The United States must be able to supply itself with oil rather than relying on places such as Venezuela or Iran, or even Russia, former National Intelligence Director Ric Grenell said on Newsmax Tuesday.
Grenell spoke after President Joe Biden announced the country's ban on oil imports from Russia.
"We have the ability to be dominant," Grenell said on "John Bachman Now," echoing the opinion of former President Donald Trump. "We can provide for ourselves and export it to others."
Under Biden, production was stopped, Grenell said, "and now we hear reports that they're trying to go to Venezuela and other countries. My question is, Why are the environmentalists in America so concerned about dirty oil here but not dirty oil from Venezuela, Russia, or Iran?"
Biden, during his announcement, denied that the administration has stopped domestic oil production. He stated that oil and gas companies "can be drilling right now, yesterday, last week, last year," as they have already leased millions of acres of U.S. land and received permits to drill, but have decided not to use them.
Grenell rejected that argument, telling Newsmax that the administration is indeed limiting production.
"If you just look at the production over the last two years, it's less than under the Trump administration," Grenell said. "We all know this. We saw the skyrocketing prices at the pump because of the freeze from the Biden administration.
"Our high pump prices are not because singly just because of Ukraine. Our high prices are because of the policies of Joe Biden, who rejected the supply issues. We've seen high gas prices before the Ukraine issues started, but this is what the Democrats and the Biden administration are going to try to spin."
Grenell, former ambassador to Germany, said he does agree that the U.S. and NATO should not become involved in a no-fly zone to protect Ukraine from Russia's air attacks.
"The elites in Washington will continue to tell you that we have to do this, but I'm 100% against it," Grenell said.
He also noted that Poland is stepping up for Ukraine, not as a NATO member but instead as a member of Europe.
"The whole idea of 'America first' was not just to put America first and bring our troops home, but it was to get our allies like Poland to do more," Grenell said.
He also talked about Germany, which he says has made a "dramatic 180-degree shift" from its stance under former Chancellor Angela Merkel and is now paying its fair share for NATO membership.
"They are changing their tune on Nord Stream 2 and the Russian influence that comes through that pipeline," Grenell said of Germany, noting that these are changes Trump pushed about years ago. "These are remarkable moments. I would just say that our Senate Democrat friends have not seen that change yet that the Germans and Europeans are beginning to make."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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