Trump Declares Energy Interdependence on July Fourth
Both he and OPEC will eventually suffer from rising oil prices — and neither are fully in control.
President Donald Trump will probably continue to be frustrated by rising oil prices.
Photographer: Isaac Brekken/Getty Images North AmericaIt is 242 years and a day since the U.S. took that first, fateful step onto the world stage as a sovereign actor. It is a day since the country’s 45th president railed against OPEC for not doing more to push down oil prices (via Twitter). And it is mere hours since Iran’s OPEC governor trolled President Donald Trump, telling him his own tweets are the problem.
There is a certain irony in the president’s latest ding against OPEC landing on the Fourth of July; demonstrating, as it did, that in certain respects, America’s independence (let alone dominance) faces some constraints. Trump is correct that OPEC isn’t doing more to cap gasoline prices. However, he is incorrect in calling it a “Monopoly” and rather misses the point that a big reason OPEC isn’t doing more is that many of its members cannot.