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House Speaker Mike Johnson, Rt., on Friday recounted a meeting with President Biden early last year in which the president appeared to forget he had signed an executive order to freeze exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Johnson first publicly brought up the story to Barry Weiss during an episode of her “Frankly” podcast for The Free Press after saying that in his “personal observations” of his relationship with Biden, the president “hasn’t been on top for a while.” Johnson’s story was first reported informed Wall Street Journal in June, although at the time the paper relied on anonymous sources.
When Weiss asked Johnson to elaborate on his observations, the speaker began his account of how Biden’s staff continued to brush off his attempts to schedule a meeting with the president in January 2024 amid “major national issues” that Johnson said he was “losing sleep over.” .
Johnson said Biden’s staff finally relented after some pressure from the media and invited him to the Oval Office to meet with the president. Johnson, however, said the meeting did not start as expected.
‘NATURAL HEAD’: ENERGY INDUSTRY LEADERS DISCUSS BIDEN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT ON NATURAL GAS EXPORTS
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington on January 7, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
“I show up and realize it’s actually an ambush because it’s not just me and the president,” Johnson said. “It’s also Kamala Harris, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem, you know, the director of the CIA.”
Johnson said the group began “hot-testing” him about funding Ukraine when Biden asked if he could have a room with him, a request Johnson said left the president’s staff visibly concerned.
After Biden and Johnson were alone in the Oval Office, the speaker asked the president about his pause on LNG exports.
“I can’t answer that for my constituents in Louisiana,” Johnson recalled telling Biden. “Sir, why did you suspend LNG exports to Europe? Liquefied natural gas is in great demand among our allies. Why are you doing this? Because you understand that we were just talking about Ukraine, you understand that you are fueling Vladimir Putin’s war machine because they need to get gas from him.”
President Joe Biden attends a farewell ceremony for the Department of Defense Commander-in-Chief at Joint Base Mayer-Henderson Hall on January 16, 2025. in Arlington, Virginia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Johnson recounted how a stunned Biden replied, “I didn’t.”
Biden initiated the suspension of new LNG export permits in January 2024. is widely criticized by the oil community and bipartisan lawmakers in the House of Representatives.
Johnson said that when he reminded the president of the executive order he signed a few weeks ago, Biden denied that what he signed was a pause on LNG.
Johnson said he argued that the pause would cause “tremendous damage to our economy, our national security,” and he even suggested that the president’s secretary print a copy of the order so the two could read it together.
“He really didn’t know what he signed,” Johnson said. “And I left that meeting with fear and disgust, because I thought: ‘We have serious problems – who is running the country?’ Like, I don’t know who put the paper on him, and he didn’t know.”
According to a study by Biden’s National Association of Manufacturers, the LNG suspension would threaten nearly 1 million jobs over the next two decades if the restriction remains in place. This was previously reported by Fox News Digital on.
The in export would reduce US GDP by $122.5 billion to $215.7 billion in 2044, while $26.9 billion to $47.7 billion in tax and royalty revenue for federal, state, and local governments would be lost a threat in 2044 if the pause in permitting continues, the study found.
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However, it is reported that President Trump has been elected “plans to pursue this issue vigorously” of LNG exports when he takes office, sources told Reuters in November.
Fox News Digital’s Aubrey Spadey and Eric Revell contributed to this report.
