ExxonMobil explicitly denied that there was a phone call from President Trump and his CEO where Mr. Trump called for campaign donations in exchange for favorable policies. The statement came after Mr Trump said “I will use a company” and then suggested that he could run as “Exxon’s head” and demand campaign donations in exchange for “a few permits”.
“We are aware of the President’s statement about the fictitious call with our CEO … and that is why we are all clear, it never happened,” ExxonMobil tweeted on Monday afternoon.
Federal law prohibits the demand for campaign donations in exchange for certain policy outcomes.
At a rally in Arizona on Monday, Mr. Trump called himself “the biggest fundraiser in history.”
“I just want to call the head of every Wall Street company, the head of every big company, the head of every big energy company,” Mr. Trump said. “‘Favor me, send 10 million for my campaign.’ ‘Yes sir.’ They say, ‘Same thing, sir, why didn’t you ask for more?’ I will be – I’ll take more money, but what do you do now? I don’t want that to happen. Because if I do, I totally compromise because when they call me, you know, you’re a loyal person. , And what happens is, you know, you’ll do things that have more money …. So I call some people, the head of the Exxon. I call the head of the Exxon, I don’t know, you know. I’ll use a company. ‘Hi, how are you doing? How will the holiday come? When are you exploring? Oh, you need a few permits, oh?’ But I call the head of Exxon, I say, ‘You know, I love sending you $ 25 million for the campaign.’ Sir, why didn’t you ask? ‘”
Mr. Trump recently outperformed his Democratic rival, Biden. Biden broke fundraising records in September and slashed Mr. Trump’s cash gains, and Mr. Trump spent the weekend raising funds.
At a rally in Gensville, Wisconsin, on Saturday, Mr. Trump said that if he was willing to “fight on Wall Street,” there could be “more money,” but that “you have to kill him when he calls you.”
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