At town hall, Trump mixes up Alaska and Afghanistan with confusing remarks on oil

In remarks praising his own decision to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, former President Donald Trump repeatedly confused ANWR with Afghanistan’s Bagram air base.

The remarks came during a town hall meeting on Tuesday in Flint, Michigan, when the Republican presidential nominee said that if he had been reelected in 2020, he would have continued to grow domestic oil production.

“We would have been now having so much money coming out of the energy,” he said. “We just had the best. We have Bagram in Alaska, they say it might be bigger than all of Saudi Arabia.”

Bagram is an air base the United States abandoned during its withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Trump frequently repeats an incorrect statement about the oil potential of ANWR as a refrain in campaign events. He made a similar statement in a meeting with Republican members of the U.S. Senate and in a social-media talk with Elon Musk.

Trump signed a tax law that included a provision written by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, that requires the federal government to hold two oil lease sales in ANWR.

The first lease sale took place in the last days of Trump’s administration but saw few bids.

The Biden administration suspended, then canceled the bid results, sparking lawsuits from the state-owned Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, which won several tracts.

Contrary to Trump’s remarks, the oil potential of ANWR is far less than that of Saudi Arabia.

ANWR is believed to contain about 10.4 billion barrels of “technically recoverable oil,” while Saudi Arabia’s proven oil reserves exceed 260 billion barrels.

“Technically recoverable” means that current technology would allow the oil to be produced, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it would be produced at current prices.

“I got it approved,” Trump said. “Ronald Reagan couldn’t do it, nobody could do it. In their first week, they terminated it. Check that one out, Bagram. Check that one out.”

Trump’s confusion sparked derision from opponents of the Republican candidate.

“Trump mistook a wildlife refuge in Alaska for an Afghan airbase. His brains are turning to mush,” wrote one of the critics, author Stephen King, on social media.

Originally published by the Alaska Beacon, an independent, nonpartisan news organization that covers Alaska state government.