US President Donald Trump speaks during an event with Artemis II astronauts, NASA Commander Reid Wiseman, NASA Pilot Victor Glover, NASA Mission Specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 29, 2026.
Evelyn Hockstein Reuters
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he strongly supports the decision of the United Arab Emirates to leave the international oil company OPEC, saying that he believes that this move will lower the price of electricity.
“I think it’s great,” Trump told reporters at the White House after meeting the Artemis II astronauts.
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is “very smart,” Trump said, “and maybe he wants to go his own way. That’s a good thing.”
“I think in the end it’s a good thing to lower the price of gas, lower oil, lower everything,” Trump said, adding, “they have some problems in OPEC.”
Oil prices have soared since the US and Israel went to war with Iran in Feb. 28.
The UAE in a surprise announcement on Tuesday said it would end its long association with the group on May 1.
The decision was quickly seen as a blow to OPEC and its remaining 11 members, who have coordinated the setting of oil prices and production quotas for more than six decades.
The UAE was OPEC’s third largest oil producer in February, behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Abu Dhabi has concluded after reviewing its production and energy policy that exiting the group is in the country’s interest, the Ministry of Energy said in a statement.
The ministry emphasized its appreciation for the OPEC alliance and said it appreciates its decades of cooperation with members of this organization.
But the announcement also comes after the UAE has faced repeated missile and drone attacks by OPEC member Iran, which has responded to the US-Israeli war by launching strikes on regional energy.
Tehran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has also severely restricted the UAE’s ability to export oil, threatening its economy.
The Trump administration has responded to Iran’s actions in the crisis by imposing its own blockade of Iranian ports.
Interference in the road led to the instability of the negotiations. Iran proposed reopening the issue, while postponing nuclear talks later, but Trump rejected the plan, Axios reported Wednesday morning.
“They’re being strangled like a stuffed pig, and it’s going to get worse for them. They can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told the outlet.
Trump, speaking in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon, called the blockade “brilliant” and “100% stupid,” suggesting it would remain in place until Iran raised the white flag.
“They should cry,” said Trump.
Asked if sanctions would be enough to bring Iran to the table for peace talks or if more strikes would be necessary, Trump said “it depends.”
US Central Command is preparing for possible “short and powerful” strikes in hopes of ending the standoff with Iran, reports Axios.
– CNBC Companies Spencer Kimball contributed to this report.
