'First of many victories' scored by Trump donors after $1B oil exec solicitation: report

Some of Donald Trump's biggest donors scored a major victory when the Securities and Exchange Commission took steps to end a rule detested by fossil fuel companies, according to a report Monday.

The Biden administration had approved the rule nearly a year ago requiring large companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and plans to reduce them, but Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Trump donors Harold Hamm and Kelcy Warren successfully pushed the SEC to back off, reported the Washington Post.

"The move to back off the rule, which has yet to be implemented because of pending lawsuits, represents one of the most immediate victories delivered by the Trump administration to the three men and other fossil fuel companies," the newspaper reported.

Hamm's oil production company Continental Resources called the rule “hostile energy public policy," while Warren's Energy Transfer pipeline company and Wright’s oil field service firm Liberty Energy filed legal challenges to the regulation before SEC acting chair Mark Uyeda ended what he described as a "deeply flawed" requirement.

"During last year’s presidential race, Trump courted the oil and gas industry and asked its executives to come up with $1 billion for his campaign," the Post reported. "Giving such a sum would be a 'deal,' Trump told them at an April 2024 meeting at Mar-a-Lago, because of his stands on taxes and regulation."

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Hamm immediately started calling other oil executives to encourage them to attend fundraisers and donate, and Warren co-hosted a $250,000-per-person fundraiser and gave at least $800,000 to the Trump campaign, while Wright gave more than $273,000 to pro-Trump super PACs and the Republican National Committee.'

The SEC’s retreat from the disclosure rule, coming weeks after Trump’s inauguration, is among the first of many victories expected by oil and gas industry executives," the Post reported. "On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order, titled 'Unleashing American Energy,' which declared a national policy to encourage energy exploration and production on federal lands and waters, including on the Outer Continental Shelf."