Donald Trump Isn't a Tea Party Guy: Confiscate Libyan and Iraqi Oil Fields?

Our founding fathers didn't approve of tyranny. They fought it, and they did what they could to ensure the United States would not be a source of tyranny both domestically and abroad by limiting the role of government and restricting the military powers of the President and Congress. Something tells me they wouldn't approve of Donald Trump's plan for Libya considering these things.

Trump offered his solution for the oil crisis to ABC tonight. Tyranny comes to mind first as "the Donald" says we must seize oil fields against the will over sovereign countries.

Trump: Look at what’s going on with your gasoline prices. They’re going to go to $5, $6, $7 and we don’t have anybody in Washington that calls OPEC and says, "Fellas, it’s time. It’s over. You’re not going to do it anymore." I don’t know if you saw yesterday, Saudi Arabia came out and said very strongly there’s plenty of oil. "We’re going to cut back." You know what cutting back means? They’re going to drive up the price even further.

Stephanopoulos: So, what would you do to back up that threat?

Trump: Oh, it’s so easy George. It’s so easy. It’s all about the messenger. They wouldn’t even be there if it wasn’t for us. If it weren’t for us, they wouldn’t be there. These 12 guys sit around a table and they say, "Let’s just screw the United States." And frankly, the rest of the world.
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Stephanopoulos: And so finish this sentence. "If you don’t produce more oil…"

Trump: Look. I’m going to look ‘em in the eye and say, "Fellas, you’ve had your fun. Your fun is over."

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Stephanopoulos: So, you would threaten to take away that [security] protection?

Trump: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Let’s-- let me tell you something. Oil prices might go down. Because there’s plenty of oil, all over the world. Ships at sea. They don’t know where to dump it. I saw a report yesterday. There’s so much oil, all over the world, they don’t know where to dump it. And Saudi Arabia says, "Oh, there’s too much oil." They-- they came back yesterday. Did you see the report? They want to reduce oil production. Do you think they’re our friends? They’re not our friends.



And Trump was even more specific on what he would do with the Iraq oil fields: seize them.

Trump: George, let me explain something to you. We go into Iraq. We have spent thus far, $1.5 trillion. We could have rebuilt half of the United States. $1.5 trillion. And we’re going to then leave. So, in the old days, you know when you had a war, to the victor belong the spoils. You go in. You win the war and you take it.
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Stephanopoulos: It would take hundreds of thousands of troops to secure the oil fields.

Trump: Excuse me. No, it wouldn’t at all.
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Stephanopoulos: So, we steal an oil field?

Trump: Excuse me. You’re not stealing. Excuse me. You’re not stealing anything. You’re taking-- we’re reimbursing ourselves-- at least, at a minimum, and I say more. We’re taking back $1.5 trillion to reimburse ourselves.

Considering the bad intelligence we had to justify the invasion of Iraq, it's hard to take Trump even seriously. We attacked Iraq on a false premise, and to think that gives us the right to seize their oil fields considering they are a sovereign state is just laughable, and I can't see the Founding Fathers approving of Trump's plan.