Billionaire and potential presidential candidate Donald Trump finds it “incredible” that the United States is not moving forward with oil drilling considering the catastrophic events in Japan. Trump Tuesday also told Fox News’ Neal Cavuto that oil cartel OPEC is “absolutely salivating” as it watches U.S. reticence.
“Japan has been a lynchpin – and it hasn’t been doing so well over the last 10 years, frankly – but it has been a strong player, and a big player,” Trump said. “And when you see what is happening, and ultimately what could happen to nuclear energy in terms of a worldwide feeling, it’s not a good thing.”
Cavuto asked whether the United States and other countries are overreacting by either sidelining reactors – as in Germany – or talking about holding back on building new nuclear power plants.
“Well, when you see what is going on in Japan, certainly you can’t say overreacting,” Trump said. “But, look, nuclear is a way that we get what we have to get – which is energy. I think there probably isn’t an overreaction, but we have to be very, very careful.”
When Cavuto mentioned the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, how it views the situation, and U.S. hesitancy to domestically drill for oil, Trump said: “They are absolutely salivating.”
“It always amazes me when they raise the price … if they did it in this country, it would be called an illegal deal, it would be illegal – they’d go to jail,” Trump said. “Twelve guys sitting around the table, and they are having an absolute field day because we have nobody to call, and talk, and say: ‘Fellas, you’re not going to do it – if you do it, you’ve got big, big problems.’ They wouldn’t even be there, except for us; without us they wouldn’t even exist.
“I think it’s incredible that we go slow on drilling; I think it’s beyond anything I have ever seen, that we go slow on drilling,” he said. “I have people in the business that say it’s almost impossible to get a permit to drill.”