G7 agrees to release 100 mln barrels of oil after Trump plea to Macron for diesel help

G7 Agrees to Release 100 Million Barrels of Oil After Trump Plea

The Group of Seven nations agreed Friday to release 100 million barrels of oil from strategic stockpiles, following a desperate plea from the White House.

The G7 held an emergency meeting Friday morning to discuss global energy costs. The discussion came after a pressing call between Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron, during which the U.S. leader asked for assistance amid the current oil crisis and floated the idea of banning U.S. diesel exports, according to CBS Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Margaret Brennan.

The global coalition—comprising Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S.—expects the barrels to hit the market over the next four months.

In a statement, the group said it had "agreed on decisive, coordinated measures to stabilize immediate energy supplies, shield households and businesses from price shocks, and strengthen the long-term resilience of global energy systems."

Trump announced after the meeting that "Europe has just agreed to release a massive amount of their heavily stocked Diesel Oil. The process will begin immediately."

However, two diplomats who spoke with Politico suggested the G7 declaration was little more than a reiteration of an agreement initially drawn up in March, when the International Energy Agency led an effort to release some 400 million barrels of oil. That sale was stalled due to the low availability of cheaper U.S. crude oil, though an EU diplomat told Politico the oil was finally released.

Rising Fuel Costs

The price of oil and gas has risen exponentially since the start of the Iran war and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz:

• Gasoline: $2.99 per gallon in early February (before the conflict) → $4.39 per gallon today (AAA fuel price tracker)
• Diesel: $3.70 per gallon this time last year → $6.37 per gallon today (AAA)

This story has been updated.

Trump Mocks Biden's Health, Despite Own Fitness Concerns

President Donald Trump, 80, gave himself a pat on the back Thursday after climbing onto a rally stage at the Peterbilt Motors manufacturing facility in Denton, Texas—while taking a dig at former President Joe Biden's health.

"Don't forget, when Biden left the stage he spoke very shortly, like two minutes, one minute, as quickly as possible," Trump said. "Could never find the stairs."

"I don't have that problem. You know, these things—you know how many stairs they have? Look, I can go ramp, and I can go stair, I can go another stair, another stair in the back, I have a stair here—he could never find a stair."

Trump is the second-oldest man to ever serve as U.S. commander in chief. The octogenarian has:

• Spent hours at Walter Reed Medical Center on multiple occasions since returning to office
• Fallen asleep during more than a dozen critical meetings
• Appeared lost and disoriented around foreign heads of state
• Frequently slurred his speech
• Suffered from discolored and bruised skin

His behavior has also grown increasingly erratic, with cheap insults directed at the press, challenges to long-standing U.S. alliances, and jabs at the pope.

Trump has insisted he is fit for office. Since 2024, he has "aced" several cognitive exams, though his recollections of the tests' contents have raised questions about whether he actually took them.

A national Strength in Numbers/Verasight poll conducted in July found that 46 percent of respondents rated Trump's mental sharpness as "poor"—on par with perceptions of Biden's mental health.

Vance Tells Americans to Stop 'Griping' About Gas Prices, War

Vice President JD Vance thinks Americans are too worried about the "little things" ahead of midterms—like gas prices, debt, immigration enforcement killings, and war.

"This is not the time to sort of gripe about all the little things.… I think every single person who voted for us in 2024 could find something where they wish maybe congressional Republicans had gone further," Vance told Fox News on Thursday. "The challenge here is between Democrats who want to destroy the country, who want to permanently disempower you … and Republicans who fundamentally are trying to solve the problems that Democrats under Joe Biden created."

Vance was promptly lambasted online for the out-of-touch comment.

• "So worrying about grocery prices, gas increases and no jobs is 'griping'??" one liberal account posted.
• "By every metric Trump, Vance and the GOP took what the Biden administration left them and made it worse for the American people," said another. "If you want to give them two more years, your momma done dropped you on your head. Twice."

Republicans appear to be panicking ahead of what is widely predicted to be a brutal midterm rebuke. Just two weeks ago, Vance was begging Americans for "another chance."

Trump Claims Iran War Was About Drugs—For the First Time

Donald Trump is attempting to retcon his rationale for attacking Iran.

Speaking at a rally in Durant, Oklahoma, Thursday evening, the president suddenly claimed that part of his impetus for launching an all-out assault on the country seven months ago was because Iran was "doing drugs" at "drug factories."

The add-on came as Trump boasted about Operation Midnight Hammer, the special mission in June 2025 in which he directed the U.S. military to destroy nuclear facilities in Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan.

"They went from Missouri and then at one o'clock in the morning, with no moon, dark as can be, these unbelievable machines led by the most incredible pilots in the world, they unloaded every single bomb, went right down air chutes into this, uh, drug factories, really," Trump told the crowd. "That's what they were doing. They were nuclear and drugs. They were doing drugs, but they were doing the nuclear. But these drug factories/nuclear factories were hit so hard."

It was the first time Trump ever suggested the war in Iran was about drugs. Previously, he had almost singularly blamed the conflict on Iran's quest to develop nuclear technologies.

Before Operation Midnight Hammer, Tehran argued it was seeking uranium for peaceful purposes, such as expanding its nuclear energy program. The nation underwent years of nuclear site inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency and, weeks before the June attack, was allowing IAEA inspectors to remain for continuous supervision.

A series of historic nationwide protests began in Iran in December 2025, sparked by the collapse of the local currency. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's ensuing crackdown killed thousands of people.

When Trump first announced the U.S.-Iran war in February, he explicitly called on the Iranian people to rise up against their government. "When we are finished, take over your government," Trump said. "It will be yours to take."

But even after Khamenei was assassinated, Trump's charge did not pan out. Instead, Americans find themselves in another unpopular forever war in the Middle East, with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz driving up oil and gas prices at home.

Trump Trashes Ken Paxton at Texas Rally—Then Tells Crowd to Vote for Him

President Donald Trump went all the way to Texas to trash Ken Paxton in front of his own constituents.

Speaking at his rally at the Peterbilt Motors factory in Denton on Thursday night, Trump said of the embattled attorney general and Senate candidate: "He can be a pain in the ass sometimes, I'll be honest. Is he here, by the way? Oh, there he is. I didn't even know if he was here! I don't care."

Later that night, at a rally in Durant, Oklahoma, Trump played recently leaked audio of Paxton talking down the president's poorly received midterm GOP convention.

"It was leaked audio that came out yesterday from The New York Times saying Ken Paxton isn't sure that the numbers after that midterm convention helped him and maybe hurt him. Are they still on board?" a reporter can be heard asking in the clip. A Trump supporter replied that Paxton was wrong.

Trump still encouraged people to vote for Paxton, "whether you love him or you don't love him."

The president pretending not to know that a Republican senatorial candidate is at his own rally is deeply unserious—especially when that candidate is locked in a contested race that could break the party's historic grip on the state. Even if Paxton really is a pain in the ass, Trump openly admitting that is not a vote of confidence—something Paxton sorely needs, as his candidacy has been shrouded in controversy and lack of enthusiasm.

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