President Donald Trump on Friday abruptly backed away from a controversial plan to ban U.S. diesel exports that had been floated as a way to drive down fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections.
“We’re not going to be doing the export ban,” Trump told reporters outside the White House before departing for a campaign stop in Oklahoma.
Trump had publicly backed banning U.S. diesel exports just last week as his administration weighed the move amid high fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections.
But when a reporter asked Trump directly Friday whether the export ban was officially off the table, the president suggested it was never really on the table.
“We were never going to do it,” Trump said. “I don’t think we are.”
Trump credited Europe with changing the equation, saying the country “did a great thing” by putting more diesel into the market.
“But basically Europe was great,” he continued. “Because they’re putting a lot of diesel oil out there. They have diesel; they use diesel disproportionately more than most.”
Trump added that the United States has “a good relationship with Europe.”