Trump Put The Squeeze On Europe. It Worked.

The Trump administration spent the past week pressing European governments to release diesel from their emergency stockpiles, warning that Washington could restrict U.S. diesel exports if they refused.

On Friday, the Group of Seven agreed to release 100 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products through the International Energy Agency over the next four months, with a “frontloaded substantial diesel release” coming within the first 20 days.

“Europe has just agreed to release a massive amount of their heavily stocked Diesel Oil,” President Trump wrote in a Friday post on Truth Social. “The process will begin immediately.”

U.S. officials approached European governments individually as diesel prices climbed on both sides of the Atlantic, according to Politico. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also publicly urged U.S. oil executives to accelerate existing reserve commitments and release additional supplies.

The administration threatened to restrict U.S. diesel exports, potentially cutting supplies to Europe as disruptions elsewhere increased its dependence on American fuel.

One European diplomat described the U.S. demand as “blackmail” during a call amongst EU energy officials, a source briefed on the call told Politico. European governments discussed how to respond without appearing to simply give in to Washington. Some governments, including Germany, reportedly pushed back against the American approach.

“It’s a typical U.S. request — they don’t go through the official normal channels,” another European official said.

Officials also questioned how much additional supply the agreement would provide. The G7 statement said the 100 million barrels would take into account commitments that have already been fulfilled, leaving unclear how much represented new supplies. 

The G7 agreement also addressed export restrictions, according to CNBC. The countries reaffirmed that they would refrain from restricting energy exports to one another and urged other producers to avoid bans that could further disrupt energy markets.

European officials rejected suggestions that they had simply capitulated to Trump. French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country holds the rotating G7 presidency, said the discussions were constructive and emphasized that the agreement was a collective decision. European Commission officials likewise pushed back on the suggestion that the reserve release directly resulted from U.S. threats.

Beyond the reserve release, the G7 called for coordinating refinery maintenance and increasing refinery utilization where possible, particularly to boost diesel production.

The group did not specify how much diesel or crude each country would contribute.

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