Unfit to Print: TRUMP DRILLS BEIJING
Plus: How your money paid for Anti-ICE riots & a foiled foreign takeover of American whiskey
Hey y’all, welcome back to Unfit to Print.
Today we’re covering the UAE’s exit from OPEC, taxpayers funding anti-ICE protests, and a foiled foreign takeover of an iconic whiskey brand.
TRUMP DRILLS BEIJING
The United Arab Emirates announced Tuesday that it is leaving OPEC and OPEC+, dealing a major blow to the oil cartel.
The UAE is one of OPEC’s top producers, and its departure damages the organization’s aura of control. Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s de facto leader, will now have a weaker hand in managing global oil prices as the UAE signals it wants more freedom to increase production — a move that could eventually push prices lower outside the cartel’s grip.
Bigger picture, the move suggests the UAE may be positioning itself even more firmly alongside the United States and other anti-Iran powers in the region. One side effect of Trump’s confrontation with Iran is that it could reorder the Middle East, with U.S.-aligned states breaking away from old regional arrangements and lining up more openly against Tehran. That would mark a major strategic shift: instead of the Middle East being defined primarily by old oil-cartel loyalties or cautious neutrality, it could increasingly be divided between countries willing to work with Washington and countries tied to Iran, China, or Russia.
And with Maduro ousted in Venezuela and Washington asserting extraordinary influence over the country’s oil sector, Trump could be laying the groundwork for a new global oil order — one that weakens China’s energy leverage and shifts power back toward the United States. Put together, Trump may be doing something bigger than winning a war: he may be cornering the global oil market and prying it out of China’s hands.
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