Blistering Fox Business review slams 'foolish' Trump plot to bolster midterms

A Fox Business panel gave President Donald Trump’s latest idea to bolster Republicans’ midterm prospects a blistering review Monday as record-high fuel prices continue to sour voters’ perceptions of GOP candidates.

As of Monday, the national average cost of diesel fuel was $6.46, just seven cents below the all-time high recorded last week. Regular gasoline stood at $4.48, around 39 cents higher than one month prior as Trump’s deeply unpopular war against Iran continues to inflate fuel costs.

To combat rising fuel costs, Trump is “very seriously” considering imposing a ban on diesel exports, CNBC reported Monday, an idea that was panned by guests on Fox Business’ “Mornings With Fox Business.”

“It is definitely a political gesture, but it's a really bad economic move. If you ban exports on diesel, you get a surplus of diesel almost overnight because refiners can't pick and choose what products they're going to be producing, so you're going to have too much diesel which has no place to go,” said Fox News contributor Liz Peek.

“So yeah, prices may come down. So what happens? Refiners will cut back production overall, gas prices go up, and everyone else in the country that doesn't use diesel but uses gasoline is going to be angry. This is great for farmers, maybe, but it would be a short-term reprieve on diesel prices and is not a good idea.”

The idea to ban U.S. diesel exports has been floated by several prominent Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who called on Trump this month to enact the export ban “like presidents in the 70s put embargoes on ag products bc food prices were inflated,” writing in his characteristically casual writing style on social media.

Ryan Payne, president of Payne Capital Management, also gave Trump’s idea a poor review Monday on Fox Business, arguing that the proposal would only “exacerbate the problem even more.”

“All of a sudden there's less refined diesel going to the rest of the world, so all of a sudden, prices in places like Europe go up, and then when we import goods from there, the transportation costs go up, and the costs to make those goods go up, so it's kind of like penny-wise, dollar-foolish,” Payne said.

Peek suggested Trump’s proposal was one made from a place of nervousness.

“I think President Trump and the Republican Party are very nervous because farmers have been hit by tariffs and now high diesel prices, high fertilizer prices, that they might vote for the Democrat alternative, and that would be really a blow,” she said.