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Trump Claims Saudi King Agreed to Boost Oil Production at His Request

Saudi Arabia confirmed the two leaders spoke but made no mention of a specific agreement.

President Trump took to Twitter early Saturday to claim that Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has agreed to boost oil production in order to keep rising gas prices in check. The president, under fire from Democrats who blame higher oil prices on Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal, said King Salman had agreed to an up to 2-million barrel increase in oil production after Trump explained to him that “turmoil & disfunction [sic] in Iran and Venezuela” had sent oil prices soaring. Saudi Arabia later issued a statement confirming that Trump and King Salman had spoken but saying only that the two leaders had discussed the “need to make efforts to maintain the stability” of oil markets. The statement, issued by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, also said there was an understanding that oil-producing nations would need “to compensate for any potential shortage of supplies” but made no mention of a specific agreement.