This story was originally published in the Guardian, and is reproduced as part of a collaboration with Climate Desk. Donald Trump continued to ask fossil fuel executives to fund his campaign for president on Wednesday, despite criticism of his relationship with industry. The former president attended the luncheon hosted by three Big Oil executives at Houston’s Post Oak Hotel. The meeting was an invitation-only event
[[{“value”:”This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced these as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
Despite being subject to scrutiny about his relationship with the industry, Donald Trump was still pressing fossil fuel companies to provide funding for his political campaign on Wednesday.
Three Great Oil executives hosted a luncheon for the former president at Houston’s Post Oak hotel to raise money.
The invitation-only meeting comes a day after the defense finished its legal defense for Trump’s legal hush-money trial and a week after Houston was stricken by fatal storms. The climate crisis has resulted in more frequent and intense rainfall and flooding, including in Texas, which has been mainly brought on by the burning of fossil fuels.
” Donald Trump is telling us who he is, afterwards. He has now requested$ 1 billion from oil companies for his campaign.
According to Alex Glass, communications director at the climate advocacy group Climate Power and a former Houston resident,” Houstonians are staring at Trump in disbelief as he flies in to beg Big Oil for funds only days after the city’s climate disaster.”
It likewise follows a fundraising dinner at Trump’s Mar- a- Campo club last month, where the former president reportedly asked more than 20 oil executives for$ 1 billion in campaign donations from their industry and promising, if elected, to remove barriers to drilling, scrap a pause on gas exports, and reverse new rules aimed at cutting car pollution.
” Donald Trump is telling us who he is, again”, said Pete Maysmith, a top vice- president at the economic nonprofit the League of Conservation Voters. We can simply assume that this week’s meeting will be a chess match between him and oil executives because he has already asked them for a billion dollars for his campaign.
Executives from two of the companies apparently represented at the Mar- a- Campo meeting were among the hosts of Trump’s Wednesday’s fundraiser.
One of the organizers of the Wednesday luncheon, Harold Hamm, the executive chairman and founder of Continental Resources, apparently attended the April dinner with the president.
Hamm, a multibillionaire, was a big player in the rush to extract oil from the Bakken shale formation, which stretches across the US midwest and Canada.
During Trump’s first presidential campaign, Hamm was also reportedly one of the seven major donors to receive special seats at Trump’s inauguration. During the former president’s initial term, the oil magnate apparently turned down the position after briefly being considered for the position. He turned away from Trump after his 2020 loss, choosing to donate to his opponents, but finally donated to Trump’s main campaign in August.
One of Hamm’s Wednesday co- hosts was Vicki Hollub, chief executive of Occidental Petroleum, which was likewise represented at the Mar- a- Campo fundraiser. Environmental activists have criticized Hollub for investing in carbon-capturing technology to keep separating oil and gas despite the fact that it is necessary to phase out fossil fuels to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
After the Federal Trade Commission last month accused the head of Pioneer Natural Resources of unlawful collusion with the oil-producing cartel Opec+ to keep fuel prices higher, congressional Democrats on Wednesday opened an investigation into Occidental Petroleum and other businesses.
The second co- host of Wednesday’s meeting, Kelcy Warren, is the executive chairman of Energy Transfer Partners—a company with whom Trump has tight economic ties.
Throughout the 2024 campaign cycle, Warren has donated more than$ 800, 000 to Trump’s campaign. In the 2020 election cycle, he held at least one fundraiser for the past president in 2020 and donated$ 10 million to a pro- Trump Super Pac.
Trump made an investment in the business while also receiving more than$ 100, 000 in campaign contributions from Warren, according to the Guardian.
The industry has so much funneled at least$ 7.3 million to Trump’s 2024 campaign and associated groups.
Warren appears to have benefited from Trump’s first term: within days of taking office in 2017, Trump approved construction of his company’s very contentious Dakota Access pipeline, triggering outrage from climate advocates, conservationists and local Aboriginal cultural organizations.
Energy Transfer Partners made$ 2.4 billion in profits last year as Texas’s gas demand increased during the state’s infamous winter freeze and the state’s energy grid collapsed.
The fossil- fuel industry has funneled$ 7.3 million to Trump’s 2024 campaign and associated groups, making it his second- largest industry donor this election cycle.
According to an analysis last week, the$ 1 billion “deal” Trump allegedly offered last month to oil executives could save the industry$ 110 billion in tax breaks if he is elected president.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) requested$ 1 billion in contributions to his political campaign and requested a House oversight investigation into nine oil companies last week.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse ( D- RI ) has also expressed interest in fully investigating the Mar- a- Petite meeting. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, the strong Washington watchdog, also told the Guardian it is investigating.”}]] This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced these as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Despite being subject to scrutiny about his relationship with the industry, Donald Trump was still pressing fossil fuel companies to provide funding for his political campaign on Wednesday. Three Great Oil executives hosted a fundraising luncheon at the former president’s Houston Post Oak hotel. The invitation- merely meeting
This story was originally published in the Guardian, and is reproduced as part of a collaboration with Climate Desk. Donald Trump continued to ask fossil fuel executives to fund his campaign for president on Wednesday, despite criticism of his relationship with industry. The former president attended the luncheon hosted by three Big Oil executives at Houston’s Post Oak Hotel. The meeting was an invitation-only event
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