Trump gets one thing right: Big Oil really is making a ‘freaking fortune’

President Donald Trump told a Saturday campaign rally in Georgia that oil and gas companies are making a fortune off elevated fuel prices, and that he rejected advisers who urged him to stay quiet about it. MS NOW reports that on the numbers, he is right: the war with Iran, which he began eight months ago, has coincided with a surge in industry earnings while drivers pay more.

According to The New York Times, more than 50 large American oil and gas companies, mostly producers or refiners, together earned over $130 billion from April through September. The Times calls that a conservative estimate, since March and October are not counted. The same firms brought in $47 billion less during the corresponding months a year earlier.

MS NOW columnist Steve Benen notes that few Americans own meaningful stakes in these companies, so most people feel only the cost at the pump. Benen also points to a Joint Economic Committee analysis by congressional Democrats. It found Trump personally holds energy stocks that have boosted his net worth by as much as $35. 8 million this year, and that he bought as much as $17.

Summarized by PolitiKool from MS NOW’s reporting. Read the full story at MS NOW →