Trump said he had planned to increase oil production in the U.S.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump claims that he needed one more year for America to surpass Russia and Saudi Arabia combined in terms of oil production.

In an interview with Fox News channel, Trump accused his successor, Joe Biden, of tightening – in the context of pursuing an environmental agenda – the working conditions of oil companies, which has resulted in the erosion of the country’s energy independence, rising domestic oil prices and the need to take a bow to OPEC.

“When I left, we were bigger than Russia and Saudi Arabia. In one year, we would be bigger than both of those countries combined,” Trump said.

He said he pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement, where Biden returned, because he believed neither Russia, China nor India were going to bind themselves to environmental restrictions, and the U.S. would have had to close up to a quarter of its industrial plants.

“I stopped our participation because Russia shouldn’t stick to the agreement. China has said it won’t participate for many, many more years. India is barely a member. And the United States would have to close 20 to 25 percent of its factories to comply,” Trump said.

He called himself an environmentalist, praised the U.S. environmental situation and blamed China, India and Russia for global pollution.