this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2026
206 points (98.1% liked)

politics

31430 readers
2490 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

  1. Post only links to articles. Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.

Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.

Example:

  1. Articles must be relevant to US politics and contain quality and original content. Social Media adjacent hosts like Substack are allowed, but ONLY if they tie back to a company/subsidiary. No personal or friend group blogs and no self-promotion. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and re-hosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
  2. Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing other users of being bots or paid actors.
  3. No memes, trolling, misinformation, or low-effort posts/comments (including reposts). If you see posts like this that anger you, do not engage. Report, block, and live a happier life than they do. Any slap-fight is subject to comment removals. Fights full of rule violations will result in temporary bans to cool off.
  4. No manipulating votes via bots or alt accounts; this will result in permanent bans. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
  5. No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in an account ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be permanently banned.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules and use critical thinking when reading, posting, and commenting. Users that repeatedly have comments or posts removed, weaponize reports, or violate the code of conduct, will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users. The reason(s) behind moderator action(s) are publicly available through the Modlog.

That's all the rules!

Civic Links

• Register To Vote

• Citizenship Resource Center

• Congressional Awards Program

• Federal Government Agencies

• Library of Congress Legislative Resources

• The White House

• U.S. House of Representatives

• U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

• News

• World News

• Business News

• Political Discussion

• Ask Politics

• Military News

• Global Politics

• Moderate Politics

• Progressive Politics

• UK Politics

• Canadian Politics

• Australian Politics

• New Zealand Politics

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

President Donald Trump attempted to spin high oil prices as a boon for the United States at a rally in Arizona on Wednesday, just hours after new federal data showed that inflation reached its highest level in months in September.

“Because of the price of oil, Texas and Oklahoma and North Dakota and all these places, we’re making a fortune,” Trump declared, referring to states that produce large amounts of crude oil. Those states are home to major fossil fuel companies that have reported windfall profits amid Trump’s illegal war on Iran.

Trump insisted that gas prices — currently at an average of $4.33 per gallon for regular gas and $6.32 for diesel — would tumble once the Iran war ends, but his administration has repeatedly given false timelines for the deadly conflict and has shown no indication that it is willing to reach a lasting diplomatic agreement.

Trump, who has profited massively from his second term in the White House, is a major investor in oil and gas companies. According to one recent analysis, the president’s investments in fossil fuel stocks have boosted his net worth by up to $15.5 million since January.

Working-class Americans, meanwhile, are struggling to make ends meet as high gas prices compound a broader affordability crisis that extends to food, housing, and other necessities. A tracker maintained by the Watson School of International and Public Affairs estimates that American consumers have paid an extra $135 billion combined in fuel costs since the start of the Iran war — roughly $1,030 per household.

Wage growth has not kept up with inflation, which rose to an annualized rate of 3.7% last month.

all 23 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Doomsider@lemmy.world 1 points 7 hours ago

Look at his glee, stealing money from hard working citizens.

[–] Eddbopkins@lemmy.world 11 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

that money is coming from the American public. who is paying more for gas at the pump. trump is traitor to every American who pumps gas.

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 4 points 16 hours ago

Shit, don't leave those of us that transitioned to EVs, E-bikes, and solar out. He's a traitor to us as well.

[–] anon_8675309@lemmy.world 7 points 17 hours ago

Democrats need to really come out and call that what it is, a wealth transfer.

That should be the message. Over and over and over.

[–] pineapplelover@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 16 hours ago

Who is "we"? Republicans be so fucking stupid

[–] nilloc@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 14 hours ago

He’s the kid who would have traded 30 pennies for a dollar because there were more of them.

His dementia addled brain can’t remember that a dollar drops in value when prices inflate, but also since he doesn’t buy anything directly he might have no idea that prices have risen.

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 65 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Who is the we in that sentence?

He talks the same way about the taxes he put on so many goods - AKA, tariffs. He keeps talking about how "so much money is coming in" or whatever the fuck.

I think he talks like this because he views the taxes he raised on all of us as a slush fund he can just use to bribe whoever the fuck he wants - nevermind the actual law, or math, or the fact that it's just a tax he arbitrarily put on our goods...

[–] Malica@lemmy.zip 17 points 1 day ago (1 children)

When he says "we" or talks about "America winning", he means himself. He sees the rest of us as an extension of himself because he's a narcissist. So when he gets richer, his tiny brain sees it as everyone getting richer.

[–] bjc@scribe.disroot.org 10 points 1 day ago

this is correct in a fashion. when he says "we" he means "everyone", as you say, but to him, "everyone" means him and his allies. he says "we" in this crowd of people, but the crowd of people do not understand that, to him, they are nothing but objects who are there to adore him and adulate him.

that's why he doesn't even think twice about saying these things. it literally does not occur to him that this crowd can do anything other than praise him for taking so much for himself.

some time ago, trump was about to take off with some press on the plane, and before it takes off he wished everyone a great flight, then followed up with, "You know why I say that? Because I’m on the flight. Otherwise I wouldn’t care.”

if you want a deep look into a narcissist, this is just about as raw as it gets. not just that he thinks it but that he has no qualms at all about saying it. he simply says it because he wants to and nothing else matters.

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

And it's not like the oil companies are making more money on this stuff. Their costs are also higher and they are passing them down the line.

[–] bedwyr@piefed.ca 3 points 17 hours ago

Oil companies absolutely are making more money on this stuff, refiners too.

The price of oil goes up, their oil is trading at 100 instead of 70 or whatever. Refiners have upped their margins from around 15 to 100 percent on distillates too, according to a recent reuters article that the search engines won't find for me, even days after it was published. This was a couple weeks ago and they've made reference to that in several other articles.

[–] jaaake@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago

If you don't think that domestic producers of oil are charging more solely because the foreign cost has gone up, you don't understand capitalism.

[–] thesohoriots@lemmy.world 28 points 1 day ago (2 children)

The Royal “we” as usual

[–] YurkshireLad@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 day ago

Exactly! See, he can tell the truth.

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 22 points 1 day ago

Trump, who has profited massively from his second term in the White House, is a major investor in oil and gas companies.

Oh. Suddenly it makes sense that he would want to abolish every endeavor that tries to mitigate the global climate crisis.

maga: you misunderstand what he said

[–] DaddleDew@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I wonder where all that "free money" that appeared in the pockets of the big oil execs and investors came from.

Because it would be pretty damn stupid to boast about it in front of the people if that money came out of their pockets.

[–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 7 points 1 day ago

It's yet another price they'll gladly pay to stick it to the liberals. The ones that realize they're paying that money.

[–] X@piefed.world 4 points 1 day ago

The pride of the conservatives. Twice.

[–] Grass@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago

fuck is he still alive enough to do that stupid fucking dance like my great aunt when she comes up with a 'valid' reason to open a bottle of wine

[–] joekar1990@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

He's got a full schedule based on the calendar... definitely expect it to continue to get more unhinged and Freudian slips.