Mark Cuban made waves with his appearance on the “Flagrant” podcast, where he discussed a wide range of topics, including the rising gas prices in the United States. Cuban specifically blamed former President Donald Trump for playing a significant role in pushing gas prices higher during and after the pandemic.
“So there was a point in time, because I was just reading about this, in 2020, right as the pandemic was starting, and because there was a lot of the demand for oil and gas was falling, Russia and Saudi Arabia got into a price war on oil, and the price of gas just plummeted.”
“And a bunch of the people in the oil industry went to Donald Trump and said, You know MBS in Saudi Arabia. You know Putin, for better or worse. Get them together. And let’s make this. And let’s reduce production so the price of oil goes up. Now, here’s the bargain.”
“Do you save the oil companies or do you save all the people who are suffering from the pandemic and want to pay less for gas? – You save the people. And if you track it, the reduction in production of oil, they pulled back so much so that the price went up. And then over time, over the following two years, so that was from early 2020 to late 2022, they increased production.”
“And when you increase production, the price of gas goes back down some. So when they were reducing production, the price of gas went like this, and that was the start of inflation because just like he says all the time, you know, drill, drill, drill, because that will reduce the prices of everything else. Well, he literally caused the prices of everything else to start going up.”
According to Cuban, the situation dates back to early 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was taking hold, and global demand for oil and gas began to drop sharply. The decreased demand led to a price war between two major oil-producing nations: Russia and Saudi Arabia. As these countries fought over market share, oil prices plummeted, and gas prices at the pump dropped to levels that were a relief to consumers but unsustainable for oil producers.
This, Cuban claims, was the moment when U.S. oil companies, facing potential ruin, turned to then-President Donald Trump for help. The decision Trump had to make, according to Cuban, was whether to allow the price war to continue, which would benefit consumers who were already struggling through the economic challenges of the pandemic, or intervene to prop up the oil industry by negotiating a production cut with Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Cuban believes Trump chose to save the oil companies rather than prioritize consumers who needed cheaper fuel during the pandemic’s economic uncertainty. Cuban further explained that this reduction in oil production caused the price of gas to rise, which contributed to the overall inflation that started during Trump’s final year in office and continued to affect the economy in subsequent years. As oil prices rose, it caused a ripple effect, driving up the costs of transportation, manufacturing, and other goods, fueling inflation across various sectors.
By 2022, the effects of the oil production cut were still being felt. Gas prices hit an all-time high, reaching $5.02 per gallon in June 2022. Cuban pointed to this surge in gas prices as a direct result of the production decisions made during the early stages of the pandemic. “He literally caused the prices of everything else to start going up,” Cuban said, adding that Trump’s handling of the situation laid the groundwork for the inflationary pressures that Americans are still feeling today.
Mark Cuban argues that Trump’s intervention in the oil market, aimed at saving U.S. oil companies, backfired on the average consumer. By prioritizing the oil industry over struggling Americans, Cuban believes Trump played a significant role in the rise of gas prices and the inflation that followed.
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