Trump's 'locked and loaded' tweet after Saudi oil attack means 'several things:' VP's chief of staff
President Trump’s tweet that the U.S. is “locked and loaded” in response to the twin drone strikes on Saudi oil facilities means “several things,” according to Marc Short, chief of staff to Vice President Pence.
After being asked by FBN’s Maria Bartiromo if the president’s tweet implied that “the U.S. is ready to respond to Iran,” and whether we are “looking at a military response on the horizon,” Short said he wouldn’t comment specifically, before saying that “locked and loaded means several things.”
“One thing it means is that America today under this president is far better prepared to handle these sorts of events because we're now a net exporter of oil,” Short said. “This is not like the 1970s, the oil embargo or the 1990 ... when Iraq invaded Kuwait ... The United States is a net exporter producing 16 million barrels of oil a day and much of that has been because of the deregulatory agenda of this administration that has enabled so much of that."
The U.S. is stronger than ever thanks to fracking, he added.
“You look at today all the Democratic candidates on the stage are basically advocating abolishing of fracking -- fracking is what's enabled America to become far more insulated from these sorts of events enabling us to be a bit better prepared,” said Short.
When Bartiromo asked whether the president is abandoning his pressure against Iran amid John Bolton’s departure, Short replied: “There's no talk of abandoning the campaign.”
“In fact the reality is that ... we've united international communities to put these sanctions on Iran and it is causing Iran to suffer. We want the Iranian people to experience freedom… And we know that they're basically putting this pressure on Iran is helping that cause. But the reality is that they are… struggling enormously because their oil exports have diminished dramatically down to a small fraction of what it was. And so they want to have oil price shocks,” he said.