WASHINGTON — TrumpleThinskin convened an emergency meeting with oil refinery executives on Tuesday in a room the press was not allowed to enter. A White House official described the session as a private conversation about “fuel affordability.”
The meeting came on a day when gasoline reached a new record average price. Crude oil climbed toward $100 a barrel. The rise followed the administration’s military strikes on Iranian energy sites.
“The public sees a price at the pump and assumes the economy is failing,” said David Prentiss, a senior White House energy adviser. “We asked the refiners here so we could align the story with the numbers.”
Prentiss added that the alignment did not require reporters in the room. He said press questions often “distract from the productive adjustment” of market decisions.
Prentiss declined to say whether any refiner promised to lower prices. He said that information was “proprietary.”
A new poll from the Center for Economic Trust found 71 percent of voters blame the administration for high fuel prices. The White House did not mention the poll. It said the meeting had “exceeded expectations.”
The administration has argued that high fuel costs are the result of global instability. This week, the president approved strikes against targets in Iran. One strike hit a wedding party in a residential complex, according to local officials.
At least five people were killed. One of them was a child.
A White House readout of the refinery meeting did not mention the strikes. It said the discussion focused on “public-facing price signals” and “consumer confidence restoration.”
The readout included a list of attendees. It did not include their titles. A photo distributed after the event showed the president and various men in dark suits around a table.
The whiteboard behind them was covered by a white sheet.
The one photo provided to reporters showed the president pointing at a chart. The chart had been cropped out of the frame.
The fact sheet handed to reporters outside the room was two pages long. It used the word “Biden” eleven times. It did not mention a single price reduction.
A reporter asked if executives had committed to lowering prices. An aide said the question was “unproductive.”
At no point were reporters allowed inside the room. A staff member said the session was “not a press event.”
The meeting lasted 47 minutes. Reporters waited outside a side door and were told no one would take questions.
The White House later issued a statement calling the gathering “a model of private-sector partnership.”
