Trump urges Opec countries to slash oil prices

U.S. President Donald Trump stated that he would ask Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations to "lower oil prices," and reiterated his threat to use tariffs. Speaking to executives at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, President Trump said he was "surprised" that OPEC had not lowered oil prices before the election.

President Trump noted that current oil prices are "high enough to keep the war going," referring to the Russia-Ukraine war, and suggested that higher oil prices are helping Moscow finance the conflict. He added, "You have to lower oil prices, and that will end that war. You can end that war."

These remarks on oil prices came after President Trump spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday. According to Saudi state media, bin Salman pledged to invest up to $600 billion in the U.S. over the next four years, a figure not mentioned in the White House's statement following the call. Despite the friendly exchange, Trump said he would ask "this very wonderful Crown Prince to increase the investment to about $1 trillion." Crude oil prices fell by 1% after Trump's comments.

David Oxley, chief climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics, believes these comments are in line with Trump's desire to lower gasoline prices. "[This] is a clear intention of his to use energy as a lever to pressure Russia to end the war in Ukraine. That said, lower oil prices certainly wouldn't incentivize US oil producers to 'drill, baby, drill' – especially in high-cost Alaska." He also stated, "Of course, Saudi Arabia wouldn't necessarily listen to President Trump’s request to increase oil production and lower global oil prices."

President Trump's appearance via video at the World Economic Forum was his first address to a global audience since taking office earlier this week. He used the platform to insist that companies around the world must manufacture their products in the U.S., or face high tariffs on imported goods entering the U.S. BBC correspondent Oliver Smith, who was present as the president delivered his remarks, said that executives left the room with "long faces," though some were pleased. "A very powerful speech," said one delegate. "I liked it, I thought it was really good," said a delegate from the US. "A lot of it makes sense. Common sense. He’s just looking for fair trade," he added. A Swiss executive was rather dismayed. "It's nothing new, but it's clear what he wants to do," he said. "Am I happy? No, I'm not happy. I don't think it's good for the world," he added.

Trump also stated that he would demand an immediate cut in interest rates, which he believes have led to deeper deficits and contributed to what he described as the economic disaster during his predecessor President Joe Biden's term. "This first must confront the economic mess caused by the failed policies of the last administration," he said. "Over the last four years, our government has accumulated $8 trillion in wasteful deficit spending and imposed unprecedented destructive energy restrictions, harsh regulations and hidden taxes."

Trump also spoke about "beautiful, clean coal" to power the data centers needed for artificial intelligence. "We need double the energy we have in the U.S. right now to get AI to the scale we want," he said, adding that he would use emergency decrees to speed up the construction of new power plants. "Nothing destroys coal - not weather, not bombs, nothing," Trump said.