Joe Biden and his team had no clue how to run a country. Everything they touched broke.
And now the White House called out Biden for breaking this national security necessity.
Trump Team Delivers on Energy Security: Gradual SPR Refill Underway Amid Plunging Gas Prices
As President Donald Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda takes hold, the administration is steadily reversing the damage inflicted on America’s emergency oil stockpiles by the previous regime, with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) now holding over 411 million barrels—up from historic lows under Biden—and contracts in place for fresh deliveries before year’s end.
This measured approach comes as gasoline prices have tumbled below $2.95 per gallon nationally for the first time in years, a direct win for working families that undercuts Democrats’ post-2024 “affordability” attacks and validates Trump’s campaign blueprint for unleashing domestic production.
From Biden’s “Disastrous” Drain to Trump’s Smart Rebuild: Repairing a National Security Asset
The SPR—Congress’s post-1970s oil crisis bulwark, buried in Gulf Coast salt caverns under the Department of Energy’s watch—dipped to a 40-year nadir of 347 million barrels in July 2023 after Biden’s team siphoned roughly 300 million barrels across 2021 and 2022, the largest drawdown in history.
That “unprecedented” spree—50 million barrels in late 2021 to ease post-COVID supply snarls, followed by a staggering 180 million in 2022 to counter Russia’s Ukraine invasion and sanctions fallout—left the reserve at half-capacity, racking up $280 million in deferred maintenance costs and straining aging infrastructure, per Trump officials.
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers didn’t mince words: “Joe Biden’s disastrous green energy policies sent gas prices soaring across the country, making the past four years painfully unaffordable for Americans filling their gas tanks to commute to work, take their children to school, and travel during the summer and holiday seasons.” She slammed the moves as a “desperate attempt to provide an illusion of relief during his 2024 campaign,” jeopardizing economic and national security by offloading oil at peaks near $95 per barrel while skipping vital upkeep.
Past presidents tapped the SPR sparingly—George H.W. Bush for 17.3 million barrels in Desert Storm 1991, George W. Bush for 11 million after Katrina in 2005—but Biden’s volume dwarfed them, dropping levels from 638 million at his 2021 inauguration to 393.6 million by year’s end 2024. With U.S. daily crude demand at 20.2 million barrels, the reserve’s current 411.9 million barrels covers about 20 days of imports—adequate for now, but Trump’s push aims to restore the 714 million-barrel max for true crisis-proofing.
A Trump official underscored the lingering fallout: “The repercussions of this damaging decision… persist,” with billions in potential refill costs ahead, though low prices—now around $60 per barrel—make it a taxpayer bargain compared to Biden’s fire-sale exits.
Campaign Promise in Action: Contracts Awarded, Deliveries Imminent, as Trump’s Policies Drive Prices Down
Trump vowed to “immediately refill” the SPR during his 2024 run and January 20 inauguration—”We will bring prices down, fill our strategic reserves up again right to the top, and export American energy all over the world”—blasting Biden for treating the reserve like a “political slush fund” for elections rather than wars or true emergencies.
Now, with Congress’s green light via the “big, beautiful bill” ($171 million for refills, $218 million for fixes), the Energy Department kicked off buys in October 2025, awarding November 12 contracts for 1 million barrels at spot-indexed lows—deliveries to Bryan Mound starting December 1 through January 2026.
DOE Secretary Chris Wright hailed it as fulfilling Trump’s vision: “Awarding these contracts marks another step in the important process of refilling this national security asset… reversing the costly and irresponsible energy policies of the last administration.”
Additional maneuvers include a July exchange with ExxonMobil—1 million barrels loaned for a refinery hiccup, to be repaid plus extra by Q3 2026—and GOP-backed bids like May’s $1.5 billion House proposal, trimmed in talks but signaling strong Hill support.
This isn’t hasty spending—it’s strategic, capitalizing on Trump’s deregulatory surge that’s flooded markets with U.S. output, cratering prices to $2.94 nationally (down 2.4% year-over-year, 11% monthly) and easing inflation’s bite. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt touted Thursday: “American families faced constant pain at the pump… the average cost… was the most expensive price during a presidential term in U.S. history under Biden’s disastrous leadership… But thanks to President Trump, those days are long behind us. In the months ahead, Americans can expect prices to fall even further.”
Biden’s camp offered no immediate rebuttal to Fox News Digital’s queries, but Trump’s playbook—drill baby drill, sanction foes, stockpile smart—positions the U.S. not just to weather storms, but to lead the global energy arena, turning a depleted reserve into a fortified fortress.
