President Donald Trump's demand that oil companies roll back their profits, because it is hurting his standing with voters, is falling on deaf ears.
Energy markets responded with minimal reaction to Trump's Monday criticism of oil companies for "making too much money" off global shortages created by the Iran war, Politico is reporting and the president threatened, "They better cut the retail price, the consumer price. I'll say it loud and clear. I'm not happy about it."
Crude prices dipped slightly. Gas prices remained steady. The oil industry ignored the presidential pressure entirely.
Trump's ability to influence markets through rhetoric is deteriorating at a critical moment, the report notes, before adding, three months before midterm elections that will determine congressional control, his approval ratings are sinking amid voter anger over cost-of-living concerns.
That led Republican pollster Frank Luntz to tell Politico, "Labor Day is the point where gas prices are baked into the election. That last summer trip determines how voters evaluate their cost of living."
According to a former Trump adviser, still close to the White House, the president has only himself to blame after flip-flopping on the war in Iran and declaring a "deal" is imminent, only to come up empty-handed again and again.
"His credibility has been a little bit shot," the adviser said, speaking anonymously to Politico, before adding, "The markets aren't paying attention to him, they're paying attention to what's happening and, with respect to oil prices, it is a huge liability for the Republicans."
According to the report, "Trump on Monday acknowledged that dynamic but expressed no urgency. He told reporters in the Oval Office that he was in no rush to end the conflict, though he acknowledged the need to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of global energy supplies flowed before the war."
