An extraordinary White House meeting
NYT > U.S. > Politics — 2026-07-15 06:20:00 — www.nytimes.com
Trump’s White House Meeting with Oil Executives: A Glimpse into Unchecked Presidential Power
Last year, President Trump convened a closed-door meeting with top oil and gas executives at the White House, a gathering that has since come under renewed scrutiny for its extraordinary display of presidential authority and its implications for U.S. energy and environmental policy.
Trump’s Direct Interventions
According to reporting from Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan in the new book “Regime Change,” the March 2025 meeting revealed Trump’s deep affinity for the fossil fuel industry and his willingness to use executive power to advance its interests. When oil executives complained about new Climate Superfund bills in Vermont and New York, Trump’s policy adviser, Stephen Miller, immediately texted Attorney General Pam Bondi, promising action. Less than two months later, the administration sued both states to block enforcement of those laws.
In another exchange, after ExxonMobil’s CEO raised concerns about European Union climate regulations, Trump instructed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to impose additional tariffs on the E.U. until those regulations were abandoned. The president also directed his team to solicit a list of ten energy projects from the executives that the White House could help fast-track, specifically asking them to highlight how much more energy these projects would produce during his presidency.
Aggressive Push for Fossil Fuels
The meeting, as described by Swan, upended the usual dynamic between government and industry. Rather than being lobbied, the Trump administration was actively urging oil companies to increase drilling and production. The message from the White House was clear: “We’re going to open up the floodgates. We’re going to do whatever you want, just so long as you give us extraordinary energy production immediately.”
Trump’s approach stood in stark contrast to his hostility toward renewable energy sources like wind and solar. Swan noted that Trump’s economic worldview is rooted in the heavy industry of his formative years, leading him to romanticize and reward the fossil fuel sector.
Policy Consequences
The consequences of this approach were far-reaching. In one notable instance, after Chevron’s CEO pushed for an extension of the company’s license to operate in Venezuela, the Trump administration seized the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, and Chevron soon expanded its presence there.
Environmental protections also suffered under Trump’s leadership. The administration moved to open habitats of endangered species to development by changing the federal definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act. This change, announced by the Interior and Commerce Departments, meant that destroying the habitat of an endangered species would no longer be illegal—a move environmentalists called the most severe rollback of wildlife protections in half a century.
Executive Power Without Precedent
Executives present at the meeting described Trump as wielding executive power with an unprecedented sense of authority. One attendee remarked that they would “never want a Democrat to have that same sense of executive authority.”
Conclusion
President Trump’s actions during and after the March 2025 meeting with oil executives illustrate a pattern of using presidential power to aggressively advance the interests of the fossil fuel industry, often at the expense of environmental protections and established policy processes. The episode offers a stark example of how Trump’s personal affinities and executive authority shaped the direction of American energy policy, leaving even the most powerful industry leaders “almost in awe” of the president’s approach.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/14/climate/climate-an-extraordinary-white-house-meeting.html