Speaking to a forum hosted by the Economist in New York, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright explained that banning the export of diesel fuel will do nothing to impact the price of diesel fuel and would, eventually, raise the price.

The reasoning is simple.

“The blunt tool ​of banning diesel exports definitely doesn’t work,” Wright said. “If you can’t ⁠export the diesel that comes out of our refineries, you run out of places to store it, and you have to reduce US refining, which would ​put upward pressure on gasoline prices and jet fuel prices,” Wright said.

The part that Wright didn’t say is the component of price that is entirely detached from supply/demand.  The pump price is determined by market speculators, commodity traders and multinational financial interests.  That “market price” has nothing to do with the amount of diesel in the inventory.

Restricting exports, a process that ends with restricting production, only gives the speculators and traders a justification to project higher prices.   The USA ends up swimming in diesel fuel as the pump price climbs to $15/gal.

If you want to end the disconnection of supply to price, you have to do what Russia does. Sell outside the “market price” at the production cost + profit margin.

In the “west” it’s a rigged game; but be careful. The DSA crowd wants to change the game’s outcome by changing the referees who can then ban/control the players.

Trump’s MAGAnomic approach changes the rulebook of the game completely and is more in line with Putin (BRICS).

George Carlin previously explained it.

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During remarks following discussions with Sergey Lavrov at the United Nations, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that President Trump has extending the G20 invitation to Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin.

The G20 in Miami is scheduled for December 14th and 15th, and while there is no official reason for Volodymyr Zelenskyy to ever attend any of the G7, G20 or NATO forums, the President of Ukraine has been a participant in the last several years due to the European and Canadian political manipulations surrounding such events.

That said, if Vladimir Putin attends the G20 and Zelenskyy is invited to the G20 (for whatever ridiculous justification that might be presented), it would be the first time Zelenskyy and Putin have been in an international forum simultaneously.

In the background today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was reported to have told Secretary Rubio that Russia understands the United States no longer is influencing the EU-NATO decisions about escalating conflict in the European desire to achieve full military combat against Russia; therefore there was no reason for Lavrov and Rubio to waste time in discussions of some meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy when the people in actual control of Kiev’s decision-making are in London, Berlin and Brussels.

It appears Rubio respected Lavrov’s pragmatic reality yet still wants to set the stage for an opportunity that exists outside the constraints of the EU-NATO alliance – hence, the G20 venue in Miami becomes a possibility.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio talks to the assembled press pool following extensive conversations with various foreign ministers, including discussions today with Russian Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Questions to Rubio surrounded the Iran conflict, the status of Venezuela, the discussions between the U.S., Russia and Ukraine, the status of Cuba and beyond.  Secretary Rubio gives direct, honest and substantive responses to each of the regional questions asked.  Exceptional press conference. WATCH:

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Take heart, we only need to wait approximately 60-days until we see a major price decline in diesel and gasoline prices in the USA.  Once the midterm election is over, prices will begin their retreat with the finished collapse mid-January.

The non-pretending reality exists within a generally non-western perspective that current “market prices” are not driven by oil supplies, refining capacity or the other various justifications used by the speculators, traders and various regional spot-market control systems.  The prices are being controlled in order to influence political outcomes.

Once those political influence operations are concluded, the stakeholders in the market price approach will moderate their justifications accordingly, and prices will plummet.  Sound nuts?  Well, let me explain who agrees.

On my side of the argument is Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin, who does happen to operate the world’s largest gasoline station – at least, according to the professional republicans. Others on my side include Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salmon, Qatari Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Turkish President Recep Erdogan and Venezuelan interim President Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez.

Others who accept the reality of this position, albeit with various political limits to their ability to speak openly about such matters, include President Donald J Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Unfortunately for this aligned group they are stuck inside the largest western political system who controls global finance and world economic outcomes.

What all of these aforementioned names understand is that “market prices” are entirely detached from the archaic terminology behind supply and demand; a quaint concept that stopped applying years ago – but pretenses must be maintained or else the masses may find their pitchforks, see: DSA pitchfork suppliers.

A second subset of allies who unintentionally support this perspective, includes those who use the terms “sold at a discount” where “sold at a discount” in reality means sold outside the western market pricing approach.

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

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Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

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From First Lady Melania Trump:

President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will welcome His Excellency Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China and Madame Peng Liyuan to the White House on Thursday, September 24, 2026, for an official state visit.

This visit comes more than a decade since President Xi and Madame Peng’s last visit to the White House, marking a significant milestone in the relationship between the two countries.

On Wednesday, September 23, the President will greet His Excellency, Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China and Madame Peng Liyuan at Joint Base Andrews.

On Thursday morning, September 24, the President and First Lady will host a State Arrival Ceremony honoring His Excellency, Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China and Madame Peng Liyuan.

The ceremony, which will be held on the South Lawn, State Floor, and Rose Garden of the White House, will feature 479 military personnel, representing all branches of the United States Armed Forces.

As the arrival begins, the South Drive will be lined with the Armed Forces Full Honor Cordon leading to a national flag display of U.S. and China flags where the United States Army Herald Trumpets will present a fanfare on the South Portico as the President and First Lady welcome His Excellency Xi Jinping and Madame Peng Liyuan to the White House.

On the State Floor, “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band will play the national anthems of the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America, followed by remarks from both The President and His Excellency Xi Jinping.

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President Trump holds a meeting with the Middle East Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) an assembly of mid-east allies for President Trump and the overall effort to bring peace and stability to the region.  Obviously, the number one concern of the assembly is the ongoing Iran conflict.

Leaders from Lebanon, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan, Turkey, Syria, Kuwait and Egypt were in attendance for the meeting.

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President Trump emphasizes the importance of the western hemisphere and Latin America by participating in a second meeting of the “Shield of Americas” team.  The objective of the assembly is to secure the western hemisphere, coordinate economic, political, and security efforts among participating countries to strengthen judicial practices, improve investment opportunities, and build hemispheric partnerships. The shield emphasizes intelligence sharing and coordinated operations to locate and dismantle drug cartel networks and associated criminal infrastructure.

Structure and Operations: The Shield of the Americas functions as a head-of-state level organization, working closely with the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition (A3C), which is led by USSOUTHCOM and focuses on military and security operations against cartels. The coalition’s operational arm, the Americas Counter Cartel Conference, brings together defense and security ministers from member states to coordinate strategies against drug trafficking, organized crime, and threats to critical infrastructure. Participating countries gain access to U.S. military equipment, training, intelligence, and surveillance capabilities, including support from the U.S. Space Force’s Tactical Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Tracking system.

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President Trump and President Zelenskyy meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly for a bilateral meeting.

During the press availability, President Trump noted the war banter from the U.K leadership was “too nasty” and not productive toward any ceasefire deal between Ukraine and Russia. President Trump was asked about a potential U.S. diesel export ban and Trump said he supports it, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was reviewing the feasibility of it.

The question not ever raised, except by USTR Jamieson Greer yesterday, is: where do you store it?  We can stop exporting diesel, but we’d also have to stop producing it because there’s nowhere to store it – and limiting production only adds to increased prices.  Russia had that same problem (see previous article).  Trump was asked about Patriot Missiles for Ukraine, which he said were part of the discussion happening after the press availability. WATCH:

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