OPEC Leaders Are ‘Laughing at Us’: Donald Trump
The leaders of OPEC are "sitting around their table, setting the price of oil and laughing at us because we have no leadership," real estate mogul Donald Trump told CNBC Tuesday.
That includes U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, whose Prince Alawaleed bin Talal recently told CNBC the price of oil won't exceed $100 a barrel. Crude oil is currently at around $108.
"I have many friends in Saudi Arabia and other countries and they can’t believe what they’re getting away with," Trump said. "They can’t believe how stupid we are. We don’t need Saudi Arabia."
He said when oil rose to $150 a barrel several years ago it was "a bigger factor than the banks and the mortgages" because oil is "the lifeblood. Everything runs with oil."
Trump said the U.S. is "heading back in that direction" of rising oil prices because of the lack of a national energy policy.
"President Obama has not seen fit for [energy to be] a major agenda. Obamacare was a major agenda," said Trump, referring to the president's health-care plan. "If he spent one-third of the effort on energy we wouldn’t even be bringing oil in."
