WSJ editors rebuke Trump over blame on oil companies
Key Takeaways
- •The Wall Street Journal editorial board said Trump’s comments about oil companies echoed arguments more commonly made by the political left.
- •Trump said a company earning far more than the year before should return some profits and lower prices for consumers.
- •The board said oil and gas firms often pass profits to shareholders through dividends and to workers through bonuses during energy shocks.
- •The editorial linked higher gas prices to global energy disruption caused by Trump’s war against Iran.
- •The board also questioned Trump’s own profits from cryptocurrency and other business ventures while he was in office.
The conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board on Tuesday sharply criticized President Donald Trump for trying to blame rising gas prices on "Big Oil."
The board said such complaints are usually heard from the left, not from a Republican president seeking to deflect attention from the global energy disruption caused by his war against Iran. The rebuke also highlighted a familiar tension in periods of energy stress: consumers feel higher prices quickly, while oil companies often become the public target because their profits can rise at the same time.
The board was responding to remarks Trump made on Monday, when he said, “When you look at one company where they made 12 times what they made the year before, they ought to give some of that back to the public. And they better cut the retail price, the consumer price.” The board said those comments came soon after "he had criticized Chevron CEO Mike Wirth for not praising Mr. Trump as the reason for his company’s success."
The editorial board said oil profits often rise during energy shocks, but argued that demanding companies surrender those gains does not make sense.
"As it happens, oil and gas giants are distributing their profits to the public via dividends to shareholders, many of whom are retirees," the board wrote. "Chevron this week announced a bonus for its employees. But speaking of someone making much more than the year before, would the President care to comment on his profits from his cryptocurrency plays and other ventures while in office?"
The board concluded that Trump has no standing to criticize oil companies for profiting from high prices when he has sought to benefit from the White House in multiple ways: "Oil and gas giants make money by producing a valuable commodity. Some uncharitable populist might say Mr. Trump is commoditizing the Presidency."
The editorial cited the Wall Street Journal opinion piece "Trump, Big Oil and Too Much Money" and related Raw Story reporting on Trump’s comments about gas prices and his cryptocurrency ventures.
