Trump Makes a Giant Request of Big Oil

Two new stories explore how the oil industry is factoring into the 2024 election, with a clear push for Donald Trump to win a second term:

• A challenge: The Washington Post reports that Trump met with top oil industry executives at Mar-a-Lago last month and asked them to raise $1 billion for his campaign. The request "stunned" some of the executives, per the Post, but Trump pitched it as a wise investment: If reelected, he promised to "immediately reverse dozens of President Biden's environmental rules and policies."

• Already planning: Politico, meanwhile, reports that Big Oil is already drawing up executive orders for Trump to sign once in office that would clear the way for more drilling, expand natural gas exports, and roll back Biden initiatives aimed at increasing the number of electric vehicles. The industry fears the Trump campaign will be so consumed with the former president's legal travails it won't have time to focus on energy policy, according to the story.
• A contrast: Biden has described climate change as an "existential threat," and his administration has finalized more than 100 regulations on everything from air pollution to toxic chemicals to the protection of public lands and waters, per the Post. Trump, by contrast, told the oil execs that new EPA rules under Biden on tailpipe emissions are "ridiculous" and that his White House "weakened or wiped out" more than 100 environmental rules.

(More Donald Trump 2024 stories.)