Oil’s Twitter War May End Badly for Trump

President’s use of Twitter to jawbone the price of oil is in danger of backfiring

Rising oil prices are not good for consumers, or for President Trump's administration. The Wall Street Journal's Gerald F. Seib explains the rise in oil prices. Photo: Getty

Too bad cars don’t run on light tweet crude.

Since the 1970s oil prices have, in at least the short run, been susceptible to jawboning from producers and, to a lesser extent, the White House. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries controls a third of production while the world’s biggest consumer can, at the order of the president, release part of the 660 million barrels of crude held as a strategic reserve.

But...