Washington, D.C.—In response to recent tweets and comments from President Donald Trump about OPEC oil market manipulation, SAFE President and CEO Robbie Diamond issued the following statement:

“President Trump, in his tweets and recent comments, is right to point to OPEC as manipulating the market, but we urge him to also turn his sights towards solutions that end oil dependence and the cartel that manipulates the market rather than having the U.S. come hat in hand to these foreign powers. Asking the cartel to increase output is like trying to put a Band-Aid on a broken system that shouldn’t even exist in the first place. Even if there is short term relief by an agreement to increase output, it is a demonstration once again that U.S. sovereignty is undermined by foreign interests who control global oil supply, reducing our control over our economy, our foreign policy, and our future. SAFE urges President Trump to create an Energy Security Commission to investigate OPEC’s influence, and Congress to consider the NOPEC legislation that passed out of the House Judiciary Committee.”