For all I hate about him and his admin, the trump admin didn't call it a "bailout" once that I can find (even with the help of AI). The only quotes I can find are Chuck Schumer / Democrats calling it that and no direct quote of Trump saying it. In fact this is what I can find:
> On March 13, 2020, Trump described it as purchasing crude oil “at a very good price.” He said filling the reserve would save taxpayers money while also “helping our oil industry.”
> On April 3, a reporter directly asked Trump whether oil executives had requested a bailout. Trump answered: “No, they didn’t ask for a bailout. No.”
> The “bailout for big oil” wording came from Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats, not Trump. Schumer’s official March 25 press release claimed that the final CARES Act had: “Eliminated $3 billion bailout for big oil.”
Would love to be proven wrong here.
> Trump didn't care about the reserve, he cared about the oil industry.
Does that even make a difference?
Either way it's filling the reserve for instances exactly like this, and was blocked by politicians to try and "win" for their party at the expense of every US citizen.
Didn't use the word "bailout", of course, but imo the meaning is pretty similar
helping = just that, helping. They might be hurting, but they aren't going to die without the help.
bailout = (as wikipedia defines it) "the provision of financial help to a corporation or country which otherwise would be on the brink of bankruptcy."
Trump called it help for the struggling oil industry:
> "We're going to fill it right to the top," Trump said Friday in a wide-ranging news conference at the White House. He said it will save taxpayers "billions and billions of dollars" while helping an industry that's been reeling.
[…]
> There have been reports[1] the Trump administration may be willing to help the oil industry in other ways. For example, the White House could reduce federal royalties for oil pumped on government land or offshore. The administration could also offer low-interest government-backed loans.
* https://www.npr.org/2020/03/14/815039722/trump-steps-in-to-h...
As a reminder, in April 2020 oil (futures) prices went negative:
* https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/100615/will-...
Did they go bankrupt? No? Then it wasn't a bailout.
For as much as I love HN, everyone trips over random "achustually" while ignoring the actual definitions to try and be right.
All this to try and claim Democrats were right to AVOID filling the reserves on an article screaming about trump not doing it.
Piece of art right there.
Yes, intent matters. As an example, Trump and Republicans spent all of Biden's term complaining about the direct relief provided to the common people.