Trump after controversial oil giants for presidential campaign funds

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: The Guardian
23 May 2024 12:51

One of the firms, Occidental Petroleum, is subject to investigation by Congressional Democrats following an accusation by the Federal Trade Commission of illegal collusion with OPEC+ to keep fuel prices high.

Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Monday, May 20, 2024. (AP/Pool)

Former US President Donald Trump requested funds from fossil fuel and oil execs for his upcoming presidential campaign, raising concerns as he attended a fundraising luncheon at Houston’s Post Oak hotel hosted by three big oil companies.

Alex Glass, communications director at the climate advocacy organization Climate Power and former Houston resident, said, "Houstonians are staring at Trump in disbelief as he flies in to beg big oil for funds just days after the city’s climate disaster."

This comes just a month after a fundraising dinner at his Mar-a-Lago club where it was reported that he asked over 20 oil executives for $1 billion in campaign donations while promising that if he was elected, he would lift barriers to drilling and gas exports and reverse new rules aimed at diminishing car pollution.

Pete Maysmith, a senior vice-president at the environmental nonprofit the League of Conservation Voters, said, "Donald Trump is telling us who he is, again," noting, "He has already asked oil executives for a billion dollars for his campaign, [and] we can only assume this week’s meeting is to haggle over exactly what they will get in return."

Two of the firms who were reportedly at the Mar-a-Lago meeting were among the hosts of Trump’s Wednesday fundraiser in Texas.

'Occidentally' Opec

Harold Hamm, multibillionaire executive chairman and founder of Continental Resources and one of the luncheon organizers, is a longtime Trump supporter and played a major role in extracting oil from the Bakken shale formation, which stretches across the US midwest and Canada.

Hamm was also reportedly one of the seven top donors in Trump's first presidential campaign to receive special seats at his inauguration. Hamm was considered to be energy secretary during Trump's first term but was reported to have turned down the position.

One of Hamm’s Wednesday co-hosts was Vicki Hollub, chief executive of Occidental Petroleum, also represented at the Mar-a-Lago fundraiser and who was the subject of criticism by climate activists for investing in carbon-capture to extract oil and gas, worsening climate change.

Occidental Petroleum is now subject to investigation by Congressional Democrats following an accusation by the Federal Trade Commission last month, along with six others, of illegal collusion with the oil production group OPEC+ to keep fuel prices high.

The third co-host of Wednesday’s meeting was Kelcy Warren, executive chairman of Energy Transfer Partners who Trump has close financial ties with and who donated over $800,000 to Trump’s campaign this year. Back in the 2020 election cycle, Warren donated $10 million to a pro-Trump Super Pac.

According to The Guardian, Trump invested in the company back in 2016 having received more than $100,000 in contributions from Warren.

Warren was still a winner in this context as he appears to have also benefited from Trump. Days after Trump took office in 2017, the then-president approved the construction of his company’s highly controversial Dakota Access pipeline, which instigated outrage from climate advocates and Indigenous tribal organizations.

Guns and gold?

The fossil fuel industry has transferred almost $7.3 million into Trump’s 2024 campaign.

Meanwhile, Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has shown a desire in wanting to formally investigate the Mar-a-Lago meeting, and Washington watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics relayed to The Guardian that it is already investigating.

This is not Trump's only controversial funding source.

Last week, in Texas as well, Trump called on gun owners to vote for him in the 2024 election, right after the National Rifle Association endorsed him just before he went on stage.

He said the Second Amendment "is very much on the ballot" in November, alleging that if current President Joe Biden "gets four more years they are coming for your guns, 100% certain. Crooked Joe has a 40-year record of trying to rip firearms out of the hands of law-abiding citizens.”

Claiming that the Amendment is "under siege", Trump vowed to keep defending it as he called himself "the best friend gun owners have ever had in the White House," which all comes while the US ended last year with 42 mass killings and 217 deaths, making it one of the deadliest years on record.