office. They had to crank up the heat on the cigar saga at that point. New title? The "scandal ridden presidency" of B. Clinton.

The free press meme has grown stale in this age of paperlessness. Who even reads their receipts anyhow?

[Pinback]

36. When Trump becomes the "embattled former president"

in the MSM’s coverage we’ll know we’re making progress.

[modrepub]

5. Promises Unkept

As bad as this is (sounds), part of me says this guy can't deliver the goods. If these folks do give "billions" to tfg they shouldn't be surprised if they get far less than he promised.

Goes to show, $$$$ doesn't = intelligence.

Another tfg administration will kill the country through shear incompetence. The guy has the attention span of a gnat. He'll lurch from one stupid topic to another and accomplish nothing except making the media newsrooms happy covering crisis after crisis.

[Hope22]

9. He's been pretty effective at pushing women back to the caves.

I don’t see that turning around any time soon. After Tuesday court session I think asking a woman out for dinner now equates to no dinner, no desert …..but she will get the pork! This guy needs to go!

[thesquanderer]

17. Plus even if he *could* deliver, it's moot if he doesn't win the election, despite the billion.

Not such a "good deal" then.

[NJCher]

24. you've got it

My first reaction to this story was are oil executives dumb enough to jump on trump's train for a billion?

Loved that last paragraph.

Even putin wasn't stupid enough to put his eggs in trump's basket when he said trump was too volatile with which to do corruption.

[rampartc]

38. didn't tillerson call him a "fckin' idiot?"

maybe they know him better than we can hope.

[NJCher]

39. yes, he did

and here's why:

snip

President Donald Trump said he wanted what amounted to a nearly tenfold increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal during a gathering this past summer of the nation’s highest-ranking national security leaders, according to three officials who were in the room.

So there are a bunch of reasons why that's dumb. One, we have one of the biggest nuclear stockpiles on Earth. Two, it's prohibited because of international treaties the U.S. has signed. Three, because of points one and two, such an increase wouldn't be seen as a deterrent so much as a troubling sign that the U.S. is even more destabilized than the world thought and could lead to other countries also increasing their stockpiles. To put it simply, it's the definition of a "fucking moron." And it was apparently after Trump had left this meeting that Rex Tillerson made the most accurate call of his time as secretary of state.

snip

Just making this promise is ridiculous. We are too far along on the energy independence road to roll this back. The backlash would be "huge," LOL.

source: Gentlemen's Quarterly

[mahatmakanejeeves]

44. Note that the "US is building first new nuclear warhead in decades."

Fri Apr 19, 2024: US is building first new nuclear warhead in decades

[NanaCat]

30. It won't be through incompetence alone.

Malevolence and unadulterated greed will do their share in destroying the country as well.

[Traurigkeit]

40. Any stupid person or corp that gives TSF money is giving it to TSF. Nothing is coming back.

As if anyone has never heard the saying: Everything TSF touches dies.

[Lemonwurst]

3. Being greedy while smart

As many of these execs likely are, they should know by now his word is worthless. They can grumble about the regulations, and they always will, but they also know any big money leaving their coffers is gone for good.

[okaawhatever]

16. Trump saved them a lot more than a billion with his tax cuts.

[KS Toronado]

4. Typical repug playbook "What do you want me to do Big Biz?"

"Oh and by the way, my reelection funds can be deposited at Change My Dirty Diapers .com"

[Diamond_Dog]

7. I got a stomach ache reading this.

[onetexan]

10. Likewise, bribing the megarich for his desire for power.

More concerning is if the oil tycoons acquiesce.

[Diamond_Dog]

12. And any Biden climate change initiatives go right down the drain.

The pig wants to turn the Earth into an overheated hellscape. Everyone loses.

[Bluethroughu]

8. Bribery. America for sale, just give the Not so Supreme Justices an RV and their spouse a job.

[underpants]

11. Was Scott Sheffield there? He got caught colluding with OPEC to keep oil prices jacked up

Washington, DC - The Federal Trade Commission has uncovered efforts by former CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources Scott Sheffield to collude with OPEC in order to increase the price of oil through agreed up cuts in production. The conduct was discovered as part of an investigation into the $64 billion acquisition of Pioneer by Exxon Mobil, which FTC says it will not reject as long as Sheffield is not named to the board.

The complaint by the FTC states Sheffield attempted to “pad Pioneer’s bottom line—as well as those of oil companies in OPEC and OPEC+ member states—at the expense of U.S. households and businesses.”

One analysis of the impacts of this price-fixing scheme found that oil companies “may single-handedly be responsible for a little over a quarter of the total inflationary increase in 2021.”

https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2024/05/sierra-club-reaction-pioneer-collusion-opec

[JT45242]

13. Sure seems like a clear solicitation of a bribe to me ...

Someone had to put that on tape. THat is beyond lobbying and a clear quid pro quo -- give me a million dollars and I will do X,Y, and Z.

That seems like pretty straightforward statement of the law

From Justice manual website https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-834-intent-parties#:~:text=%C2%A7%20201%2C%20which%20prohibit%20the,or%20receipt%20of%20unlawful%20gratuities.
The public employee bribery statutes provide a useful analogy. Subsections (b) and (c) of 18 U.S.C. § 201, which prohibit the offering or soliciting of bribes to or by Federal officials, require a showing of an intended quid pro quo. Subsections (f) and (g) of 18 U.S.C. § 201, on the other hand, prohibit the giving or receipt of unlawful gratuities. Subsections (f) and (g) of Section 201 do not require proof of a quid pro quo or unlawful influence, but require the government to prove merely that something of value was given to a public official for or because of an official act that the official performed or will perform. See United States v. Niederberger, 580 F.2d 63, 68-69 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 980 (1978); United States v. Evans, 572 F.2d 455, 481 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 870 (1978); United States v. Brewster, 506 F.2d 62, 82 (D.C. Cir. 1974). In essence, a gratuity is given either before or after the f act, not to influence a decision but to reward a person for making or having made a decision that would have been made in any event. See United States v. Previte, 648 F.2d 73, 82 (1st Cir. 1981).

[thesquanderer]

20. I think it would be a clear solicitation of a bribe if he were actually in office...

...but as it is, he is not currently a "public employee", and if he gets the billion and still doesn't win, he'll never be in a position to take the actions he is being "bribed" to take, so not so clear, I think.

[PatSeg]

14. I thought at first they were complaining because they'd

spent $400 million trying to be more environmentally conscious, but no, that was money spent lobbying the Biden administration.

Maybe that money would have been better spent on the environment.

[Hotler]

15. Notice the Post was too chicken shit to include the list of attendees.

I'm going to mention boycotts and someone here will tell me they don't work. Boycotts worked for the repugs when they went after Bud Light.
Our votes are not our only tool, your spending dollar has power.
it would be nice to have the list of fascist that attended the meeting. Looks like the oil Companies lean fascist. Didn't Standard Oil support the Nazi during WWII?

[intheflow]

23. Their source may not have known or given everyone's name.

It’s speculating to assume otherwise.

[Hotler]

25. The article said there was a list handed out and the names the Post has are from that list.

Anyway, IMO, a good investigative journalist would have got a hold of the list and included it in their reporting. Not enough sunshine these days. And even better, if the Post did a story of the oil companies that sided with the Nazi during WWII and their evolution to today's oil companies that choose to go down and hang with a known fascist.
Be well.

[intheflow]

26. Fair enough.

I didn’t read the whole article and admit to just skimming what was posted here. Thanks for the clarification - without the hostile bile often seen in DU these days. Be well yourself!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

28. This was done to protect the identity of the leakers.

Suppose, not without reason, that there were several copies of attendance lists circulating, each containing uniquely identifying misinformation that the other copies lacked. By seeing which misinformation was included in any list of attendees that made it to print, Trump would know who the leaker was.

This is not the Washington Post's first rodeo.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

18. Greedflation is a stealthier way for oligarchs to get Republicans elected.

It's a symbiotic relationship that has grown since the Powell memo.

[JMCKUSICK]

19. Isn't this illegal?

[RussBLib]

35. Seems like it oughta be...nt

[CaptainTruth]

21. The circle of GOP cash: Give tax cuts to billionaires & corporations...

...then ask for money back in campaign donations.

It's illegal for them to take money out of the Treasury for their campaigns, but they can take it out of the Treasury in the form of tax cuts & then ask the recipients of the cuts for it back in campaign donations. To me it's a form of money laundering.

[PSPS]

29. Yes, it's called an "off-the-shelf" money laundering scheme

You buy an office for a politician who then structures public policy so as to refund many times that amount back to you. After that, you continue to tithe your yearly windfall on an annual basis back to the on-the-pad politician as a "campaign contribution" to keep the scheme going. It's how republicans have been financing their campaigns for decades.

[BoRaGard]

27. Republican leader: "Screw America and the childrens' future. Give me more money."

Greedy and needy.

not a good way to go through life.

[walkingman]

31. WEll, that will help in the Climate Change battle won't it? 🥵

[oldsoftie]

42. We're not serious about battling it NOW. Nuclear power is the only true answer.

All this nonsense about EVs has gotten ridiculous. We're using more and more electricity all the time. China controls most of the raw materials needed for the batteries all while opening a new coal fired power plant pretty much weekly.
Biden needs to do whatever it takes to beat trump. Period.

[NanaCat]

32. What's the most maddening of Big Oil's behaviour

Is that they have spent so much money lobbying to protect a diminishing resource, rather than spending that same money developing the energy resources of the future. If they'd spent the many billions on new, cleaner energy instead, we'd have those things by now, and they'd be enjoying the profits from them.

[Farmer-Rick]

33. This is how capitalism buys out democracy

Corporations collect wealth from Americans. Then they make it near impossible for an average person to obtain wealth too. They demand payment for life necessary ever day needs.

Then they bribe elected officials (Let's face it, ever since the dancing Supremes allowed corporations to fund politicians, campaign financing became an out of control bribery system.) Then elected leaders do what the got bribed to do despite most citizens being against those same policies.

Karl Marx described this capitalist system of buying up democracy back in the late 1800s. And we wonder why our laws are looking more and more like laws from the 1800s.

[Enoki33]

34. Stressful to process the very real possiblity

that you can wake up one morning to the sobering fact that the rules have changed overnight primarily because of legalize bribery. Maybe it's not too off target to say we have more auctions than elections. What next will be for sale?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

37. TFG is not being subtle

Link to tweet

[oldsoftie]

41. Like it or not, gas prices are going to be a BIG factor in the election

And all the talk of "attacking climate change" is BS since nuclear isnt the main focus.
We export oil, why dont we export LNG? Especially to the EU; who have taken the brunt of the Russian sanctions.

[BlueKota]

43. Interesting one of them leaked it.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

45. Biden-Harris campaign statement on new report that TFG is asking oil executives to contribute $1 billion to his campaign

Link to tweet

[BobTheSubgenius]

46. Has a quid pro quo - maybe better known as a bribe -

ever been so blatant? IMO, participants on both sides of this transactional farce should face serious legal consequences. But it's probably part of Citizens United or some similarly nefarious "legislation."

[Hekate]

47. KnR

[oasis]

48. Trump: "Drain the swamp"

[LetMyPeopleVote]

49. Trump's pitch to Big Oil execs sparks Senate Democrats' attention

Will Senate Democrats hold hearings into Donald Trump's controversial pitch to oil industry executives? It's “highly likely,” one key member said.
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-pitch-big-oil-execs-sparks-senate-democrats-attention-rcna151943

The New York Times’ Jamelle Bouie responded soon after, “I’m obviously angered by the blatant disregard for the planet and its inhabitants. But I’m also struck by the in-your-face brazenness of Trump’s reported quid pro quo. This is more than the hint of corruption; it is the overpowering scent of the rotting corpse of corruption. It is influence trading of the sort that would embarrass a Boss Tweed or a Roscoe Conkling, whose 'honest graft' came with at least the pretense of pursuing the public good.”.....

Have the revelations opened the door to possible scrutiny on Capitol Hill? In the Republican-led House, no. In the Democratic-led Senate, maybe. The New Republic’s Greg Sargent reported:

For starters, the revelations seem to cry out for more scrutiny from Congress. Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, who has been presiding over hearings into the oil industry as chair of the Budget Committee, says it’s “highly likely” that the committee will examine the new revelations.

“This is practically an invitation to ask more questions,” the Rhode Island Democrat told Greg, describing this as a “natural extension of the investigation already underway.”

The New York Times’ Jamelle Bouie responded soon after, “I’m obviously angered by the blatant disregard for the planet and its inhabitants. But I’m also struck by the in-your-face brazenness of Trump’s reported quid pro quo. This is more than the hint of corruption; it is the overpowering scent of the rotting corpse of corruption. It is influence trading of the sort that would embarrass a Boss Tweed or a Roscoe Conkling, whose 'honest graft' came with at least the pretense of pursuing the public good.”

Have the revelations opened the door to possible scrutiny on Capitol Hill? In the Republican-led House, no. In the Democratic-led Senate, maybe. The New Republic’s Greg Sargent reported:

For starters, the revelations seem to cry out for more scrutiny from Congress. Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, who has been presiding over hearings into the oil industry as chair of the Budget Committee, says it’s “highly likely” that the committee will examine the new revelations.

“This is practically an invitation to ask more questions,” the Rhode Island Democrat told Greg, describing this as a “natural extension of the investigation already underway.”

Whitehouse added, “The phrase that instantly came to mind as I was reading the story was ‘quid pro quo.’” Referencing both the Post’s report and the aforementioned Politico article, the senator concluded, “Put those things together and it starts to look mighty damn corrupt.”

All things considered, I think it’s fair to say that Senate Democrats have exercised extraordinary restraint — by some measures, too much — in not holding committee hearings in response to every episodic development surrounding the former president. While the likes of House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan have reached for their gavel in response to meaningless Fox News segments, Democrats in the upper chamber have been far more measured about chasing assorted Trump scandals.