After Donald Trump asked the oil industry to contribute $1 billion to his presidential campaign in April, oil baron Harold Hamm immediately started working the phones.<\/p>\n
Hamm, the billionaire founder of Continental Resources, called other oil executives and encouraged them to attend fundraisers and open their wallets, according to people with knowledge of the outreach, who, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private discussions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to do this because it\u2019s the most important election in our lifetime,\u201d Hamm said as he made calls after the April dinner at Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago Club, where the former president made the audacious fundraising ask, according to an associate.<\/p>\n
Another person familiar with the matter said Hamm railed against President Joe Biden\u2019s energy policies and argued that even if donors didn\u2019t love Trump, it made sense to support the former president. In recent months, Hamm has also orchestrated some introductions between oil executives and Trump, and Trump has now \u201ccalled almost everyone in the sector,\u201d said a person involved in the industry.<\/p>\n
Hamm, a sharecropper\u2019s son who rose to become one of the world\u2019s richest men, would seem to be an unlikely power broker. He doesn\u2019t travel with an entourage and doesn\u2019t keep a high profile. Yet he has emerged as a central figure in cajoling the oil industry to finance Trump\u2019s reelection bid, and in communicating to the ex-president what the oil industry wants to improve its fortunes in a second Trump term.<\/p>\n
His message appears to be resonating with some of the country\u2019s wealthiest oil magnates, who are banking on Trump\u2019s promises to reverse dozens of Biden\u2019s environmental rules and policies.<\/p>\n
The money has been flowing in. The oil and gas industry has contributed more than $20.3 million to the Trump campaign, pro-Trump super PACs and the Republican National Committee in the 2024 cycle, according to data from OpenSecrets. Trump is expected to do more oil and gas events later this year, aides say.<\/p>\n
The industry has much at stake in the election. Although the United States last year produced more oil than it ever has, Kamala Harris could blunt that trajectory if she were to defeat Trump and replace Biden. As attorney general in California, Harris prosecuted oil companies for leaks from pipelines and storage tanks, and even sued the Obama administration for allowing fracking off California\u2019s Pacific coast \u2014 reasons that Hamm and other fossil fuel executives worry about what the next four years could look like.<\/p>\n
Hamm is working \u201cincredibly hard to raise as much money as he can from the energy sector,\u201d said a Trump campaign aide. \u201cWe\u2019ve gotten max-out checks from people we\u2019ve never gotten a dollar from before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some of the Trump campaign\u2019s top individual donors include Texas oil billionaires Jeffery Hildebrand and George Bishop and pipeline mogul Kelcy Warren. Since March, they and their spouses have given at least $9.9 million, according to Federal Election Commission filings.<\/p>\n
Spokespeople for the companies overseen by Hildebrand, Bishop and Warren did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
Hamm has a wish list of policy changes in a second Trump term that would pad his profits and those of other oil executives. At the top of the list: opening up more federal lands to drilling, easing the Endangered Species Act and curbing numerous regulations at the Environmental Protection Agency, according to people familiar with his demands.<\/p>\n
Hamm has encouraged other oil executives to share their policy priorities with Trump as well. Trump and Hamm have also bonded over their shared dislike of wind energy, according to people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n
In addition, Hamm wants close ties with a potential second Trump administration, say people who have interacted with him. In the first Trump term, former administration officials said, his calls were always immediately returned, and he enjoyed a close relationship with top Cabinet officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold Hamm is back there \u2014 he\u2019s my original oil guy that taught me so much about oil,\u201d Trump said at a fundraiser in Houston in May, according to donors who attended. \u201cThis guy knows more about oil and gas. \u2026 That\u2019s all he knows. That\u2019s the problem. He\u2019s so boring to be with, you know, because all he wants to talk about is oil and gas. No, we love Harold. He\u2019s a piece of work. I\u2019ll tell you that.\u201d<\/p>\n
At another event, Trump said: \u201cHarold can just stick his finger in the ground, and oil will come up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mike Cantrell, a former Continental Resources executive, said that if anyone could eventually raise $1 billion from the oil industry, it\u2019s Hamm. \u201cIt\u2019s limitless what he can raise, if he wants to do it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), who relied on Hamm\u2019s fundraising prowess to boost his 2018 Senate bid, said that Hamm has \u201ca very active Rolodex\u201d of oil donors. \u201cHarold does the leg work,\u201d he said. \u201cHe has a lobbyist or a government affairs person \u2026 but he makes the phone calls.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the Mar-a-Lago dinner in April, Trump told oil executives that raising $1 billion for his reelection bid would be a \u201cdeal\u201d because of the taxation and regulation they could avoid. Hamm spoke little at the dinner, attendees said. Cramer agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you see the type of money that liberal billionaires are putting in the presidential races these days, it should be easy for the oil and gas industry, especially considering the dramatic difference in regulatory policy decisions between the two parties, the two campaigns,\u201d Cramer said.<\/p>\n
Hamm did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Asked detailed questions about Hamm, a Trump spokeswoman sent a statement that did not mention him.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Trump is proud to be supported by people who share his vision of American energy dominance to protect our national security and bring down the cost of living for all Americans,\u201d Karoline Leavitt, the spokeswoman, said.<\/p>\n
Hamm has wavered in his support for Trump, initially backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley in the Republican presidential primary. But, like many Republicans who were once critical of Trump, he has come around.<\/p>\n
The two came to know each other in 2012, when Hamm dropped by Trump Tower to say hello, and Trump took him down to the gift shop and gave him free ties. Trump later sent more free ties after seeing Hamm wear one of them on the cover of Forbes magazine.<\/p>\n
Throughout Trump\u2019s first term in office, Hamm was a reliable supporter of the administration and regularly spoke to the president. In early 2020, he lobbied Trump to help persuade Saudi Arabia and Russia to end a price war that had driven down the price of oil below $0 a barrel, causing Hamm to lose $3 billion in just a few days, people familiar with his meetings said.<\/p>\n
The effort appeared to pay off. In April 2020, under pressure from Trump, members of OPEC, Russia and other oil-producing nations agreed to the largest production cuts ever negotiated \u2014 nearly 10 million barrels a day \u2014 as oil demand collapsed during the pandemic.<\/p>\n
After the Trump presidency, however, Hamm repeatedly met with DeSantis and was tempted by his candidacy, according to people with direct knowledge of the discussions. He gave DeSantis an extensive briefing on oil and energy policy and even came with a full plan, a person familiar with the pitch said. He praised North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) for his policies on fracking and sought to secure assurances from DeSantis that he would be friendly to the oil and gas industry, the person said.<\/p>\n
Last summer, Hamm publicly called for Trump to drop out of the race and donated to the presidential campaigns of DeSantis and Haley, the former U.N. ambassador. Privately, he complained to friends that Trump had not responded to his request for a pardon for an associate near the end of his term, and he was frustrated with Trump\u2019s behavior at times, Hamm associates say.<\/p>\n
But eventually, Hamm changed his mind, saying he just wanted Biden out of office and Trump was the clear GOP front-runner. \u201cWe have to get back on the Trump train,\u201d he told one associate last year.<\/p>\n
Hamm had dinner with Trump in Bedminster, N.J., in July 2023, just before Hamm\u2019s book came out, according to people familiar with the meeting. In the book, titled \u201cGame Changer: Our 50-Year Mission to Secure America\u2019s Energy Independence,\u201d Hamm described his fractured friendship with the former president.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get asked a lot about my support for former President Trump running again,\u201d he wrote. \u201cAlthough many of his policies were sound and helped our nation prosper, he simply did not stand with many of those who stood with him. My strong belief is there are better qualified candidates who can unite the country in the next election to lead America back to an era of energy abundance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet after the book publication, Hamm continued to meet with Trump. In October 2023, he showed up at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., brought a $200,000 check for a pro-Trump super PAC, and attended a private meeting with Trump and an intimate fundraiser with the former president, according to three people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n
This spring, Hamm had dinner with the former president during his New York hush money trial. He also lobbied Trump and his advisers to choose Burgum as a vice-presidential pick, two people with knowledge of his conversations said. The two men have deep business and personal ties: Continental Resources is the largest oil and gas leaseholder in North Dakota, and Burgum wrote a gushing review for the jacket of Hamm\u2019s book.<\/p>\n
Burgum declined an interview request about Hamm.<\/p>\n
After Trump picked Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate instead of Burgum, Hamm co-hosted a fundraiser for Vance in Oklahoma City last month. Tickets for the event started at $5,000 per person, while a picture with Vance cost $15,000 and a seat on the host committee cost $100,000, according to an invitation seen by The Washington Post.<\/p>\n
Cantrell, the former Continental Resources executive, said Hamm\u2019s initial support for other Republican presidential contenders \u201ccreated a situation [with Trump] that needed to be mended. And it appears it has been.\u201d<\/p>\n
The youngest of 13 children of Oklahoma sharecroppers, Hamm grew up in a house without electricity or running water. He often skipped school to pick cotton.<\/p>\n
Today, Hamm is one of the wealthiest people on the planet, but he still prefers a relatively modest lifestyle, friends and others in the industry say. He would rather drive himself around in a used car than hire a chauffeur, and he would rather carry his own luggage at hotels, according to people who have known him for many years. He is not the most loquacious person nor does he spend much time making jokes, associates say.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been in restaurants with him where no one in the restaurant knew he was one of the world\u2019s richest men,\u201d said a longtime associate. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t like to ask for special treatment or say, \u2018I\u2019m Harold Hamm; don\u2019t you know who I am?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
While Continental Resources has a lobbyist \u2014 Blu Hulsey has handled government affairs for the company since 2010 \u2014 Hamm prefers to meet with elected officials himself. In 2015, when Congress was about to lift the ban on U.S. crude oil exports, \u201cthere was every company\u2019s lobbyist and Harold\u201d on Capitol Hill, said Cramer, who was a House lawmaker at the time.<\/p>\n
Hamm visits Washington multiple times a year, associates say, but won\u2019t join associations of oil companies because he can\u2019t have total control. Instead, he has created his own group called the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance, which enjoyed access to senior officials during the Trump administration. \u201cI\u2019m not a joiner,\u201d he has said privately, a person close to him said.<\/p>\n
Hamm\u2019s wealth and influence mean he can have lunch with almost any Republican senator, and he has at times convened large groups of prominent politicians to talk with him about gas and energy, say people familiar with the gatherings.<\/p>\n
An avid pilot, Hamm owns a private jet and also has a ranch in Missouri. A Type 2 diabetic, he has donated $10 million from his foundation to support the OU Health Harold Hamm Diabetes Center.<\/p>\n
In 2014, Hamm was ordered to pay nearly $1 billion in a divorce settlement with his ex-wife, Sue Ann Hamm, court filings show. Trump has repeatedly mocked Hamm for the large divorce settlement at fundraisers, saying he couldn\u2019t believe someone as smart as Hamm had to pay $1 billion. Hamm has usually kept a straight face and not responded to that line, while others in the room have laughed, according to donors.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
After Donald Trump asked the oil industry to contribute $1 billion to his presidential campaign in April, oil baron Harold Hamm immediately started working the phones. Hamm, the billionaire founder of Continental Resources, called other oil executives and encouraged them to attend fundraisers and open their wallets, according to people with knowledge of the outreach, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":7773,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7772\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}