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US President Donald Trump linked US’ oil drilling prospects and touted its ability to bring oil prices down and said that would halt the war in Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump speaks at the American Cornerstone Institute’s Fourth Annual Founders Dinner at George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate in Mount Vernon, VA, US. (IMAGE: REUTERS)
US President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin “let him down” and highlighted the potential of American oil drilling and production as a path to ending the war in Ukraine.
“That [oil drilling] will automatically stop the war with Russia and Ukraine; you get the prices down a little bit more, that’s got to stop it. I am very disappointed in President Putin. Anywhere between 5,000–7,000 people are dying every week,” Trump said.
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He made the statement while discussing his second-term achievements at the American Cornerstone Institute’s Founders Dinner at Mount Vernon and noted that his detractors always heard “drill, baby, drill.”
Trump had earlier said that Russian President Vladimir Putin “let me down” for not stopping the war with Ukraine during his state visit to Britain.
“He has let me down. I mean, he’s killing many people and he’s losing more people than he’s, you know, than he’s killing. I mean, frankly, Russian soldiers are being killed at a higher rate than the Ukrainian soldiers,” Trump said at a press conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer last week.
“Drill, baby, drill” is a slogan popularized by Republicans in the mid-2000s to promote increased domestic oil and gas production in the United States. Trump has often echoed this approach, linking US energy production to national strength and global leverage.
“When I was [in office for] 120 days, I didn’t take any vacations. I didn’t take any days off. I went 120 days. I made speeches and did rallies. I did everything. And all you heard was ‘drill, baby, drill.’ We’re gonna drill, baby, drill. And we did,” Trump said.
#WATCH | Addressing at the American Cornerstone Institute’s Founders Dinner at Mount Vernon, US President Donald Trump says, “… That (oil drilling) will automatically stop the war with Russia and Ukraine; you get the prices down a little bit more, that’s got to stop it. I am… pic.twitter.com/tVwWqbiqo8— ANI (@ANI) September 21, 2025
“And we [are producing] now [more] than just about anybody else, and we’re really bringing it down. And we want to put that [oil production]—that will automatically stop the war [between Russia and Ukraine]. You get the prices down a little bit more. That’s going to stop it,” he added.
US Production Up But Rig Count Falls
Despite Trump’s aggressive push for domestic fossil fuel expansion, a report by Newsweek, citing energy technology firm Baker Hughes, shows that the US rig count has fallen to its lowest level in nearly four years.
As of July 3, the count stood at 539, down 47 from the same time last year.
A separate report by Bloomberg, citing the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), shows that domestic crude production is set to decline next year for the first time since 2021, marking a setback to Trump’s push for American energy dominance.
The EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook, released in June, projects output to fall to 13.37 million barrels a day in 2026, down from about 13.42 million barrels a day in 2025. The forecast for next year is 120,000 barrels a day lower than the agency’s previous projections in May.
The US is the world’s largest producer of crude oil. In 2023, it produced a record 12.9 million barrels per day (bpd), surpassing Saudi Arabia, the next-highest global producer. This marked the sixth consecutive year the US led global oil production, according to Fox Business.
In 2024, US crude oil production grew by 2% to average 13.2 million bpd, with nearly all of the growth attributed to the Permian Basin, according to the EIA. It projects that US crude oil production will average 13.4 million bpd in 2025 and 13.3 million bpd in 2026.
The Permian Basin, spanning West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, remains the primary source of US oil production growth. Ten counties in the Permian account for 93% of the country’s oil production increase since 2020.
About the Author
Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev…Read More
Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev… Read More
Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
September 21, 2025, 10:34 IST
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