House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) on Friday appeared to forget that President Biden had signed an executive order suspending exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) during a meeting with him early last year. I looked back.
Johnson publicly recalled the story for the first time to Bari Weiss on an episode of his Honestly podcast for the Free Press, saying that through his “personal observations” in dealing with Biden, the president “I haven't been responsible for a while,” he said. . ” Johnson's story was first reported. In June's Wall Street Journal, However, the paper's reporting at the time relied on anonymous sources.
Weiss asked Johnson. The speaker will seek to schedule a meeting with the president in January 2024 to elaborate on his findings amid “huge national concern” that Mr Johnson said is “losing sleep”. He began talking about how Biden's staff continued to ignore his attempts.
Johnson said that under pressure from the media, Biden's staff finally relented and invited him to the Oval Office to meet with the president. But Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the talks did not start as expected.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) speaks with reporters at the Capitol on January 7, 2025 in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
“When I got there, I realized it was actually an ambush, because it wasn't just me and the president,” Johnson said. “Kamala Harris, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem, you know, also the director of the CIA.”
Mr. Johnson said that when Mr. Biden asked if he could sit down with him, the group began “hotboxing” him regarding funding to Ukraine, a request that Mr. Johnson said clearly prompted the president's staff to respond to the request. He said he had concerns.
Once Biden and Johnson were alone in the Oval Office, a speaker asked the president about suspending LNG exports.
“I can’t answer this from the voters of Louisiana,” Johnson recalled telling Biden. “Sir, why did you suspend LNG exports to Europe? Liquefied natural gas is in great demand from our allies. Why do such a thing? What we just talked about about Ukraine You understand that you are fueling Vladimir Putin's war machine, because they are the ones who have to get gasoline from him. ”
President Joe Biden attends a farewell ceremony for the commander-in-chief of the Department of Defense at Joint Base Meyer-Henderson in Arlington, Virginia, on January 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Johnson recounted how a stunned Biden responded, “I didn't do that.”
Biden began suspending new LNG export licenses in January 2024, a move that has been widely criticized by the oil industry and bipartisan members of Congress.
Johnson said he reminded the president of an executive order he signed just weeks ago, and Biden denied that what he signed was an LNG moratorium.
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Johnson argued that the moratorium would do “tremendous damage to our economy and our national security,” and even suggested that the president's secretary print out a copy of the executive order so the two of them could read it together. He said he did.
“He had no idea what he was signing,” Johnson said. “And I walked out of that meeting in fear and disgust, because I thought, 'We're in deep trouble, who's running this country?' 'I don't know who put the paper in front of him, but he didn't seem to know. ”
Biden's LNG moratorium threatens nearly 1 million jobs over the next 20 years if restrictions remain in place, according to a study by the National Association of Manufacturers. Fox News Digital previously reported Above.
of Export ban If the permit suspension continues, U.S. GDP in 2044 will be suppressed to between $122.5 billion and $215.7 billion, while tax and royalty revenues to federal, state, and local governments will be reduced to $2.69 billion in 2044. Between $100 million and $47.7 billion would be at risk, the study showed.
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However, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters in November that President-elect Trump “intends to proactively address” the LNG export issue once he takes office.
Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady and Eric Revell contributed to this report.
