Summary
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron held a call to discuss the potential implications of Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency for Europe.
The leaders pledged to strengthen cooperation for a “more united, stronger, more sovereign Europe” in light of this possibility. Macron emphasized a commitment to European sovereignty while maintaining cooperation with the U.S. Additionally, German and French defense ministers plan to meet to coordinate on defense policies.
Trump’s ambiguous stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine and his critical view of NATO burden-sharing raise concerns in Europe about future U.S.-Europe relations.
Last year the US imported ~8 million barrels of oil per day from 86 countries and exported about ~10 million barrels per day to 160 countries. Why didn’t we simply net it out at 2 million and stop all imports? Setting up additional drilling infrastructure not only takes time, but it’s often far more profitable to import/export over sea. Why would we stop the profitable export of oil and prevent the profitable purchase of oil to spend time and money just moving oil across the country?