It was a triumphant speech followed by a conversation between friends: Donald Trump's video address to the Davos Economic Forum on Thursday, January 23, gave the American president the opportunity to roll out his priorities, without any contradiction. Among them was ending the war in Ukraine. Believing that its leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, was ready to negotiate, Trump placed responsibility for resolving the conflict on his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, with whom he soon intends to hold talks. To motivate Putin, the American president is looking at a decisive lever that could drastically reduce Russian state revenues: a drop in the price of a barrel of oil.
To get this, in a method tried and tested during his first term, Trump is putting public pressure on Saudi Arabia. "I’m also going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC [Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries] to bring down the cost of oil," he said. "You got to bring it down, which, frankly, I’m surprised they didn’t do before the election ... They’re very responsible, actually, to a certain extent, for what’s taking place — millions of lives are being lost."
According to Trump, lower oil prices would "end" the war in Ukraine and bring prosperity. The president sees it as a magic key to solving some of his domestic challenges.
"With oil prices going down, I'll demand that interest rates drop immediately. And, likewise, they should be dropping all over the world. Interest rates should follow us," he summed on Thursday afternoon, speaking in front of the press.
In the absence of a reaction from Saudi Arabia, Trump's statement had an immediate effect, lowering oil prices. The barrel of Texas oil (West Texas Intermediate) fell by 1% to $75 (€71.50). In December 2024, Saudi Arabia, Russia and six other OPEC+ members extended their measures to cut production by 2.2 million barrels a day on the world market to prevent prices from falling too far. This measure is due to last until March 2025, before being phased out over one year.
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