President-elect Donald Trump is very unlikely to restrict imports of crude oil from Saudi Arabia despite threats to do so issued during the election campaign. Trump is first and foremost a showman and impresario rather than a policy wonk. Much of what he said on the campaign trail was intended to mobilize support rather than provide a detailed program for government. The media “never takes (Trump) seriously but it always takes him literally. I think a lot of voters who vote for Trump take Trump seriously but not literally,” as technology billionaire Peter Thiel observed in October. The prospect of an import ban on Saudi crude is one of those things he said that should not be taken seriously but was meant to galvanize support from oil workers hit by the downturn. COMPENSATION DEMAND Trump warned that he would be prepared to stop buying oil from Saudi Arabia unless […]