Donald Trump had a bold request for oil executives last month: Donate $1 billion to help me return to the White House. Over dinner at Trump’s Palm Beach resort Mar-a-Lago, the former president put it plainly, according to multiple news reports: While requesting the eye-popping campaign cash infusion, he vowed to bring pro-business, anti-regulatory policies back to Washington. Though the dollar amount, first reported by The Washington Post, was unusual in its blunt specificity, it most likely didn’t violate any laws, campaign finance experts told POLITICO’s Ben Lefebvre. Unless Trump asked for a certain amount of money to be deposited in exchange for a specific policy goal, there’s little chance it would violate bribery laws as the Supreme Court now interprets them, legal expert Meredith McGehee told Ben. Asked to comment on all this, the Trump campaign issued a statement criticizing what it called President Joe Biden’s support from “environmental extremists.” Biden’s campaign told the Post: “Donald Trump is selling out working families to Big Oil for campaign checks. It’s that simple.” The real question, however, is whether oil giants will bite. While industry executives have reason to be confident Trump would try to roll back Biden’s green agenda — Trump has pledged to scrap policies boosting electric vehicles and wind energy — many have expressed fears that a second term for the GOP front-runner would also mean a return to his volatile international relations and unpredictable management style. Industry leaders also worry Trump may be too distracted by his legal troubles to enact a swift reversal of Biden’s climate policies, they told Ben this week. And they fear a second Trump administration wouldn’t attract staff skillful enough to roll back Biden’s regulations or craft new ones that favor the industry. Still, as low-carbon technology threatens the fossil fuel industry's bottom line, an unapologetic oil booster like Trump may be its safest bet. Ben reported Wednesday that oil industry leaders are taking steps to help Trump help them, namely by drawing up ready-to-sign executive orders aimed at pushing natural gas exports, boosting drilling and increasing offshore oil leases. On the flip side, it’s not as though the industry has suffered much under the Biden administration. Last year, the country produced more oil than any country ever has. Energy giants ExxonMobil and Chevron reported their largest annual profits in a decade last year. So the decision facing the executives is how eagerly to hop on the Trump train — and what the fare should be.
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