Trump's Now Using The Proposed Diesel Export Ban To Threaten European Allies

There's no escaping the fact that Republicans completely bungled their war with Iran. Seven months in, higher fuel prices have cost Americans more than $100 billion at the pump, the U.S. has effectively exhausted its strategic oil reserve, everything's getting more expensive thanks to record diesel prices, and there's no victory in sight. Republicans have even getting desperate enough to float a potential diesel export ban that would limit which customers private companies could sell diesel to. After that news broke, the White House backed away from the idea, but now Reuters reports that President Donald Trump is using the proposal to threaten European allies.

Specifically, Reuters says the Republican administration has told both France and Germany to release more diesel from its reserves or risk the U.S. banning diesel exports to them. Experts have previously said an export ban likely has limited upside, if any, when it comes to lowering diesel prices in the U.S., and the risks of it backfiring are high. But banning U.S. oil companies from selling diesel to customers in other countries would also do particular damage to Europe's economy, as it deals with both Trump's war with Iran and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Trump's threats reportedly coincided with a call the European Commission, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, and the United Kingdom held Thursday to discuss their diesel strategy, including potentially releasing more of their diesel supply. However, Trump and Republicans reportedly want to see Europe move fast and basically flood the market. Reuters cited one source who claimed the White House was demanding the EU release 120 million barrels of diesel over the next six months.

When Reuters reached out to officials in France, that country's energy ministry declined comment on Trump's threats. However, Reuters also writes:

An ​official at the Elysee ⁠Palace said that French President Emmanuel Macron and Trump had not discussed the issue when they met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New ​York last week.

However, the official said that Macron would convene a video conference of ​leaders of ⁠G7 countries to address rising fuel prices and the global availability of refined products, including the coordination of the release of reserves in conjunction with the International Energy Agency.

Whether European countries will choose to appease the strongman attempting to extort them, no one really knows at this point. That strategy didn't work out so well when they tried it in the 1930s, but there's no denying that Europe is much more dependent on U.S. diesel exports than it was before Trump attacked Iran and Putin invaded Ukraine. It's also unclear whether a diesel export ban is actually workable in the U.S.

After a decade of Trump's "dealmaking," what will most likely happen is the EU will pitch its actual plan in a way that lets Trump declare victory, and we'll all move on until Republicans cause another crisis. But the longterm consequences will likely be much more serious. Every country needs allies, and Trump trampling the relationships previous administrations have forged in the decades since World War II ended erodes trust and makes it harder to convince other countries they can trust us. With China's influence spreading, that seems like a bad strategy, but then again, when was the last time Republicans chose a strategy that wasn't "Break everything, then leave a giant mess for the Democrats to clean up"?