Good news from Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, who says he’s recovering well after testing positive for COVID-19, which forced the band to postpone two shows on its current SIXTY tour of Europe.
“Thank you all so much for your well wishes and messages the last few days,” the 78-year-old rock legend writes in a message posted on his socialmediapages. “I’m feeling much better and can’t wait to get back on stage next week!”
Jagger also reveals that the first of the postponed shows, a June 13 concert in Amsterdam, “has been rescheduled for July 7,” adding that a new date for the postponed June 17 gig in Bern, Switzerland will be announced “ASAP.” The Rolling Stones also posted details about the new Amsterdam date on their socialmedia sites.
The next scheduled concert on The Stones’ 60th anniversary tour is a June 21 show in Milan, Italy.
William J. Ryan is seen in this undated photo. – City of Newburgh Police Department via Facebook
(NEWBURGH, N.Y.) — A man was arrested Tuesday following an alleged racist road rage incident against a father and son in Newburgh, New York.
Robert Mclymore, who is Black, told New York ABC station that he slowed to let a car pass in front of him on June 11. William Ryan, 60, a white man, was driving behind him and began shouting racist slurs at Mclymore, who was driving with his son.
Ryan began waving a box cutter at the two of them and tried to rear-end the car, according to Mclymore.
The driver allegedly followed Mclymore into a restaurant parking lot and claimed to be an off-duty trooper while giving Mclymore the middle finger, he said. Mclymore caught the incident on his cellphone.
Mclymore told WABC that he is actually a police lieutenant and pastor in the neighboring town of Wallkill.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” Mclymore told WABC about the incident. “I couldn’t believe the racial epithets, him saying that he was a cop or a trooper, most of all him doing what he did and he’s an older gentleman.”
Ryan has been charged with second-degree menacing as a hate crime, a Class E felony, according to the Newburgh Police Department. He is being held in police custody until his arraignment on Wednesday evening.
“There is no place for hate in our community,” Newburgh Police Chief Anthony Geraci wrote in a statement. “Mr. Ryan will be held accountable for his criminal actions and deplorable speech. His racists (sic) threats were not only harmful to the victim in this case but echoes deep within our City.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates significantly on Wednesday, escalating a strategy of increased borrowing costs that aims to dial back historic inflation.
Central bankers are expected to consider a rate hike of 0.75%, which would mark the largest increase since 1994. The potentially dramatic rate increase follows new inflation data that showed a reacceleration of price increases to levels not seen for more than four decades, dashing hopes that inflation had reached its peak.
The Fed is also expected to indicate that more rate hikes will follow in the coming months.
An increase to the benchmark interest rate raises borrowing costs for consumers and businesses, which in theory should slash inflation by slowing the economy and eating away at demand. But the strategy also risks tipping the economy into a recession. The rate hike will likely increase everything from credit card fees to mortgage rates.
The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.5% last month, and central bankers had signaled the same increase for June. But a persistent surge in costs appears to have prompted a reevaluation. The consumer price index, or CPI, stood at 8.6% year-over-year in May, a significant increase from 8.3% the month prior, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.
A rate hike of 0.75% would bring the interest rate to a range of 1.5% to 1.75%.
President Joe Biden has touted the economic recovery from a coronavirus-induced downturn, but acknowledged that many American households are struggling with high costs.
“Jobs are back, but prices are still too high,” he said during a speech in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
Republican members of Congress have criticized Biden for the price hikes, suggesting they stem from his mismanagement of the economy. Biden has attributed high prices to the disruption of food and gas markets that has resulted from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, calling the sky-high inflation “Putin’s price hike” — a term the administration has used repeatedly.
Only a few months to go before Harry Styles‘ new movie, My Policeman, arrives in theaters, and to hype fans further, Amazon released the first teaser trailer on Wednesday.
The teaser flips through some of the more emotional moments of the upcoming drama, which features Harry as a closeted officer named Tom. The R-rated film also stars The Crown’s Emma Corrin as a schoolteacher named Marion and The Last Kingdom’s David Dawson as a museum curator named Patrick.
The teaser shows a conversation between Patrick and Tom, as the latter describes how a painting of the ocean makes him feel. “I can sense the waves. You know how strong they are, like swimming in rough surf. You feel they could crush you or take you under,” he describes. “You just have to let it take hold of you.”
The movie is about a forbidden love between Tom and Patrick, as the movie is set in 1950s England when homosexuality was prohibited. While Tom marries Marion in an attempt to fit into society, Patrick suffers the consequences when he is outed.
My Policeman is based on the book of the same name. After it debuts in theaters on October 21, it will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video on November 4.
Love, Victor‘s third and final season debuts today, June 15, on Hulu and Disney+, and fans will finally get the answer they’ve been not-so-patiently waiting for since season 2 ended on a doozy of a cliffhanger.
We left off with Victor torn between two guys – his ex and first love, Benji, and new potential love interest Rahim. In the season 2 finale, he presumably makes his decision, running to one of their houses and ringing the bell. But who’s on the other side of the door? The show’s stars say they can’t wait for fans to finally find out.
“It will be nice not to have to hold the secret in anymore,” George Sear, who plays Benji, tells ABC Audio.
“Yeah, yeah, for sure,” Michael Cimino, who plays Victor, agrees. “I think that’s, like, the best part about it is it’s no longer our secret to keep.”
The two say they had no idea fan reaction to the love triangle would be so passionate, but it just goes to show the effect the show has had in just three seasons.
“I think just the impact that the show has had, and hopefully the lasting impact that it will have, is something that … I was really proud to be a part of,” Sear says.
For Cimino, he’s taking away a major life lesson from playing Victor. “I keep saying this, but it’s to be brave,” he says. “Victor embracing who he is … like, it just resonates with me.”
Season 3 of Love, Victor — also starring Isabella Ferreira, Anthony Turpel, Bebe Wood and Rachel Hilson — is out now.
(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — Federal hate crime charges were announced against the Buffalo mass shooting suspect as Attorney General Merrick Garland arrived in the city Wednesday to meet with survivors and the families of the 10 victims.
Payton Gendron, 18, is accused of storming aTops grocery store on May 14 and gunning down 10 people, all of whom were Black, in an alleged hate crime.
At one point Gendron aimed his Bushmaster XM rifle at a white Tops employee, who was shot in the leg and injured. Gendron allegedly apologized to him before continuing the attack, Garland said at a news conference.
Gendron allegedly planned the massacre for months, including driving to the store to sketch the layout and count the number of Black people present, Garland said.
Federal prosecutors charged Gendron with a total of 26 counts of committing a hate crime resulting in death and a hate crime involving bodily injury. He’s also charged with using a firearm to commit murder during a crime of violence.
Gendron was allegedly motivated by the racist, far-right conspiracy theory known as the replacement theory and he wanted to “inspire others to commit similar attacks,” the complaint said. Markings on the rifle used in the shooting including the phrases “here’s your reparations” and “the great replacement,” the complaint said.
Garland said the Justice Department agrees with President Joe Biden that “18-year-olds should not be able to purchase a gun like this,” referring to the semi-automatic rifle used in the massacre.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke, who appeared at the news conference with Garland, added, “The Civil Rights division and the entire Justice Department will not stand by idly in the fight against white suprematist violence.” She promised, “We will pursue the perpetrators of hate crimes and hold them accountable.”
The Justice Department is also “hard at work addressing non-criminal acts of bias that rear their ugly head inside our schools, workplaces and our neighborhoods,” Clarke said, as well as addressing how to prevent hate crimes through education and awareness.
The Buffalo massacre could inspire more racially motivated attacks in the coming months, the Department of Homeland Security warned in a new report released this week.
Other charges against Gendron include 10 counts of first-degree murder and 10 counts of second-degree murder as a hate crime. The teen is the first person in state history to be charged with domestic terrorism motivated by hate. Gendron’s lawyers entered a plea of not guilty to the state charges on his behalf.
ABC News’ Alex Mallin and Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
After announcing the performers for the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert in London, Foo Fighters have now revealed the lineup for the Los Angeles show.
The LA bill includes many artists who are also booked for the London performance, including Queens of the Stone Age‘s Josh Homme, Queen‘s Brian May and Roger Taylor, Rush‘s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, Jane’s Addiction‘s Chris Chaney, Wolfgang Van Halen, The Police‘s Stewart Copeland, producer Mark Ronson and drummer/producer Omar Hakim.
Additionally, the lineup features a number of acts exclusive to the LA date, including Miley Cyrus, Joan Jett, Alanis Morissette, KISS‘ Gene Simmons, Mötley Crüe‘s Nikki Sixx, Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Chad Smith, The Struts‘ Luke Spiller, Rage Against the Machine‘s Brad Wilk and Weezer‘s Pat Wilson.
Artists including Liam Gallagher and Chrissie Hynde of Pretenders are exclusive to the London lineup. Comedian Dave Chappelle will also be making a “special appearance” in the London show.
The guests will be “playing the songs that Taylor loved and created, with and alongside his FF brothers Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett, Pat Smear and Rami Jaffee,” a press release says.
As previously reported, the concerts will take place September 3 at London’s Wembley Stadium and September 27 at LA’s Kia Forum. Tickets to both shows go on sale this Friday, June 17 at 9 a.m. local time. Proceeds will benefit charities in the U.K. and U.S. chosen by the Hawkins family.
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jun 15, 1:08 pm
Biden announces additional $1B in military, $225M in humanitarian assistance
President Joe Biden has announced $1 billion more in U.S. military aid for Ukraine.
Biden said he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Wednesday morning and that the aid will include “additional artillery and coastal defense weapons, as well as ammunition for the artillery and advanced rocket systems.”
Biden also announced $225 million in humanitarian assistance “to help people inside Ukraine, including by supplying safe drinking water, critical medical supplies and health care, food, shelter, and cash for families to purchase essential items,” according to a statement.
-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez
Jun 15, 6:49 am
Biden promises to free blocked Ukrainian grain
President Joe Biden said on Tuesday the United States is working with European allies to remove blocked Ukrainian grain by rail.
Speaking at the 29th AFL-CIO Quadrennial Constitutional Convention, Biden said 20 million tons of grain are stuck in Ukraine and need to be exported to reduce global food prices.
As the grain cannot be exported via the Black Sea due to the constant threat of Russian attacks and explosions, the U.S. and its partners are planning to build granaries on the Ukrainian border, Biden said.
The railways present an alternative to Ukrainian coastal waters of the Azov and Black seas that are in need of demining. The area of their contamination with explosives can be up to 19,000 square kilometers, Ministry of Internal Affairs spokesperson Alyona Matveeva said on Tuesday.
The full demining of Ukraine can take from five to 10 years with the help of international experts, Matveeva added. To date, about 80% of explosive devices have been removed and neutralized in the Kyiv region, she said.
Jun 15, 6:31 am
Russia turns to outdated missiles
As Russia’s stock of modern high-precision missiles depletes, its invading forces are turning to obsolete Soviet models to strike targets in Ukraine, Yuriy Ignat, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force, said at a press briefing on Tuesday.
“Recently, there has been a tendency for Russia to save high-precision, expensive missiles. And now the enemy is increasingly using Soviet types of missiles,” Ignat said.
Some of these missiles are extremely powerful, the spokesman added, and their destructive parts can weigh up to 900 kilograms.
“Their main drawback is that they do not always fly at their intended target and very often destroy civilian objects with human casualties,” Ignat said.
According to Ignat, Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile forces have shot down more than 500 enemy air targets since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. These include Russian cruise missiles, UAVs, planes and helicopters.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former governor of California, weighed in on the question of Russian missiles on Tuesday when he said that Europe is partly to blame for financing Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Addressing a climate conference in Vienna via a livestream, Schwarzenegger said the about 1,300 missiles Russia fired into Ukrainian cities during the first two months of the war cost 7.7 billion euros.
“Now that’s a lot. But during the same time, Europe sent to Russia 44 billion euros for fuel,” the former governor told attendees of the Austrian World Summit. “We have blood on our hands, because we are financing the war. We have to stop lying to ourselves.”
On the other end of the frontline, Ukraine is also grappling with a pressing lack of weapons. The Ukrainian forces received only 10% of the weapons “we said we needed,” Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar told local media on Tuesday.
“Now matter how much effort Ukraine makes, we will not be able to win the war without the help of the West,” Malyar added.
The deputy minister said Ukrainian fighters can afford to spend only about 6,000 shells a day, while the Russians use about 10 times more. The limited number of available weapons and ammunition is crippling Ukraine’s ability to launch a counteroffensive at the front, military expert Oleh Zhdanov said, according to local outlets.
Speaking at an online press conference for Danish media on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeated his plea for Western weapons that he said are vital for the liberation of occupied territories.
The speed of de-occupation “depends on the supply of weapons to Ukraine, and any delays in this matter threaten stagnation on the front,” Zelenskyy said.
Jun 14, 1:20 pm
Russian, Belarusian tennis players can compete at US Open under neutral flag
Russian and Belarusian tennis players, who are banned from Wimbledon, will be allowed to compete in this year’s U.S. Open, but only under a neutral flag, the U.S. Tennis Association said.
The USTA said it “previously condemned, and continues to condemn, the unprovoked and unjust invasion of Ukraine by Russia.”
Russian player Daniil Medvedev, the current No. 1 player in the world, won last year’s U.S. Open.
Jun 14, 6:37 am
Ukraine pleads for heavy weapons ahead of NATO meeting
The only way to end the war in Ukraine, either on the battlefield or behind the negotiation table, is a parity of weapons, Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, said on Monday.
“Being straightforward — to end the war we need heavy weapons parity,” Podoliak said on Twitter.
According to the presidential adviser, Ukraine’s military wish list includes 1,000 howitzers, 300 multiple launch rocket systems, 500 tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles and 1,000 drones.
“Negotiations are possible from a strong position, which requires parity of weapons,” Podoliak said. “There is simply no other way.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba echoed Podoliak’s plea for weapons on Monday in a tweet that recounted Ukraine’s recent military triumphs achieved with limited resources.
“Ukraine has proven it can punch well above its weight and win important battles against all odds,” Kuleba said, pointing at victories in the battles of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkiv. “Imagine what Ukraine can do with sufficient tools,” the Foreign Minister added. Kuleba urged Ukraine’s partners “to set a clear goal of Ukrainian victory and speed up deliveries of heavy weapons.”
Podoliak said a meeting of NATO defense ministers will be held in Brussels on June 15.
“We are waiting for a decision” on the weapons, Podoliak said.
The group, known as the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, will convene a meeting for the third time in a bid “to ensure that we’re providing Ukraine what Ukraine needs right now,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said at a press briefing in Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday.
Austin, who will be in attendance in Brussels, said that Ukraine needs support “in order to defend against Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked assault.” The secretary of Defense noted that looking ahead, Ukraine will require help “to build and sustain robust defenses so that it will be able to defend itself in the coming months and years.”
In his Monday evening address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Ukrainians to tell people in the occupied territories “that the Ukrainian army will definitely come.”
“Tell them about Ukraine. Tell them the truth. Say that there will be liberation,” the president said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials played down threats of possible food shortages in the country due to the ongoing conflict. While Ukraine lost 25% of its sown area as a result of Russia’ full-scale invasion, the country’s food security was “in no way” threatened, Taras Vysotsky, the first deputy minister of Agrarian Policy, said at a press briefing for Ukrainian media on Monday.
“Despite the loss of 25% of sown areas, the structure of crops this year as a whole is more than sufficient to ensure consumption, which in turn also decreased due to mass displacement and external migration,” Vysotsky said.
The deputy minister added that Ukraine has “already imported about 70% of essential fertilizers, 60% of plant protection products and about a third of the required amount of fuel” before the war erupted in late February. According to Vysotsky, current sowing volumes are enough to ensure domestic consumption and even exports.
Jun 13, 9:26 am
Bodies of tortured men exhumed in Bucha
Another mass grave has been dug up in Bucha, uncovering the bodies of seven men who authorities believe were tortured and killed during the bloody occupation of the city in March.
Police told ABC News their hands were tied with ropes behind their backs and they were shot in the knees and head.
“They were killed in a cruel way,” police spokesperson Iryna Pryanyshnykova said. “These were civilian victims. The people here were killed by Russian soldiers and later they were just put into a grave to try to hide this war crime.”
It’s not clear why the men were killed, Pryanyshnykova said.
She said experts will analyze DNA to identify the victims.
-ABC News’ Britt Clennett
Jun 13, 6:24 am
Zelenskyy: Ukraine fighting for ‘every meter’ of Severodonetsk
Russian forces have pushed the Armed Forces of Ukraine out of the center of Severodonetsk, Ukrainian officials said.
“They are pressing in Severodonetsk, where very fierce fighting is going on — literally for every meter,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an address on Sunday evening.
Russian forces now control about 70% of the city, as intense shelling makes mass evacuation and the transportation of goods impossible, Sergiy Haidai, another Ukrainian official, said.
Around 500 people, including 40 children, are sheltering in the city’s Azot chemical plant, Haidai said.
While the Ukrainians try to organize their evacuation, authorities of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic have given an ultimatum to Ukrainian troops in the city.
“They have two options: either follow the example of their colleagues and give up, or die. They have no other option,” said Eduard Basurin, deputy head of the People’s Militia Department of the DPR.
-ABC News’ Yulia Drozd and Tanya Stukalova
Jun 12, 5:33 pm
Zelenskyy sends virtual message to Sean Penn’s CORE benefit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the annual Hollywood fundraiser for actor Sean Penn’s nonprofit Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE) Saturday night with a powerful video message urging people to continue to support Ukraine in its war against Russia.
“All of you have heard about the horrors that Ukraine is going through. Tens of thousands of explosions and shots, hundreds of thousands wounded and killed, millions who have lost their homes,” Zelenskyy said in his virtual speech. “All of this is not a logline for a horror film. All of this is our reality.”
Zelenskyy’s video message included footage showing missiles striking homes and apartment complexes in Ukraine, civilians dead in the streets of Ukrainian cities and children playing in parks amid the backdrop of bombed buildings.
Among those attending the CORE fundraiser, held at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angles, were Penn and CORE co-founder Ann Lee, former President Bill Clinton, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, singer John Legend, and actors Patrick Stewart and Sharon Stone.
The group said the event raised more than $2.5 million for CORE’s disaster relief and preparedness work, including its urgent humanitarian response in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy noted that Penn traveled to Ukraine at the start of the Russian invasion and witnessed the atrocities firsthand. He thanked Penn and his group for the continued support for Ukraine.
“We have been resisting it for 107 days in a row,” Zelenskyy said of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. “We can stop it together. Support Ukraine, because Ukraine is fighting for the whole world, for democracy, for freedom, for life.”
Jun 12, 4:17 pm
Russia’s firepower superiority 10 times that of Ukraine’s in Luhansk: Military chief
Ukraine’s Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhny said Sunday that he told his American counterpart, Gen. Mark Milley, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that Russian firepower superiority in the Luhansk region is far greater than that of Ukrainian forces.
Zaluzhny said that during a briefing he told Milley that Russian forces are concentrating their efforts in the north of the Luhansk region, where they are using artillery “en masse” and their firepower superiority is 10 times that of Ukraine’s.
“Despite everything, we keep holding our positions,” Zaluzhny said.
Zaluzhny also said Russia has deployed up to seven battalion tactical groups in Severdonetsk, a city in the Luhansk region. He said Russian shelling of residential areas in Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine has resumed.
Russian forces destroyed a second bridge leading into Severodonetsk and are now targeting a third bridge in an effort to completely cut off the city, Luhansk region Gov. Sergiy Haidai said Sunday. Ukraine’s army still controls around one third of the city, he said.
Haidai said that Ukrainian forces are still holding onto the Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk, where around 500 civilians are taking shelter.
If Severodonetsk falls, Lysychansk will be the only city in the Luhansk region that remains under Ukraine’s control.
Zaluzhny said that as of Sunday, the front line of the war stretched 1,522 miles and that active combat was taking place on at least 686 miles of the front line.
Zaluzhny said that during his briefing with Milley, he reiterated Ukraine’s urgent request for more 155 mm caliber artillery systems.
Jun 12, 12:48 pm
Russian cruise missile attack confirmed in western Ukraine
Russia claims a cruise missile strike destroyed a large warehouse in western Ukraine storing weapons supplied to the Ukrainians by the United States and European allies.
While police in the Ternopil region of Ukraine, where at least one cruise missile hit, told ABC News that no weapons were destroyed, the region’s governor said part of a military facility was damaged.
Ternopil’s governor Volodymyr Trush posted a video showing widespread damage from what he said were four Russian missiles launched Saturday from the Black Sea. Trush said 22 people were wounded, including a 12-year-old child, in the missile strikes.
In addition to the military facility, Trush said four five-story residential apartment buildings were damaged. One of the missiles hit a gas pipeline, he said.
Russia’s defense ministry said Kalibr high presicion sea-based, long-range missiles struck near Chortkiv in the Ternopil province and destroyed a large warehouse full of anti-tank missile systems, portable anti-aircraft missile systems and artillery shells supplied by the United States and European countries.
In a continuing interview with Today‘s Savannah Guthrie, Amber Heard insisted the controversial op-ed at the center of Johnny Depp‘s defamation lawsuit against her “wasn’t about him.”
Guthrie pressed Heard on several elements of her testimony, which ultimately led a jury to side with Depp, awarding him $10 million dollars in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.
“Life had seemingly moved on and you decide to write an op-ed, why did you do that?” Guthrie asked the Aquaman actress.
Heard insisted the “op-ed wasn’t about my relationship with Johnny,” to which Guthrie wondered, “But it alluded to him. Is that mistakable?”
Heard said instead, the column, titled, “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change,” was “about was me lending my voice to a bigger cultural conversation that we were having at the time.”
Guthrie responded that the 2018 article was at the “height” of the Me Too movement. “Legions of powerful men being cancelled. Losing their jobs. Did you want that to happen to Johnny Depp?” she asked.
“Of course not. It wasn’t about him,” the actress replied.
Heard also denied tipping off TMZ that she’d filed a restraining order against Depp — something she seemingly accidentally admitted in testimony.
The interview, which will continue on NBC’s Dateline on Friday, June 17, will also see Heard address her failure to donate her divorce settlement as she had pledged and insisting of Depp, “I love him. I love him with all my heart.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday sent a letter to seven major oil refiners blasting them for record profits amid the war in Ukraine as Americans pay record prices at the gas pump.
In the letter, he informs them he has ordered Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm to convene an emergency meeting with company executives to provide an explanation of any reduction in refining capacity since 2020.
While acknowledging that “Putin’s war of aggression” has dwindled the world supply of oil, Biden also pointed out that oil company profit margins are at the highest levels ever recorded.
“The last time the price of crude oil was about $120 per barrel, in March, the price of gas at the pump was $4.25 per gallon. Today, gas prices are 75 cents higher, and diesel prices are 90 cents higher. That difference — of more than 15% at the pump — is the result of the historically high profit margins for refining oil into gasoline, diesel and other refined products. Since the beginning of the year, refiners’ margins for refining gasoline and diesel have tripled, and are currently at their highest levels ever recorded,” Biden wrote.
Biden blames on the companies for “worsening” the pain the war has imposed on Americans.
“I understand that many factors contributed to the business decisions to reduce refinery capacity, which occurred before I took office. But at a time of war, refinery profit margins well above normal being passed directly onto American families are not acceptable. There is no question that Vladimir Putin is principally responsible for the intense financial pain the American people and their families are bearing. But amid a war that has raised gasoline prices more than $1.70 per gallon, historically high refinery profit margins are worsening that pain,” he wrote.
He hinted his administration is prepared to take action if the companies don’t boost production, although the consequences of not complying are not clear.
“I am prepared to use all tools at my disposal, as appropriate, to address barriers to providing Americans affordable, secure energy supply,” he wrote. “The crunch that families are facing deserves immediate action. Your companies need to work with my Administration to bring forward concrete, near-term solutions that address the crisis and respect the critical equities of energy workers and fence-line communities.”
Asked on CNN Wednesday morning what “tools” are at Biden’s disposal, Granholm did not answer directly, but said his use of the Defense Production Act in other contexts has been on the table and that Congress can also take a variety of actions to address the issue.
She said he first wants to hear from the companies why “we are seeing these massive profit-taking on the part of refiners.”
When pressed repeatedly if a proposal from Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, to impose a 21% surtax on excess profits form the oil companies is something Biden would consider supporting, Granholm nervously said “no tool has been taken off the table” but did not directly say whether he’d back the idea.
“I’m saying no tool has been taken off the table and he wants to hear from the refineries, the companies who are doing refining to see what is the bottleneck and how we can increase supply. And he’s also asking, of course, for the oil and gas industry to increase supply as well, by drilling more.”
Biden’s letter was sent to the Marathon Petroleum Corp; Valero Energy Corp; ExxonMobil; Phillips 66; Chevron; BP and Shell.
An industry group, The American Petroleum Institute, responded by trying to shift blame back to the White House, saying the administration’s “misguided policy” in reducing domestic oil and gas production has added to energy costs.
“While we appreciate the opportunity to open increased dialogue with the White House, the administration’s misguided policy agenda shifting away from domestic oil and natural gas has compounded inflationary pressures and added headwinds to companies’ daily efforts to meet growing energy needs while reducing emissions,” API President Mike Sommers said in a statement.
It urged the president to “prioritize unlocking U.S. energy resources” to reduce costs instead of increasing reliance on countries like Saudi Arabia.
ABC News’ Stephanie Ebbs contributed to this report.
