Trump said the $1 billion donation would be a “deal” because it would allow him to avoid taxes and regulations, according to people familiar with the matter.
Trump's surprisingly blunt and transactional pitch: The former president is aiming He turned to the oil industry for financial support to fund his reelection. The administration will help shape environmental policies for Biden's second term, including rolling back some of Biden's signature achievements on clean energy and electric vehicles.
The contrast between the two candidates on climate policy could not be starker. Biden has called global warming an “existential threat,” and over the past three years, his administration has finalized more than 100 new environmental regulations aimed at reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, limiting toxic chemicals, and protecting public lands and waters. In contrast, Trump has called climate change a “hoax,” and his administration has weakened or repealed more than 125 environmental regulations and policies in four years.
The Biden administration has been working hard in recent months to reverse Trump's environmental actions and enact new ones before the November election. According to a Washington Post analysis, the Biden administration has so far reversed 27 of Trump's actions affecting the fossil fuel industry and completed at least 24 new actions affecting the sector. For example, the Department of the Interior recently blocked future oil drilling on 13 million acres of land in Alaska's Arctic.
While the oil industry has been unhappy with Biden's policies, the United States now produces more oil than any other country, averaging about 13 million barrels per day last year. The two largest U.S. energy companies, Exxon Mobil and Chevron, reported their biggest annual profits in a decade last year.
But big oil companies stand to gain even more from new offshore drilling, faster permitting and other regulatory relief. — the former president told executives over a chopped steak dinner at Mar-a-Lago during the second Trump administration.
At the dinner, Trump vowed to immediately lift the Biden administration's freeze on new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export licenses, a top priority for the executive, according to three people who attended. “We'll have it on day one,” Trump said, according to one attendee recalled.
The roughly two dozen executives invited to the event included Mike Sabel, CEO and founder of Venture Global, and Jack Fusco, CEO of Cheniere Energy, whose proposed projects would directly benefit from the lifting of the moratorium on new LNG exports. Other attendees included participants from companies such as Chevron, Continental Resources, Exxon and Occidental Petroleum, according to an attendee list obtained by The Washington Post.
Trump told executives he would auction off more oil-drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico, something several executives had cited as a priority. As The Washington Post previously reported, Trump has opposed wind power. He also said he would lift restrictions on drilling in Alaska's Arctic.
“You've been waiting five years for your clearance, and you're going to get it on day one,” Trump told the officials, according to recollections of those who attended.
At the dinner party, Trump also promised to repeal Biden's electric vehicle “mandate,” a misinterpretation, attendees said, of ambitious rules recently finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency that require automakers to cut emissions. It doesn't mandate any particular technology, like electric vehicles. President Trump called the rules “ridiculous” during a meeting with supporters.
The fossil fuel industry has been lobbying aggressively against the EPA's emissions rules, which it says could cannibalize demand for petroleum products. The American Fuels and Petrochemicals Association, a trade group, has launched a seven-figure campaign to oppose what it calls a de facto “gasoline-powered car ban.” The campaign includes ads in battleground states warning that the rules will limit consumer choice.
“If you're producing gasoline or diesel, you obviously want to make sure there's a good market for it,” said Stephen Brown, an energy consultant and former lobbyist for oil refiner Tesoro. “I don't know if the oil industry will come together and put a set of demands on the Trump administration, but I think it's important to raise this issue.”
While repealing the EPA rule would benefit the fossil fuel industry, it's also likely to anger the auto industry, which has invested billions of dollars in the transition away from gasoline-powered vehicles. Many automakers are under increasing pressure to sell more electric vehicles in Europe, which is tightening its own emissions standards and wants to avoid fragmented regulations around the world.
“Automakers need to get some regulatory certainty from the government,” said John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Automotive Innovation Coalition, which represents automakers including Ford, General Motors, Stellantis and Toyota.
“What we've seen instead is blanket deregulation, followed by reinstatement, then deregulation again every four to eight years,” Bozzella said in an email.
Biden's EV policies have also drawn opposition in rural, Republican-led states such as North Dakota, where there are many more oil-pump jacks than charging stations. A key figure in the Trump campaign's energy policy efforts is its Republican governor, Doug Burgum, who frequently consults with oil donors and corporate CEOs.
At a fundraiser in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday, Burgum told donors that Trump would end Biden's “attack” on fossil fuels, according to an audio recording of Burgum's remarks obtained by The Washington Post.
“What's the No. 1 thing President Trump can do on his first day in office? It's to stop the hostile attacks on all of American energy — all of it,” Burgum said. “We have attacks on liquid fuels, whether that's baseload power, oil, gas, ethanol.”
Burgum also criticized the Biden administration's policies regarding gas stoves and internal combustion vehicles, arguing that they would discourage consumers from purchasing both technologies. The Department of Energy recently set new efficiency standards for gas stoves, but they don't affect stoves in people's kitchens or stoves currently on the market.
“They have a pretty liberal view of what products we need,” Burgum said. “You need electric vehicles. You don't need internal combustion engines. We decide what cars you drive, and we regulate other cars and make them obsolete. So this isn't just happening in the auto industry or the energy industry, it's happening in every industry. They're telling people what stoves to buy. This is not America.”
The Biden campaign initially declined to comment on the article, but after it was published, Biden campaign spokesman Amar Moosa said in a statement, “Donald Trump is selling out working families to Big Oil for his campaign. That's all there is to it.”
“It's no problem for Trump that oil and gas companies can charge working and middle-class Americans whatever they want while making record profits. If they can cash the checks, he'll listen to them,” Moussa added.
Burgum, who could lead the Energy Department in Trump's second term, has been more committed to tackling climate change than many other Republicans. In 2021, he set a goal for North Dakota, the third-largest U.S. oil-producing state, to be carbon neutral by 2030. But Burgum has stressed that the goal cannot be achieved through government mandates or phasing out fossil fuels, earning him deep support among oil donors.
Despite Trump's huge fundraising requests, oil donors and their allies have yet to donate hundreds of millions of dollars to his campaign. More than $6.4 million was donated to Trump's joint fundraising committees in the first three months of the year, according to an analysis by the environmental group Climate Power. Advisers say oil tycoon Harold Hamm and others are planning fundraisers for Trump later this year that they hope will raise big money for his reelection bid.
One industry source said many oil executives had hoped that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or another Republican would challenge Biden, but now that Trump is the nominee they are willing to accept his policies and make concessions, the person said.
Dan Eberhart, CEO of oil-related services company Canary and a Trump donor, said the outpouring of Republican donations wasn't surprising.
“Biden has always been a sticking point for the oil and gas industry,” Eberhart said. “Trump's 'drill, drill, drill' philosophy fits the oil industry better than Biden's green energy policies. It's a no-brainer.”
Alex Witt, senior oil and gas adviser at Climate Power, said Trump's promise means he'll do anything if the oil industry supports it. With Trump, “everything has a price,” Witt said.
“They saw huge investment returns during President Trump's first term, and he has made it clear that they could see even greater returns if he is re-elected,” she said.
John Muyskens contributed to this report..
