President Donald Trump on Monday said that the U.S. held roughly half of the world’s crude oil, including deposits in Venezuela, but his bid to import Russian diesel faces a possible legal challenge from Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ).
Trump Calls Iran the Number One State Sponsor for Terror.
On the social media platform X on Monday, the official Department of State handle shared a clip of Trump’s interview with Fox News where Trump touted the U.S.’s major oil assets, while also criticizing former President Barack Obama‘s 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal, calling it a “disaster” and that it was a “road to the nuclear weapon” for Tehran.
“It was time for us to stop them,” Trump said, calling Iran the “number one state sponsor” of global terror and calling the Iran war a “little detour” for the U.S.
“Our stock market’s higher now than it was before this [Iran war] started. And our 401ks are higher,” he said. Trump then said the Iran war was necessary, as the country had “killed many of our people.”
U.S. Holds 50% of World’s Oil
“We have hundreds of billions of dollars flowing into our country and we have total control of Venezuela,” Trump said during the interview. He added that the war with Venezuela lasted “much less” than a day.
“When you add up the United States oil and Venezuela’s, we probably have over 50 percent of the world’s oil,” he said. Trump added that the U.S. had more oil than “Saudi Arabia, Russia, and take the next largest country combined.”
Notably, Trump, during a rally in Texas late last month, said that the U.S. received a shipment of 1 million barrels of Venezuelan oil, also suggesting that the country could one day become the 51st state of the U.S. and hold Gubernatorial elections.
Mikie Sherrill Vows Criminal Proceedings
Amid the war with Iran, Trump has touted importing Russian diesel into the U.S. to offset high costs at the pump, even temporarily allowing the sale of red-dyed diesel in the U.S. for highway use.
However, the Russian oil deal has been met with criticism from Democratic Party leaders, with Governor Sherrill taking to the social media platform X on Monday, warning ports against importing Russian oil.
“I sent a letter putting New Jersey’s port and terminal operators on notice: importing Russian diesel violates federal law and could carry serious civil and criminal consequences,” Sherrill said.
The New Jersey Governor added that the state “will not stand by while Donald Trump supports Vladimir Putin at the expense of Americans” and that the Russia oil deal would instead fund “Putin’s war against Ukraine and a campaign of violence and terror that endangers our service members abroad.”
U.S. Strikes Qeshm Island
The comments come as the U.S. reportedly conducted multiple strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island off the coast of the port city of Bandar Abbas in recent weeks, with officials in the know of the attacks calling them defensive in nature.
News of the attacks comes as Trump had earlier touted de-escalation in the Iran war. However, CIA director John Ratcliffe reportedly advised Trump to not strike Iran, but not rush towards a deal either.
Oil Movement
Oil futures were up at the time of writing. The U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures expiring in December were up 1.76% to $98.16, while Brent futures contracts expiring in January 2027 gained 1.92% to $106.78.
On the ETF front, the ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil (NYSE:UCO) ETF rose 4.77% to $63.07 during overnight trading on Monday. The United States Oil Fund (NYSE:USO) ETF gained 2.44% to $160.70 during overnight trading.
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