Former President Donald J. Trump announced his re-election bid on Tuesday night in an address at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. During the speech, he spoke about U.S. energy policies, the border wall and tax cuts. We checked the speech for accuracy, and this is what we found.
Trump exaggerated his record on oil and gas.
“Gas prices have reached the highest levels in history. And expect them to go much higher now that the strategic national reserves, which I filled up, have been virtually drained in order to keep gasoline prices lower just prior to the election. Joe Biden has intentionally surrendered our energy independence,” Mr. Trump said.
This is exaggerated.
Mr. Trump also did not completely fill up the Strategic Petroleum Reserve nor has Mr. Biden almost emptied it. Since the first oil was delivered to the stockpile in 1977, it stored the most oil under former President Barack Obama, about 726 million barrels. Under Mr. Trump, the amount fluctuated between 634 million and 695 million barrels. Under Mr. Biden, it has fallen to about 445 million barrels in August, the month with the most recent figures.
The notion that the United States gained “energy independence” under Mr. Trump, and reversed course under Mr. Biden, is also misleading.
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